Dear Doctor ( episode ) In the name of non interference , " Enterprise " withholds a cure from a culture that has been stricken by a planet - wide plague . Summary . Teaser . In the sickbay , Doctor Phlox enters in the morning to take care of the various creatures he keeps in the med lab , amusing himself by talking to them . Oddly , he sometimes eats the same food as a snack . Act One . Hoshi Sato enters bearing a letter from Phlox ' s exchange doctor , Jeremy Lucas , who is a Human serving a term on Phlox ' home planet as part of the Interspecies Medical Exchange . The rigors of the mating season are making things very difficult for the exchange doctor . Phlox begins to compose a letter in response describing his experiences with the crew , commenting on the many differences between his own society and point of view , and the ways in which Human s are different . Phlox shares that he thinks a crew member , Elizabeth Cutler , has a romantic interest in him . On the bridge , the crew are discussing a pre - warp vessel they have encountered . It is not responding to hail s , and has two weak bio - signs on board . They dock the vessel in Bay 2 and take the alien s to their medical bay . The alien they speak with begs them to assist with a medical emergency their species is facing . They are a pre - warp culture known as the Valakian s . They have met two warp - capable species , one of which is the Ferengi . T ' Pol reveals that the Vulcan s are unaware of either species . She states that as the Valakian culture has already been exposed to a couple of warp - capable races , the risk of cultural contamination is acceptable , and she agrees with Archer to help them . Phlox starts to describe the new situation in his letter later , noting that it started with an act of Human compassion . Act Two . Phlox continues his letter describing the situation , stating it as the greatest challenge he has faced – with over fifty million lives at stake . After time studying the alien , Sato joins Phlox in the mess hall , discussing the issue of crewman Cutler having a romantic interest over dinner ( in English and Denobulan ) . Sato says she thinks they ' d make a good couple . The " Enterprise " arrives at the Valakian homeworld . T ' Pol , Phlox , Archer , and Sato make a tour of the medical facility . Sato discovers that there is a second race , the Menk , which live alongside the Valakians but apparently not as advanced . Interestingly , the Menk are apparently not affected by the disease . Phlox continues his letter , describing the challenges of treating the disease , and his discussions with T ' Pol about the possibilities of inter - species relationships . Phlox makes the startling discovery that the Valakians are dying not from an easily curable medical condition , but because of a genetic disease which is experiencing an accelerated rate of mutation . He reveals this to Captain Archer , and states that he does not have confidence in curing it . He predicts that the Valakians will be extinct within two centuries . Act Three . Phlox describes how studying two humanoid cultures simultaneously is exciting . He continues that while he looks forward to the medical data , he finds the way that the two cultures live in harmony to be amazing . The Menk must live where the soil is not good for planting , despite the fact that the Menk culture is fairly agrarian . The Menk continue to state that the Valakians treat them well . The Valakians say that they can farm the land more efficiently with better technology , and just give the Menk whatever they need . Sato is upset and thinks that the Valakians are oppressing the Menk and treating them like " pets " , but Phlox says that she is making assumptions based on Human history : from Phlox ' s perspective , the Valakians and Menk have found a way to live in harmony , when on most planets with more than one sentient race , they fight each other until only one survives . Phlox , Sato , and Cutler discover ( while studying at one of the Menk settlements ) that the Menk are actually surprisingly advanced – they demonstrate that they are able to learn some English , and organize tissue samples correctly . After a long day of work , the group takes some time to pack up . Sato excuses herself to let Phlox and Cutler have some private time . Phlox reveals to Cutler that he has three wives , and each of those wives has three husbands including himself . He asks Cutler if she is interested in him romantically , or if he has been misinterpreting the signals . Cutler confirms that she was giving off romantic signals . She replies that she is not looking to become wife # 4 , but she ' s interested in Phlox as a friend , and is ready to see where it leads ( hinting that a romantic relationship may indeed be on the horizon ) . Archer visits , in the hospital , the first alien he rescued . The alien asks Archer for warp drive technology so that that if " Enterprise " cannot find a cure , the Valakians can search for other races who might be willing to help them . Archer returns to the ship to learn that " Enterprise " has received 29 hails and requests for help from other clinics , and has been approached by a couple of vessels , all of whom thought they already had a cure . Archer and T ' Pol discuss the situation in the ready room . Archer tells T ' Pol that he is reluctant about trying to teach the Valakians about warp drive : they do not possess much rudimentary knowledge about warp technology , and have almost no experience working with anti - matter , an essential part of the process . It would take years if not decades to teach the Valakians how to develop their own warp - capable ships . As T ' Pol points out , the Vulcans stayed on Earth to help them along , but generations later they are still there . Archer tells T ' Pol that he understands now how the Vulcans felt when they chose to contact Earth ninety years before . Meanwhile , Phlox makes a startling discovery . Act Four . Later that evening , Archer is mulling over the situation in the crew mess . Phlox enters and makes small talk ( revealing that Denobulans hibernate for six days each year ) . Archer asks about the progress of Phlox ' s medical research . Phlox says that he thinks it is incorrect to be helping the Valakians – that the Menk are supposed to survive , and will only be allowed to properly evolve and prosper if they are not tied to the Valakians . Phlox explains that the " disease " is actually an inherent flaw in Valakian DNA ; they ' ve reached an evolutionary dead end . Archer demands a cure for the Valakians , saying he doesn ' t agree with Phlox ' s point of view . Phlox reveals that he already has a cure . The next day , Archer enters the medical facilities . Phlox tries to again state that he does not believe that they should interfere with the natural pace of events on the planet . Archer cuts him off , and makes the statement that he has reconsidered the matter , and that he agrees that the " Enterprise " and the Human race did not go to the stars to play god for other species . They go down to the planet and give the Valakian doctors a medicine which will ease the symptoms and help them . They state they won ' t give them a warp drive , that their race must help itself . Finishing off his letter to Doctor Lucas , Phlox expresses relief that he could trust Captain Archer with the results of his research , and that he wished the Vulcan diplomats had acted in a similar manner in letting the Humans make their own decisions over the past ninety years . Sato enters to take the letter away , and suggests that he should take a break . Phlox contacts Cutler and asks her on a meal date in the mess hall . Memorable quotes . " " It ' s mating season , so you know how that goes . I thought Human reproduction was complicated – you Denobulan s make us look like single - celled organisms ! " " " " They don ' t have movies where you come from , do they ? " " " " We had something similar a few hundred years ago , but they lost their appeal when people discovered their real lives were more interesting . " " " " Uh , something in my eye . " " " " Are you the ship ' s doctor ? " " " " I am . " " " " My people are dying . Will you allow him to help us ? " " " " Tik Tik . " " " " The captain has committed all our resources to helping people he didn ' t even know existed two days ago . Once again , I ' m struck by your species ' desire to help others . " " " " Your experience with lesser civilizations is limited , captain . You might be surprised what a temptation our technology can be . " " " " We could stay and help them . " " " " The Vulcans stayed to help Earth 90 years ago . We ' re still there . " " " " I never thought I ' d say this , but . . . I ' m beginning to understand how the Vulcans must have felt . " " " " What do you suggest ? We choose ? One species over the other ? " " " " All I ' m saying is we let nature make the choice . " " " " To hell with nature . You ' re a doctor , you have a moral obligation to help people who are suffering . " " " " My compassion guides my judgement . " " " " Evolution is more than a theory . It is a fundamental scientific principle . " " " " Someday my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine : something that tells us what we can and can ' t do out here – should and shouldn ' t do . But until somebody tells me that they ' ve drafted that directive , I ' m going to have to remind myself every day that we didn ' t come out here to play God . " " " " I ' d like to think , Dr . Lucas , that if I ' d had the chance to talk to you face to face you ' d have never let me even consider withholding my findings from the captain , but I ' m ashamed to say that I almost did just that . [ . . . ] If I hadn ' t trusted him to make the right choice , I ' d have been no better than the Vulcan diplomats who held your species back because they felt you couldn ' t make proper decisions on your own . I came very close to misjudging Jonathan Archer , but this incident has helped me gain a new respect for him . " " Links and references . References . anterior tricuspid ; anthropomorphism ; antimatter ; astronaut ; Australia ; ; blood ; Brisbane ; cardiopulmonary system ; caterpillar ; cavity ; cheese ; ; Denobula ; Denobulan ; Denobulan language ; dentistry ; dermaline gel ; Earth ; eggplant ; epidemic ; ethics ; evolution ; exobiology ; external jugular ; Ferengi ; fertility ; film ; first - degree burn ; " For Whom the Bell Tolls " ; gastrointestinal distress ; genetic ; genome ; gerund ; hand ; heart ; immunity ; infection rate ; internal maxillary ; Interspecies Medical Exchange ; jealousy ; ; Kaybin District ; letter ; livestock ; logic ; María ; Matalas ; Matalas refugees ; Menk ; Menk language ; Minshara class ; M ' klexa ; movie night ; mutant ; Neanderthal ; niaxilin ; nitrogen ; pen pal ; pheromone ; popcorn ; posterior auricular ; pragmatic ; priaxate ; Prime Directive ; Pyrithian bat ; San Francisco ; solar lantern ; " Sunset Boulevard " ; superior vena cava ; temporal vein ; tissue sample ; trifluorinate compound ; universal translator ; Valakis ; Valakian ; Valakian language ; Valakian shuttle Unreferenced materials . bandage ; cabin fever ; circulation enhancer ; eye ; fellowship ; gender ; goggles ; Greek Islands ; ; Iyax ; laceration ; Mastradonian flu elixir ; moussaka ; poag ; research hospital ; Tasmania ; weather