round 16 JP Lt (j.g.) Corbin & PNPC Ensign Manius, "Performance Evaluat

[Ensign Ambrosia Hayley]

((Sickbay - Corbin’s office - USS Darwin))

::Corbin sighed heavily as he swung his large feet onto his desk and leaned
back into his chair. He took his PADD and had it start playing the latest
football game he got downloaded from earth recently and then pulled up Dr.
Manius’s file. He was still tired from this last mission and ran his free
hand through his hair as he looked down at the PADD. ::

::Dr. Manius’s file was full of contradictions. Half was full of praise at
his work ethics and his doctor knowledge and skills. The other half was
full of complaints both from patients and staff about his course attitude
and short insulting remarks. Corbin knew that Dr. Manius was a doctor of
extraordinary abilities, better than he was in many ways, however being a
doctor was more than just diagnostic and surgical skills, it was also how
the patient perceived you, how you dealt with others and how you convied a
sense of….healing/wellbeing. He felt this was probably the reason why he
had not been promoted already. ::

::Corbin felt a bit weird recommending someone for promotion. He had never
done that before especially when the promotion was going to make the
officer the same rank as him. However he felt based off the outstanding
job that Dr. Manius had done in the sickbay in the past few missions he at
least needed recognition and sending that up the chain of command could
only be the right thing to do. ::

:: However before doing that he felt he should talk to Dr. Manius tell him
his intentions and perhaps get a better feel for the doctor. Putting the
PADD down he reached over to his desk communication button and pressed it.::

Corbin: =/\= Dr. Manius, could you meet me in my office at your earliest
convenience, thanks. =/\=

::Dr Manius was in the same place as always and to be honest it was
starting to feel just a bit cramped. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were tidy.
That was the thing that made him feel so uncomfortable with the place. He
was used to tidy roommates and having more of a run of the place. When he
heard Dr Corbin call him to the office he wondered what the agenda would
be. Maybe he was looking for a change in shift patterns now that they had
Margariti and she was settling in. ::

Manius: =/\= Of course sir. I’m free now if that is convenient for you? =/\=

::Just because the senior doctor had said for him to come up, it didn’t
mean he was necessarily free right that second. ::

Corbin: =/\= That is great Doc, see you soon. =/\=


::Corbin was a bit surprised that Dr. Manius was free right that moment but
they might as well get it over with. Corbin flipped his legs off the desk
and turned off the football game. He started to sit rather rigid and tall
but quickly slumped into his more relaxed posture within moments. He slid
the PADD with Dr. Manius’s file right before him and bowed his head in
thought as he waited for the doctor::

::Todd arrived outside the office a few minutes later and had made a
cursory effort to ensure that he was presentable. He chimed the door and
waited to be called in. ::

Corbin: Come on in.

Manius: Sir. ::Giving Corbin a respectful nod. ::

::It wasn’t much of a greeting and there were no pleasantries. It wasn’t
that he didn’t want to be here or that he wasn’t interested in Dr Corbin.
In fact his tone was as pretty neutral, which was as close as it ever got
to being friendly... with a few notable exceptions. He simply didn’t want
to waste Dr Corbin’s valuable time and figured that he would want to get
down to whatever business it was that had called him up here. ::

Corbin: ::Smiled brightly at Dr. Manius and pointed to one of the two
chairs opposite his desk.:: Please sit Doc.

Manius: ::Taking a seat at the desk:: Thank you sir.

Corbin: Now Doc, you don’t have to call me sir, Jack is fine.

::The idea of calling Dr Corbin by his first name actually felt really
strange to him, after all they hardly knew anything about each other and
were not exactly friends. The only person he referred to by their first
name was Kaitlyn and that was more a result of his Ravensville experience
than anything else although it seemed slowly he was making a friend. ::

Manius: Okay, if that is your wish.

:: Corbin took a deep breath as he ran his fingers through his hair and
figured he might as well get straight to the point. Dr. Manius probably
would prefer it that way anyways::

Corbin: I called you down here because I have been looking at your file.
I want to recommend you for promotion. Honestly Doc, you are outstanding
when it comes to the medical side of things, I could not ask for a more
skilled medical practitioner to call my peer.

::Todd was delighted to be getting a little recognition for his hard work
and to hear he was going to be recommended for promotion certainly made him
smile. He’d been trying so hard for so long now and despite having treated
so many high profile patients he’d been getting nowhere. ::

Manius: Thank you sir! ::Proudly::

Corbin: ::Smirks and sighs trying to come up with the right wording:: I
think you know however that your, hmmm, bedside manner, could be improved
upon.

::It felt like a bit of a backhander hearing that and it made his mood and
expression sour a little. He felt that he gave patients an excellent
service even if he wasn’t touchy-feely by nature. No one had ever made a
complaint to him or said they were unhappy, so where was the problem? It
was probably because of his insistence on sending people like Phos on
upskilling programs when they foolishly injured themselves. ::

Manius: What do you mean?

::Corbin had dreaded this. He had hoped that Todd had known that he rubbed
people the wrong way. Heck Corbin knew he made people uncomfortable
sometimes with his touchy-feely nature and his down home attitude. He even
turned it on worse when he was dealing with people that were uncomfortable
with it especially if he really did not care much for the person. ::

:: Dr. Manius however he sorta liked, he had gotten used to his blunt
attitude and could see the great doctor under it. Standing Corbin moved
around his desk and leaned against it standing in front of Dr. Manius he
crossed his arms and looked down at them not really wanting to look at
him::

Corbin: oO Perhaps the direct approach is not the way to go Oo Doc, I
know, you know, how to heal peoples bodies. Heck Doc, like I said you are
one of the best physicians I have had the pleasure of working with, but we
don’t just treat a patient's body. We also have to treat them emotionally,
mentally and even spiritually at times. That means sometimes we have to
think about what we are going to say to someone, whether a patient or
anyone. We have to think about how our words will impact that person and if
there is a way we can say the words we want to say that would be easier on
them.

::Corbin stopped talking, he looked at Dr. Manius, he wondered if he was
making a bit of sense to him.::

Manius: oO Easier on them… ? Oo

::He didn’t think his words were generally so hard to swallow. He just told
people things as he saw it. Dr Corbin was suggesting something here and
whatever way he looked at it, he didn’t really like it. Furthermore the
senior Dr had now come around to stand in front of him, effectively
towering over him with arms crossed, making him tip his head up to see the
man. He didn’t particularly like that either and after a pause went so far
as to stand up, so he could speak to the man as an equal. ::

Manius: Dr Corbin. If a patient needs emotional, mental or spiritual help I
can think of a number of people qualified to give it, ranging from the
counsellor to a religious representative depending on the patient’s needs.
I’ve never had a problem referring patients to what you might call ‘sister
services’.

I hope you are not suggesting that I do not think about what I say to
someone carefully enough because I would have to disagree with that. I have
an honest and direct approach that gives people the information they need
to have.

::Corbin sighed and scratched the short beard he had grown since starting
to serve on the Darwin. He reached out and patted Dr. Manius on the arm.
He stood and walked around the small office the action helping him get his
thoughts in order::

Corbin: How about this Doc, lets say you have a patient who has a
diagnosis that does not have a very good prognosis. Lets say only 10% of
patients survive with their condition. What would you tell that patient?

::In the situation presented it sounded like the patient was going to need
to start coming to terms with the fact they weren’t likely to be around
much longer. Jack hadn’t given a timescale and said whether the condition
killed someone slowly or quickly. That sort of detail would make a
difference, but only up to a point. ::

Manius: I would tell them that the survival rate for people in this
condition has not been very good in the past but that we will do everything
in our power to try and beat it. I would ask them if they have any friends
or family that they would like to have around them for support. I would
also offer the services of a counsellor.

::Corbin heard the textbook approach to dealing with the a patient with
terminal illness. He had seen many doctors take the unemotional, distant
approach with patients. However, he had seen first hand how doctors that
connected with their patients on an emotional level actually had higher
levels of survival.::

Corbin: Doc, what I would call that is the safe approach. You are keeping
yourself distant, you are keeping yourself safe. You are not helping the
patient cope with the situation you are just spitting out the facts to the
patient and letting them deal with it. If you don’t mind, let me tell you
a story that happened to me while back on earth.

::Corbin went and sat down in the chair next to the one that Dr. Manius had
recently vacated and leaned back looking up at him::

Corbin: I was a very young doctor at the time. Just out of medical
school. I was following the head of the department and he was discussing
with the wife of his patient about the course of treatment that the staff
was going to do with the patient. The patient had been given a terminal
illness and was sitting there slumped over, dejected and looking down at
his hands. After the other doctor was done I went up to the patient and
said. “You look like a man without hope”. He looked up at me angry and
shouted, “Of course I am without hope, I have been given less than a month
to live.” I took this in stride and looked straight at the man and said
“That is a typical patient, however, 5% of people who have your illness
survive. You might be one of them. That is why we still do the care.” I
then left him and went about the rest of my rounds. 5 years later a man
came up to me and shook my hand. He told me that I saved his life that day
5 years ago. Everyone else had told him that he was going to die, while I
told him that he still had a chance to live. He ended up being in that 5%.
Do you understand the point I am trying to make? We need to treat the
whole person not just the body.

::Todd listened to the story with care and by the end of it he felt he was
no better off. He didn’t see what was missing, what Corbin was looking for.
He couldn’t see how his approach failed to live up to expectations and he
still felt he was doing a good job. ::

Manius: I don’t see how my approach fails to meet that end. What’s missing?

::Corbin looked up at Todd and tried hard not to sigh. He was just unsure
how to get his message across to him without recording him actually seeing
a patient which would break a dozen rules::

Corbin: Doc, it’s just how you present the information. I told you, you
are a great doctor. You have fantastic skills, the problem is people come
away from your care feeling, uncared for, instead of feeling as they should
and feeling amazingly cared for and that is just about how you present
yourself and your care. Honestly Doc, I am just trying to help you be a
even better doctor. Just think on it will ya Doc?

Manius: Yeah.

::Todd would think on it because he was committed to his work and cared a
whole lot about giving patients the best care possible. It was a bit of a
shock actually, to hear that he wasn’t doing as well as he’d thought he
was. He felt pretty displeased about it actually, but he had to admit that
Jack had guts. He was the first boss he’d had that had ever given some kind
of guidance. He didn’t think he could pull a white rabbit out of a hat
though. If Corbin wanted him to present information in a different way,
then someone was going to have to show him what they wanted. How could he
make someone feel more cared for? That seemed to be the question he needed
to answer and right now he was drawing blanks. ::

::Corbin looked up at Dr. Manius. He could see the flicker of different
emotions cross the man’s face. He could tell he was not exactly convincing
or perhaps getting his message across as well as he could. Corbin stand up
and puts a hand on Dr. Manius’s shoulder.::

Corbin: Look Doc, I don’t want you to worry too much about it. I just
think you are a great doctor and I want you to go far is all. When you
have a chance perhaps you can watch Dr. Margariti or I with a few patients.
See how we interact and compare it to your own style is all.
::Chuckling:: Just look at the patient interaction and don’t criticize our
doctoring okay Doc?

::Todd couldn’t remember ever having criticized his peers doctoring style,
so maybe he was taking that comment a little too personally but it rubbed
him wrong completely. Surely it had to be a reflection of his own fears
because otherwise he feared people had developed some very strange ideas
about him. He wasn’t against observing the other doctors a bit more and on
reflection, maybe it would be interesting. The truth was he’d never really
taken an interest in the other doctors style. He let them do their job
while he did his. He’d really been more focused on his own job. His jaw
tightened and he took a deep breath but despite his best efforts he
couldn’t hold back from asking in a slightly sour way. ::

Manius: And just what makes you think I would criticize your work?

::Corbin could not help look surprised at the question. His dark eyes
widening. He then clearly sighed and placed his face in his palm.::

Corbin: Todd! I was teasing! Joking. I know you would not criticize us.
Maybe it was a poor joke, but I never claimed to be good at comedy. I
meant it as a compliment if anything. Look I meant nothing personal far
from it.

::Corbin stops at that point and starts scratching his chin and tilting his
head looking at Dr. Manius with renewed thoughts. .::

Corbin: oO Perhaps that is the problem, perhaps Todd takes things too
literally. I am just not sure how to help that. Oo

Corbin: Anyways, I did not mean to cause any ruckus.

::Todd hadn’t liked everything he’d heard but the fact it seemed to come
alongside a recommendation softened the blow. He appreciated the honesty
and respected Corbin more because he had the guts to speak up, where
previously no one else had. It had been a similar case with the counsellor
a while back too. He hadn’t agreed with her either. What had she said to
him again? He was going to have to think it over and see if there was
something he could do to improve his performance and have a smoother
journey to the next recommendation. ::

Manius: It’s okay sir. I do appreciate the honesty and i’ll think it over.
Is there anything else?

Corbin: ::Again Corbin had to fight the urge to sigh. He did however run
his hand through his hair and shook his head:: No Doc, I will be getting
that recommendation to the Captain today. I hope that soon I will be able
to call you Lieutenant. And thanks for thinking it over.

Manius: Thanks for your time.

::As Corbin watch Dr. Manius go, he sat back down at his desk with a heavy
thump. He looked at the recommendation he had wrote for Todd and pressed
the send button::

::Todd headed off. In some ways it had been a strange meeting but overall
he was quite happy. He was finally getting a recommendation and even if
nothing came of it he felt proud to know that Dr Corbin valued his work
enough to put him forward. He couldn’t help but get his hopes up a little
with the prospect of getting a promotion at long last. ::


A JP BY:

Lieutenant (jg) Jack Corbin MD

MO

USS Darwin - A

"Never give up! Never Surrender!"

And


PNPC Ensign Todd Manius
Medical Officer
USS Darwin-A
Simmed by Reinard

Edited June 6, 2014 by LtCmdr. James