- For the mirror universe counterpart, see Joseph M'Benga (mirror).
Doctor Jabilo Geoffrey M'Benga was a human Starfleet officer, and one of the first human doctors to specialize in Vulcan medicine. In the late 2260s he was assigned to the USS Enterprise and became a valuable part of Dr. Leonard McCoy's team.
Early Career
Dr. M'Benga graduated from Starfleet Medical School in the late 2250s, and was assigned to Vulcan, where he interned in a Vulcan ward for several years, increasing his knowledge of Vulcan physiology and psychology.
In late 2264, M'Benga was assigned to Starbase 47 (aka Vanguard) in the Taurus Reach where he studied under long-time veteran, Dr. Ezekiel Fisher. The two doctors became good friends, but Fisher kept trying to test M'Benga's Vulcan-like reserve and manner, and the two often attended rugby games on the station.
In 2265, the USS Enterprise docked at Vanguard seeking repairs following the mission to the galactic barrier. At this time, M'Benga was looking to further his career, and a chance meeting with the Enterprise's chief medical officer, Dr. Mark Piper, resulted in him promising that he would put in a good word for him to be assigned to the Enterprise. (VAN novel: Harbinger)
By 2266, M'Benga had officially applied for transfer to ship duty. While awaiting word on his transfer, he began treating the comatose Lieutenant Commander T'Prynn, who had finally succumbed to her decades-long val'reth condition. Despite his background interning on Vulcan, M'Benga was unable to revive T'Prynn. Accompanied by journalist Tim Pennington, M'Benga escorted his patient to Vulcan for treatment by the healer Sobon. Following T'Prynn's recovery, he was ordered to the Vulcan capital of Shi'Kahr to receive new assignment orders. (VAN novel: Open Secrets)
Aboard the Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The Modala Imperative
At some point in mid-2267, very likely not long after getting new billeting orders from Starfleet Command, M'Benga served aboard the USS Enterprise during the Modala recontact-mission, when Captain Kirk and Ensign Chekov were arrested by the Modalan authorities planetside. (TOS - The Modala Imperative comic: "Tools of Tyranny")
The Vulcan Science Academy Murders and The IDIC Epidemic
Later in 2267, M'Benga returned to Vulcan to further his studies of Vulcan medicine. A few months after returning to Vulcan, a deadly plague broke out on the Vulcan colony Nisus. M'Benga and a Vulcan medical team was transported to the colony aboard the Enterprise, to help find a cure for the plague.
Upon arrival at Nisus, Dr. McCoy and M'Benga strived for weeks to find a cure, while attempting to treat the thousands of victims, but eventually a cure was found, in the form of blood from a half Klingon- half human child. However, McCoy was so impressed with M'Benga's devotion to duty and knowledge of Vulcan anatomy during the crisis that he offered M'Benga a full-time position aboard the Enterprise again, and he accepted. (TOS novels: The Vulcan Academy Murders, The IDIC Epidemic)
Re-Assignment to the Enterprise
A few weeks after his re-assignment to the Enterprise, Spock was badly injured after after suffering a gunshot wound on Neural. M'Benga operated to remove the bullet, but knew that Spock had to bring himself out of a coma, and both he and Christine Chapel were forced to violently slap Spock to bring him around. (TOS episode: "A Private Little War")
In 2268, during the encounter with Losira on the Kalandan Outpost, M'Benga was forced to perform an autopsy on Ensign Wyatt, and concluded that he died from complete cellular disruption. Shortly after, M'Benga and the entire Science and Medical divisions worked to find a cure to a disease that had struck Captain Kirk's landing party on the outpost, and prevented them from being transported up. (TOS episode: "That Which Survives"; ST - Gateways novel: One Small Step)
Death's Angel
In 2269, Dr. M'Benga accompanied Captain Kirk and a survey team to planet Delta Gamma IV on the border of Klingon space. All of the survey team became infected with plant spores and fell ill, but M'Benga was among the survivors who were later treated aboard the Enterprise and apparently made a full recovery.
A few weeks later, the Enterprise was assigned to transport a group of Federation ambassadors, led by Ambassador Sarek, from Starbase 7 to Detente Station 1 for peace talks with the Romulans. En route, several Federation ambassadors were murdered in a set of bizarre circumstances. A thorough investigation revealed the murderer to be Dr. M'Benga. He could not be held responsible, however, because he was under the influence of the psionic-boosting spores still present from Delta Gamma IV. M'Benga could not live with the murders on his conscience and left the Enterprise to undergo psychiatric treatment. (TOS novel: Death's Angel)
Later Life
Following his recovery from the events aboard the Enterprise, Dr. M'Benga returned to Starfleet duty, and in late 2270, he was working as a pathologist at the Stanford Medical Center. (TOS novels: The Lost Years and Traitor Winds)
In early 2286, after James T. Kirk and his command staff were exonerated of charges stemming from the Genesis Incident, M'Benga was assigned to serve aboard the brand-new USS Enterprise-A as surgeon alongside Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy. (TOS comic: "When You Wish Upon a Star")
In 2293, M'Benga attended James T. Kirk's memorial service in the grounds of Starfleet Academy, along with many other former Enterprise crewmembers. (TOS novel: Crucible: The Fire and the Rose)
After serving many years in Starfleet, M'Benga settled down on Vulcan, in the Voroth Sea region, and became a plomeek farmer, and also raised a family. His great-granddaughter, Andrea M'Benga, would serve in Starfleet as a doctor in the 24th century. (TOS novel: Avenger)
Alternate timelines
In an alternate timeline in which the Vulcans had remained a violent and emotional species, M'Benga served as the chief medical officer of the IUES Enterprise I, a Charter-class starship of the Interstellar Guard in service during the late 23rd century. He was preceded by Leonard McCoy. (ST - Myriad Universes novel: The Tears of Eridanus)
Appearances in Chronological Order
|
Connections
| Chief medical officers of the starships Enterprise | ||
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise (NX-01) | Phlox | 
|
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | Poole-April • Boyce • Piper • McCoy • Chapel | 
|
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (Kelvin timeline) | Puri • McCoy | 
|
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (other alternate realities) | McCoy • Boyce • Carlotti • M'Benga | |
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) | McCoy | 
|
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) (alternate realities) | Carlotti | |
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B) | Metcalfe • Michaels • McCoy • Morell | |
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-C) | Casado • Stern • Aristide | |
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) | Crusher • Pulaski | 
|
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) (alternate realities) | Ogawa | |
| USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) | Crusher • Stevenson | 
|
| ISS Enterprise (NX-01) | Phlox | 
|
| ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701) | Boyce • McCoy • M'Benga | |
| ISS Enterprise (ICC-1701-D) | Crusher | |
External link
- Joseph M'Benga article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.