Bones, Crusher, Bashir, The Doctor, Phlox and Pulaski, StarTrek.com thanks you for your patients, literally (and pun intended). After more than a month of weekly polls -- asking fans to assess the Trek doctors' Skill, Empathy, Confidence, Humor and Dedication -- and with nearly 75,000 votes cast, the Star Trek franchise’s best doctor ever is: The Doctor, portrayed, of course, by Robert Picardo. Star Trek: Voyager’s EMH earned the most total votes, 22,000, besting his closest competitor, Bones, who earned 15,500 total votes. The Doctor also won most of the individual polls, as he was declared most dedicated, most confident and most skilled; Bones was named most humorous (beating The Doctor by just one percentage point, or about 200 votes), while fans deemed Crusher the most empathetic Trek medic.



"I was very proud to hear that The Doctor was voted Trek's most popular doctor by more than 20,000 fans," Picardo told us when informed of the poll results. "I am sure that The Doctor is, as I am, humbled to hear this news".

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Picardo was able to contact The Doctor (OK, it’s really Picardo writing this) in a remote region of the Alpha Quadrant, where is working with a volunteer organization he founded, Holo-Doctors Without Ego-Borders. His reaction to the news...



“I was surprised to find that I had not already received this distinction. The comparison is hardly fair to my Starfleet colleagues, as my program contained whatever was worthwhile from their experience and knowledge (not to mention everything else known about medicine in the 24th century). I am delighted to dedicate the -- I hope substantial -- cash award to my research in Holographic Sex Surrogacy."

Picardo/The Doctor touched on one of the big issues noted by fans throughout the polling process: did The Doctor, as a programmed hologram, have an unfair advantage? Or is his win symbolic of what humans most want in a doctor? And if it IS symbolic, are the results at all surprising to you?

And, also, the bottom-line questions in all of this: how comfortable would YOU be having The Doctor as your primary care physician? As your emergency care physician?