Katherine Pulaski

Doctor Katherine "Kate" Pulaski is a fictional physician featured in the Star Trek multimedia franchise. Played by actress Diana Muldaur, she was a special guest star on season two of the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. She briefly replaced the departing Gates McFadden, who played Doctor Beverly Crusher on the series and remained on the show for the entirety of the season. She was credited in twenty-two episodes of the show in total. The character of Doctor Pulaski has also appeared in various Star Trek-related spin-off media including novels, comics and video games.

Overview
Prior to serving on the Enterprise-D, Doctor Pulaski on the USS Repulse under Captain Taggart, who was sorry to lose her.

Kate is a fairly traditional doctor, well versed in methods that her nurses consider archaic, such as splints. She has a cool bedside manner, and is known to prescribe "PCS", also known as "Pulaski's Chicken Soup", for minor ailments.

She shares many personality traits with Dr. Leonard McCoy of the original Star Trek, including a distrust of transporters and androids and a no-nonsense attitude.

She is outgoing and much more bubbly and louder than the quiet, reserved Beverly Crusher. She also has a high-spirited nature and is known to be very charming toward most of the crew, while at the same time she likes to make humorous or even slightly sarcastic remarks every now and then. In short, she very strongly possesses a lot of archetypically "human" personality features, and could be described as the opposite of such calm, rational individuals as Data or Spock, who mostly lack these features.

Pulaski is also well respected in the field of research. Her book, "Linear Models of Viral Propagation", has been considered the standard text on the subject for several years.

Pulaski has been married and divorced three times by the time she joins the Enterprise crew in 2365. She remains on good terms with all three men. Prior to this she has been involved with Kyle Riker, estranged father of Enterprise first officer William Riker, but they never married because of his preoccupation with his work.

She takes a noticeable liking to Lieutenant Worf in "Up the Long Ladder". He is embarrassed when diagnosed with the Klingon equivalent to measles (a traditionally childhood disease), Pulaski violates regulations by omitting the diagnosis and treatment from his medical records to protect his pride. Worf shows his appreciation by agreeing to perform the elaborate Klingon tea ceremony with her--something not usually shared with outsiders--while noting that she must not actually consume the tea as it is quite poisonous to humans. Katherine, however, immediately injects herself with an antidote to fully share the experience with him. She considers his statement that death, like tea, is something best shared "romantic." After drinking with him, Katherine asks to hear some Klingon love poetry.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard's working relationship with Dr. Pulaski is somewhat strained, and at the beginning of her service on the ship, her stubborn, brusque manner annoys him at times. This eventually changes. In the episode "Unnatural Selection", a highly-contagious disease which causes rapid aging and decline followed by death, is investigated by the Enterprise. In order to protect the crew from exposure, Dr. Pulaski examines a young man who carries the disease, by leaving the ship with him and examining him inside a shuttle. Unfortunately, she becomes infected with the disease and begins experiencing immediately painful symptoms. She then quarantines herself on a planetary medical facility where others afflicted with the disease are living, while she, along with the Enterprise medical staff and researchers on the planet try desperately to discover a cure. Pulaski rapidly ages near the point of death, until a sudden cure is discovered involving the transporters which instantly reverses the aging effect. Throughout the ordeal, Capt. Picard admires Pulaski's courage and dedication. Their professional relationship remains solid after these events.

Pulaski has some "personality" issues with Lieutenant Commander Data. Despite the fact that Data has always been seen as alive (and later won the legal rights of a sentient being), Pulaski thinks of Data merely as a machine, and does not understand why he wants to be human. She sometimes speaks about him in the third person while he is present, even referring to him as "it".

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