So the skills as an epidemiologist and a physician came in very handy. He also treated minor burns after the fire and a few illnesses, and recalled a bit of psychology to ease some of the feelings of isolation. I used to work at the Lafayette Clinic during medical school. That's more extreme psychology, but it does pay off. While he learned many new skills, including the Russian language, Linenger said, all of the astronauts tapped their past experiences.
Astronauts now have all different backgrounds.
None of us Earthlings know how to do spacewalks. That's a skill you have to learn no matter what your background is in life. On the other hand, he said, the medical degree had advantages for a long-duration space flight. I was able to do some basic studies on myself and understand human physiology as it normally exists on earth and then have an appreciation of the changes you undergo in space. Some of those are subtle changes that I think astronauts without that medical background would not pick up.