Starfleet Medical Starfleet Medical was a department of ( United Earth ) Starfleet dedicated to biological research and treatment of its personnel . Based out of San Francisco on Earth , Starfleet Medical oversaw all Starfleet medical personnel and facilities . As its emblem , the department carried , from the mid - 2150s onward , a stylized version of the double - snaked medical caduceus symbol from ancient Greek mythology . With the launch of the , Starfleet Medical asserted its co - authority over sickbay , by having its symbol prominently featured on the transparent access door s to sickbay ( ) , something repeated two centuries later with the . ( ) In the 2270s and the 2280s ( when the emblem was shortly replaced with a variant design ) , the emblem was worn by starship medical personnel on their garments , when on duty in sickbay . ( ; ) Organization . Starfleet Medical is a sub - division of Starfleet , though given some authorities over other sub - divisions in certain circumstances . In the 23rd century , an office existed known as the Starfleet Surgeon General which held some command authority over Starfleet Medical , including the power to relieve starship medical officer s for incompetence . ( ) Starfleet Medical was also the parent of the Starfleet Dental sub - division . ( ) Starfleet Medical exercised co - authority , with the captain , over starship sickbay personnel . Starfleet Medical also owns and administers the Starfleet Medical Academy to which any Federation member can submit applicants . " In an alternate timeline , Starfleet Medical was known to operate at least one hospital ship of its own , the , as indicated by its emblems on the primary hull and their prominent presence on the bridge . " ( ) Responsibilities . Starfleet Medical maintained many diagnostic and treatment wards , utilizing the most advanced technologies in the Federation . Long - term facilities were available to care for seriously ill patients . ( ) It was also responsible for all medical research activities in the Federation . Researcher s were required to obtain approval from Starfleet Medical before proceeding with new treatments and medication s . ( ) Starfleet Medical was also responsible for the regulation and training of the various counselor s in Starfleet . ( ) It maintained a large database of medical information available to Starfleet personnel . ( ) Regulations . As a subsidiary division of Starfleet , Starfleet Medical is subject to their General Orders and Regulations and several of those are specifically directed at the division , including , Events . In 2151 , the Klingon courier Klaang was brought to Starfleet Medical after being shot with a plasma rifle while on Earth . There , he was treated by Doctor Phlox , who had been stationed at Starfleet Medical through the Interspecies Medical Exchange . Captain Archer subsequently asked Phlox to join his crew as the chief medical officer aboard . ( ) In 2365 , Dr . Beverly Crusher served with the headquarters of Starfleet Medical . ( ) Dr . Toby Russell had submitted a request to test the genetronic replicator on humanoid s three times by 2368 . Each time , Starfleet Medical refused to allow use of the technology . ( ) In 2369 , Doctor Julian Bashir told a Bajoran woman he dated in the Replimat about his exam at Starfleet Medical . ( ) Shortly thereafter , he told Major Kira Nerys that he learned , in his first year at the medical school , never to trust a tricorder . ( ) When Doctor Crusher was faced with a board of inquiry in 2369 , she told Guinan she could already hear Admiral telling Crusher how she ' d disgraced Starfleet Medical . ( ) Odo visited Starfleet Medical in 2372 , where they performed medical tests on him to gain information that could be used against the Founder s . It was during this examination that Odo was infected with a morphogenic virus by the covert intelligence group Section 31 . ( ) In 2374 , Starfleet Medical hosted a conference on Casperia Prime . ( ) By 2375 , one of the standards established by Starfleet Medical stated that soldiers could not be posted on a single combat assignment for a period exceeding ninety day s . ( ) Julian Bashir stated that he would protest to Starfleet about Benjamin Sisko ' s transfer of Bio - mimetic gel to an unknown person . ( ) Odo contracted the morphogenic virus in late 2375 , a disease that had already begun killing the Founders of the Dominion . Starfleet Medical was unwilling to assist Julian Bashir in his research for a cure and refused him access to Odo ' s medical file , believing Bashir was trying to help the enemy . When Benjamin Sisko requested the file , they sent a copy of Mora Pol ' s medical file on Odo , taken decades previously , in an attempt to hinder Bashir ' s efforts . ( ) " In an alternate timeline , in which it took the twenty - three year s to return to Earth , Tuvok was sent to live at the Starfleet Medical Facility in San Fransisco , having succumbed to a mental condition while aboard in 2378 . He was treated for his affliction in the Starfleet Medical Center building . The holographic doctor of " Voyager " was working at the medical facility in 2404 and was helping Tuvok , as well as working on the project to develop chronexaline . " ( ) Reincarnations . Species 8472 recreated Starfleet Medical as part of their Earth simulation in 2375 . ( ) Background information . The Starfleet Medical Center building , featured in the final " Voyager " two - part episode " Endgame " is based on an existing real world medical center . Shown is an in post - production edited image of one of the buildings on the " Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Park Medical Center " complex , located at 1011 Baldwin Park Blvd . Baldwin Park , California 91706 . For its " Star Trek " appearance , a globe statue was added in post - production in the pond in front of the building , aside from the Starfleet Medical signage on the building . Commissioned by the non - profit health consortium , the futuristic looking real world complex was designed by Canadian architect , and opened in 1988 , thirteen years before the " Voyager " episode aired . Its appearance in the " Voyager " episode seems to have been overlooked by the otherwise meticulous author couple Mike and Denise Okuda , neither the building has received an entry in the 2016 fourth edition of the , nor has Starfleet Medical for that matter , a bit surprisingly perhaps in the latter case . A plethora of Starfleet Medical related production assets , both props and insignia , was auctioned off after " Star Trek " prime temporarily ceased production in 2005 , in auctions such as " " , " It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction " , and the various auctions of Profiles in History and Propworx . A far from exhaustive listing of these items , can be found in The " Star Trek " Auction Listings archive . Symbol . The stylized medical symbol was designed by Lee Cole , the graphic designer for and was seen as signage in sickbay and more prominently as badges on garments of medical personnel on duty in sickbay . For , Cole came up with a more artful variant which was now worn as a pin instead as a badge , and was only featured in this production . Cole ' s successor for the modern television franchise , Scenic Artist Mike Okuda , co - author ot the aforementioned " Encyclopedia " , adopted her original design , and the symbol was most frequently seen throughout the run of the modern television franchise on the new medkit s , introduced at the start of s fourth season . ( " " , p . 117 ) Okuda also retcon ned the symbol as signage throughout the sickbay of the in , thereby canon ically establishing that the symbol had been in use for over two centuries . ( ) Yet , both Cole and Okuda , unwittingly perhaps , perpetuated the misconception , especially held in the United States , that the double serpent - entwined caduceus was the proper symbol for medicine and healing , which it was not . The proper symbol has traditionally been the , a single serpent - entwined rod , lacking the wings , wielded by Asclepius , in Greek mythology the god of healing and medicine . The caduceus on the other hand , was the rod carried by Hermes , the god of travelers , commerce and thieves , and his rod has since then become the symbol of commerce . Hermes was concurrently the messenger of the gods , and was therefore often depicted with wings on his helmet and sandals , indicative of speedy delivery , hence the wings on his rod . The proper symbol was on at least three occasions featured in a " Star Trek " production ; On Doctor Leonard McCoy ' s SS uniform as a left sleeve patch in the second season episode , and as a slip - over lapel on the shoulder strap of the uniform of a Beta Hirogen SS medic in s fourth season episode . In a somewhat artistic interpretation , the proper symbol was also seen as the symbol representing the advanced medical science technology of the Aquan s in the episode . For unclear reasons , the misconception originated in the United States when the caduceus was introduced shortly before the American Civil War as the symbol for the US Medical Corps . Surviving Civil War uniform s of the Union Medical Corps show the symbol embroided on a green band , worn as a chevron on both sleeves . ( " Echoes of Glory : Arms and Equipment of the Union " , Time - Life Books , 1991 , pp . 158 - 159 ) Incidentally , the color green – traditionally associated since the Middle Ages with nature and life , and thus by inference with medicine and to this day the color for first aid in the western world , additionally being the color for pharmacy and animal care in Europe – was adhered to in the first six as the color signifying medical divisions , shown in the fields of their personnel ' s insignia as well as being the color of their undershirts , before returning to the various shades of blue , the generic color signifying all sciences division s , as already established in " The Original Series " . The misconception was perpetuated for nearly a century in the US armed forces until the interbellum years , when the medical branches of the US Airforce and the US Navy started to carry the proper symbol on their coat of arms . And while the ( as have US civilian medical institutions ) has followed suit for its coat of arms , the armed forces chose to continue the usage of the caduceus for their individual ( regimental ) badges and insignia , as could be seen on the uniform of USAAF nurse Faith Garland in the season four episode . It was because of its continued use by the armed forces that the moniker " caduceus " has been augmented in parlance to " " to indicate its use as the latter . Cole ' s original design , which has never gained formal real world recognition , has to some extent been adopted by other Hollywood productions , as at least one long running television show , the crime series " NCIS " , is known to have adopted the symbol on its featured ambulance as well . In reality , the by far most utilized symbol on ambulances in the USA , is the blue ( or on rarer occasions red – predominantly by government institutions – or green , as explained above ) six - pointed , featuring the proper Rod of Asclepius in its center .