Star Trek Reader's Reference

McCoy, Leonard--Lieutenant Commander Leonard McCoy, "Bones," to Kirk, is the senior surgeon and head of the Life Science Department on the Enterprise. His service aboard the starship came at Kirk's request. These two men have been close friends since McCoy nursed Kirk and other survivors of Ghioghe (McIntyre).

Records made available to authors who write of the adventures of the Enterprise missions often are not as accurate with dates as they should be. This is true concerning McCoy's record. Mandel's Officer's Manual (18) lists McCoy's birth in Georgia, Terra, as occurring on 20 January 2218 O.R. Okuda and Okuda (28) give it as 2227 O.R. However records do show that he attended grammar and high school in Georgia and entered medical training upon graduation from high school. He worked for a while as a general practitioner at the University of Georgia and then earned a doctorate from Johns Hopkins in 2240 (Mandel 18). Also according to Mandel, McCoy returned to Atlanta where he worked at Atlanta General Hospital for two years and served as a staff physician for three years. He also married, fathered a daughter, and divorced. This unhappy marriage led him to enroll in intensive courses in Space Medicine. Upon completion he volunteered for StarFleet. Okuda and Okuda (32) list 2249 as the year he was accepted and entered StarFleet Academy as a cadet and met Kirk on his (McCoy's) first assignment as a cadet. McCoy graduated from StarFleet Medical School and the Academy in 2253 (Okuda and Okuda 35). His records indicates he interned in the Federation assistance medical program and was responsible for the mass-inoculation teams on Ilyra III and Dramia II (Mandel 21). McCoy served on the U.S.S. Hood, his first ship, for two years and then was assigned, by request, to StarFleet's Surgeon General's Office. After some time, he sought ship duty and in 2266 was assigned, at Kirk's request as Chief Surgeon to the Enterprise, replacing Mark Piper who retired.

McCoy, who always knew he wanted to be a doctor, prides himself on being "an old- fashioned general practitioner" who believes a little suffering is good for the soul" (Trimble 191). He hates technology, though thankful for its medical advances. Often his treatments are unorthodox yet, in the end, do the job. He never tires of reminding his colleagues and ship mates of his saving of the Horta by plastering it with cement (*DD).

As the Enterprise's Chief Surgeon, he has served on several 5-year missions under Kirk's command. He has, by StarFleet regulations, broad areas of medical responsibilities, including the right to demand physical, as well as psychological, examinations for any crew member, even the captain. These responsibilities also extend to any guests traveling on the ship. He also is the "counselor-at-large" to the crew "who consult him about many problems" (Roddenberry 261). McCoy, who enjoys his ship duty, finds much of it challenging. He also enjoys baiting Spock in verbal battles.

Although McCoy's hair is greying, his blue eyes are as clear and inviting as they were when he was 21 and married to Jocelyn. This unique man was once described as "a twenty-second century H.L. Mencken" because he is highly cynical and uses his acid wit (Roddenberry 239). In reality McCoy is a bleeding heart humanist who believes in the dignity and individuality of man. He is the least militaristic of the crew, yet its most idiosyncratic. His dislike for the transporter is known ship-wide: "the damndest way for a man to travel, having his atoms scattered across the universe."

Records in EOM (21-22) reveal McCoy was married to Jocelyn, but divorced 2 years later and then by native ceremony to Natira, a high priestess of Yonada (sd5476, but the marriage was annulled when the instrument of Obedience was removed (*FW). In the past McCoy has been involved with archeologist Nancy Carter (*MT) and Yeoman Tonia Barrows who served a short time on the Enterprise (*SL).

Medical records reveal that McCoy has had the rare and once fatal disease xenopolycythemia (sd5476) and was the first patient to fully recover, but only after the application of ancient Fabrini medical techniques (*FW). While on the planet Miri (sd2713, he contracted a virus (EOM 22) and an auroral plague while on a supply call to Dramia on sd5276 (*Al/a; Trimble 151). His isolation of a vaccine in both cases resulted in StarFleet Medical awards. While on Minara II, he suffered severe injuries inflicted by the Vians but fully recovered with the aid of a natural empath (*Em). An overdose of cordrazine (sd3134) caused him to enter a state of wild paranoia, leading to his fleeing through a time portal to Terra’s past (*CEF). After years of suffering from acute hay fever, McCoy underwent a severe attack (2713) and was treated, successfully eliminating the disease (EOM 22). Psychological records record that he "reacts quickly and decisively, with an almost intuitive ability to diagnose and treat illness" though his "regard for life often results in hasty and emotionally-charged action." A further addition reveals the conclusion that he "tends to over-empathize with his patients . . . " (EOM 22). His excessive reaction against technology is regarded as bordering the humorous, leading to the assessment that it may be typical of the medical profession, having emerged in the middle 20^th century on Terra. No evidence exists to suggest that this belief has ever effected patient care, and certainly not with McCoy.

"Bones" finds himself, many times over, being involved on ship and off in the continuing missions of the Enterprise.