Lieutenant Commander Arnon Barak
Name Arnon Barak MD, PsyD
Position Chief Counselor
Rank Lieutenant Commander
Character Information
| Gender | Male | |
| Species | Vulcanoid Rigelian | |
| Age | 117 |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 6'2" | |
| Weight | 180lbs | |
| Eye Colour | Brown | |
| Hair Colour | dark brown shot through with salt and pepper | |
| Physical Description | Handsome, somewhat devilish (with the pointed ears, slanted eyebrows, and short beard), often seen with a smile or a grin on his face and/or a sparkle in his eye. He has worked hard to craft an appearance and manner of carrying himself that puts people at ease. |
Personality & Traits
| Personality Description | Doctor Arnon Barak, before his work with Starfleet, had spent the larger part of his medical career as a ‘country doctor’, caring for the physical, mental, and emotional health of his patients. This carried over even to his wartime service with Starfleet. He has a way with patients and usually an excellent bedside manner. He is very easy to get along with. He is often very enthusiastic and frequently without shame (shame is not really a thing in Vulcanoid Rigelian culture). Things that might embarrass members of other races fail to embarrass him. Either he feels he said or did the right thing or he uses his mistakes as learning experiences. As a Vulcanoid Rigelian, he uses both regular exercise and sex to control his Vulcanoid emotions. He is not manipulative, nor is he pushy. He doesn’t need to be. He exercises regularly and, when he finds a willing partner, engages in a physical relationship with them. Some of these are casual, but Arnon is most comfortable when he can find a relationship with some commitment to it, someone he can experience not only physical intimacy with, emotional and intellectual intimacy as well. |
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| Ambitions, Hobbies and Interests | HOBBIES/INTERESTS: Marital Arts, Fitness, Old Earth Jazz and Jazz Fusion, Andorian Blues, Vulcan Neuropressure. AMBITIONS: To maintain a connections with patient care as he advances. While he sometimes has ambitions towards positions where he can have a great impact on patients on the macro level, he is at heart a 'country doctor' and isn't ready yet to give up direct contact with patients/clients. Am |
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| Strengths and Weaknesses | STRENGTHS: Excellent Physical Condition Training in the Martial Arts Experienced Physician and Psychologist Good with patients/clients Usually good with people Sensory Empathy -Vulcanoid Rigelians are usually capable of some level of psychokinetic ability, but very rarely possess telepathic or empathic abilities. Arnon is one of those rare cases in that he possesses an ability known as ‘sensory empathy’. It allows him to sense both emotions and physical conditions of others. This ability has been very useful in his career. WEAKNESSES: His enthusiasm sometimes puts people off Some people find him silly and disregard that fact that he is arguably brilliant Sometimes cracks wise or jokes at what others might consider inappropriate times |
Pre-Starfleet History
| Family | MOTHER: Matriarch Lianna Barak Age 187 FATHER: Johar Barak SIBLINGS: Various and sundry by blood and marriage (Matriarch has 10+ husbands and has had children with most of them) OTHER FAMILY: Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, by blood and marriage from his clan |
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| Pre-Starfleet History | Arnon Barak was born in 2272, son of a wealthy clan matriarch by a favorite husband (one out of many husbands). As the son of an aristocrat, and a favorite one at that, Arnon was given every opportunity as far as training and education. These educational opportunities included the opportunity to pursue a career in medicine, medicine being a popular career choice for Rigelians of Arnon’s social status. He soared through school, earning high marks and accolades. By 2298, he was participating in an internship in General Medicine. His mother and father and clan expected he would pursue one of the more prestigious career tracks such as hematology or oncology. Instead, Arnon was more interested in patients than research. He chose emergent care and performed well in that career. However, he soon tired of only seeing patients on their worst day. He wanted to spend more time with patients and wanted the opportunity to treat the whole patient and share with them not only their bad days, but also some of their good ones. To this end, he pursued a residency that combined family medicine and psychiatry, spending over twenty years as a ‘country doctor’ treating patients in a small rural clinic. Rigel V had joined the Federation in the last years of the 23rd Century when Arnon was still in secondary school. As time went on and contact with the Federation increased, a kind of wanderlust (for lack of a better word) came over Arnon. He wanted to go out and see some of the galaxy. He applied for a special fellowship at Starfleet Medical, where he learned about interspecies medicine and surgery. |
Starfleet History & Service Records
| Starfleet Service History | Just as Arnon’s Starfleet Fellowship was coming to an end, the Cardassian Border Wars began. At the time, Arnon was unwilling to take a commission in Starfleet but he wanted to help. To that end, he accepted a position as a civilian contractor with Starfleet and served as a physician and surgeon throughout the border wars. During this time, he met Rachel Rodriguez and Shannon O’Connor. He ‘dated’ both of them at different times, but eventually introduced them to each other. They fell in love and got married. When they decided to have children, they chose Arnon to be the father. Since they loved him almost as much as they loved each other, they decided to conceive the children the old-fashioned way. It was decided between the three of them that the children would know Arnon as their father and that he would be a part of their lives as much as possible. During the early years of his children’s lives, he lived with them on Betazed. When Arnon joined Starfleet, Rachel, Shannon, and the children moved in with his clan on Rigel V and they were not present on Betazed for the occupation. After the war, Arnon attended the University of Betazed and earned of Doctor of Psychology Degree (PsyD). He had planned on working on Betazed for a time, but those plans were derailed by the Federation-Klingon War. Feeling the need to serve yet again, this time Arnon responded to a call for medical professionals willing to attend Starfleet Officer Candidacy School and accept a commission as an officer. He served through out the Federation-Klingon War and the Dominion War. During the Second Battle of Chintoka, he was among a group of Marines and Starfleet personnel, along with some members of the KDF and Romulan Star Navy, who were left behind on the planet in the chaos. They took to the mountains and waged a guerilla war against the Breen and the Jem’Hadar until the end of the war. They were rescued when Starfleet realized they had been left behind. After a recuperative leave, which he spent with his children and their mothers, Arnon returned to service in Starfleet, working primarily as a counselor. In 2389, he was assigned to the USS Nogura as Chief Counselor. EDUCATION: Undergraduate Degree in Psychology, Bakol College (Rigel V) Doctor of Medicine, Andret Medical College (Rigel V) General Practice Internship (Rigel V) Emergent Care Residency (Rigel V) Family Practice/Psychiatry Residency (Rigel V) *This kind of thing does exist. One was started at University of California-Davis in the 1990s Interspecies Medicine/Surgery Fellowship (Starfleet Medical) Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) University of Betazed *Both the PhD and PsyD programs in Clinical Psychology train students to be practicing clinical psychologists. The difference between the degrees as I understand it is that the PhD has a larger research component to it, while the PsyD student can expect to do less research and more clinical work. Starfleet Officer Candidacy School SERVICE RECORD: Born 2272 Rigel V 2286-2390 Secondary School 2290-2294 Undergraduate Degree 2294-2298 Medical School 2298-2299 General Practice Medicine Intern 2299-2302 Emergent Care Residency 2302-2312 Emergent Care Attending 2312-2317 Family Practice/Psychiatry Residency 2317-2340 Family Physician and Psychiatrist 2340-2346 Interspecies Medicine/Surgery Fellowship, Starfleet Medical Academy (Various Sites) 2346-2367 Civilian Contractor Physician for Starfleet, Cardassian War 2367-2372 PsyD Program at University of Betazed 2372-2372 Starfleet Officer Candidacy School 2372-2373 Ensign, Counselor/Physician, Federation-Klingon War 2373-2374 Ensign, Counselor/Physician, Dominion War 2374-2375 Lieutenant JG, Counselor/Physician, Dominion War 2375-2378 Lieutenant JG, Counselor/Physician, Cardassian Reconstruction 2378-2386 Lieutenant, Chief Counselor, USS Marlowe 2386-2389 Lieutenant Commander, Counselor, Starfleet Medical, Psychiatric Ward, PTSD Unit 2389-2389 Assigned USS Nogura as Chief Counselor |