Senior Doctor

Primary qualification

• Medical degree with a specialty or proven profile in emergency medicine, intensive care, anaesthesia or family medicine with emergency practice; current registration and licence recognised by the flag and the cruise line.
• Sector reference: the ACEP (American College of Emergency Physicians) guidelines for cruise ship medical facilities call, as a guide, for ≥ 3 years of postgraduate clinical practice in emergency/acute medicine and current advanced life support.
• Regulatory framework: MLC 2006 Regulation 4.1 (medical care on board) and flag legislation on carrying a doctor on passenger ships (the persons-on-board threshold requiring one varies by flag — verify).

Basic STCW

• STCW A-VI/1 Basic Safety Training (the doctor is crew) and passenger-ship familiarisation per the muster list.
• Valid seafarer medical certificate (ENG1 or flag equivalent).

Specific courses

• Current ACLS, ATLS and PALS (advanced, trauma and paediatric life support).
• Gastrointestinal outbreak management per USPH/VSP and EU SHIPSAN protocols, including case-threshold notification (as a guide).
• Maritime Declaration of Health and the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) for port entry.
• Telemedicine and MEDEVAC coordination with tele-medical assistance services (TMAS, e.g. CIRM Rome or the Spanish radio-medical service — as a guide).
• Ship pharmacy management and controlled-drugs custody per flag and itinerary ports.

Indicative experience

As a guide: ≥ 3 years of postgraduate practice in emergency or acute medicine (ACEP guideline) and at least one prior contract as ship's doctor before the senior post. A large cruise ship hospital: 2-3 doctors, 4-6 nurses, acute and isolation beds, basic laboratory and imaging.

Observations

Typical route: Ship's Doctor → Senior Doctor → shoreside fleet medical direction. There is no STCW CoC for doctors: credentials are validated by the line and the flag. Deviations and MEDEVAC are decided with the master — clinical judgement prevails even at enormous operational cost, and that independence is part of the job. GI outbreak surveillance has notification thresholds (VSP/port authority — as a guide) and late reporting has regulatory consequences for the ship. On cruise ships the population on board equals a small town: the medicine is emergency and stabilisation care, not tertiary hospital care.

Typical watches

• Continuous clinical coverage with medical watch rotations

Key responsibilities

• Lead the ship's medical centre and manage emergencies, outbreaks and critical incidents.
• Coordinate telemedicine, stabilisation and pre-MEDEVAC procedures, and advise the master on medical deviations.
• Lead the ship's epidemiological surveillance and health reporting to port authorities.
• Keep the ship's pharmacy, including controlled drugs, with auditable records.

Operational scope

• Onboard hospital, isolation areas and ship medical response