Lieutenant Prudence Devin
Name Prudence Devin
Position Assistant Chief Medical Officer
Rank Lieutenant
Character Information
| Gender | Female | |
| Species | Human | |
| Age | 43 | |
| Date of Birth | 3rd May, 2253 | |
| Place of Birth | Oxford, England, Earth |
Physical Appearance
| Height | 5'8" | |
| Weight | 134lbs | |
| Hair Color | brown | |
| Eye Color | Grey | |
| Physical Description | Prudence is a relatively normal looking woman in her early 40s. She is attractive, although she is not doing anything to fight nature. She keeps herself in shape with fencing and yoga, as well as decent diet. She wears her brown hair in various styles depending on how she feels, from a short bob to longer and pinned up, repeating the cycle of growing it out and cutting it. She has a pale complexion and claims that she does not tan, she burns. |
Family
| Spouse | ||
| Children | ||
| Father | Christopher Devin, Deceased | |
| Mother | Anna Marie Devin, Deceased | |
| Brother(s) | Professor Anthony Devin, Lecturer at Cambridge | |
| Sister(s) | ||
| Other Family |
Other Relationships
| Significant Other(s)/Romance | Leon Arden (ex-husband) | |
| Friends | ||
| Enemies/Rivals |
Personality & Traits
| General Overview | There seems to be two sides of her, on for when she is working with those in her care and one when she is working with colleges. When she is working with people who are not in her care, she can be seen as tough but fair. She does not like people trying to hide blame and would much rather people admit to their mistakes so that they can all learn from it. She will do anything to protect those in her care, having no qualms about picking up a weapon in that defence. She does not tolerate stupidity from those she works with as well and will be quick to call up people on something that compromises a patient's care. She also respects the chain of command and is a believer in the necessity of it on a Starfleet vessel, even if she will occasionally in private disagree with other senior officers. She has, reluctantly, become a bit of a career Starfleet officer. As a psychiatrist who is a medical officer, she balances the physical needs of a patient with the psychological needs. As a medical doctor she is knowledgeable, yet curious. Her bedside manner isn’t bad, but she leaves most of the hand holding to the nurses who have more time to build those connections. She believes in informing patients and being honest rather than talking over them. She believes in listening between the lines. As a psychiatrist, she is compassionate and fair, but will do what she thinks is best for the patient in question. Sometimes, it is even to push the person out of their usual comfort zone. She takes great pride in what she does and wants to make sure that she performs to the highest standard. In her private life, Prudence can be a bit closed off. She is naturally sarcastic, but tries not to let it be people's first impression of her. She is a woman who works well with control, who has a strict reign on her own emotions. Having said that, she is able to let loose and have fun as well, but more around those she trusts. She is very aware that she needs to be projecting a certain professional image as a medical doctor and tries her best to be all that. She is a passionate woman under all of this, who enjoys the rush of adrenaline through her veins and the pleasures of life, even if she is getting older. |
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| Strengths, Weaknesses, and Quirks | Strengths: Prudence is a capable woman, a skilled medical doctor and a good psychiatrist. She puts her patients first in what she does, as well as those that serve under her. She has a strong will and able to adjust her moral to survive. Some would argue that it is a weakness, but she has always considered adaptability a strength. She also has a calculating streak, able to see what is the advantage of an argument. In her work, it makes her able to judge confidently between truths and lies. Weaknesses: Prudence suppresses her emotions on a frequent basis, hiding behind politeness when she feels uncomfortable or is feeling an emotion that she thinks isn't suitable for a woman in her line of work. She doesn't suffer fools kindly either and can be quite blunt if she has been pushed to the brink. She can be stubborn and will have no issue with telling anyone that they are wrong if she believes it to be so. In the past, it has been commented that she is rather fond of her drink, although Prudence denies this. |
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| Ambitions | Prudence hopes to retire to the countryside once she is past her expiration date in Starfleet. She wants to start writing crime fiction. | |
| Hobbies, Interests, Likes, and Dislikes | Prudence's hobbies and interests include, but are not limited to: fencing, psychiatry, psychology, medicine, medical history. ballroom dancing, romantic novels, writing. Prudence speaks in a clear voice, her accent what most would say "Queen's English", when it truth it is more a product of being privately educated. Her voice can be soothing, but equally cold. |
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| Languages Known | English, Italian, Latin (she did go to a private school) and some Vulcan | |
| Medical Profile | Currently in good health, prone to migraines though. Two broken ribs from when she was a teenager in a shuttle crash, as well as lacerations to her right side. Healed in hospital. Lacerations to hands and arms onboard the USS Montgomery, healed in sickbay. |
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| Psychological Profile | ||
| Defining Quotes and/or Character Beliefs |
| Personal History | Prudence Devin is the second child born to Anna Marie and Christopher Devin of Oxford, England and was born into a family where the mother, a Watson, had come from a family of old money, while her father was working class and had only had the education offered to him by the Federation. Although she wouldn't know it for some time, both her and her brother were set onto the bath of education by their father, who himself had experienced a less privileged childhood. Prudence grew up in a good family where you were expected to do your best and if you failed you would simply get more tutoring. Her older brother, Anthony, was in the same position although two years ahead of her. Both Anthony and Prudence were close, urging each other on as much as fighting each other. It could potentially drive their parents quite mad, but it seemed both Christopher and Anna Marie were quite happy that their children were interacting well. However, after the incident with the almost burned-out shuttle, a prank gone too far, Christopher and Anna Marie decided that the two children had to be split up. She was sent to an all girls' school in her teens, preparing her for the next steps in her life. Prudence, however, had a wilder side. She enjoyed parties, she relished in challenges and losing control. In fact, some would even call her a destructive influence on her friends. She was intelligent but stubborn and therefore, by default, set in her ways. While she would excel at her subjects during tests and maintain her place on the school's fencing team and the shooting team, she didn't appear to be doing any studying to those around her. Truth was, she did, but in secret...as she was not a genius, she still had to learn things the good old fashioned way. She had her boyfriends and girlfriends, learned what she wanted to learn and flaunted what she knew. She could be a terror, cold and stony as well as quite sarcastic. But like most things in life, it took a tragedy to change the party girl's life. She was on a school trip with her class when the shuttles they were flying in crashed. Several students were killed on impact but Prudence was one of the survivors and being better off physically, she found herself helping her classmates to the best of her abilities. This tragedy killed two teachers, a pilot and six girls...and changed Prudence forever. She returned to the school, not as a party girl, but someone almost closed off. She coped by understanding her own mind and grief and would research how the mind coped with things. It was what would eventually lead her towards university and her medical degree. Wanting to go into psychiatry, Prudence started doing a three year undergraduate degree in medicine. She went to a London University, despite knowing that she could get a quicker route via Starfleet. However, Prudence was an idealist and didn't want her own personality and individuality to be swallowed up in a larger organisation, as well as wanting to stay in England. University treated Prudence well. Very well, in fact, as she even met someone. Leon Arden was a fellow student, although he was studying criminology and the first thing Prudence noticed was how tall he was. They became friends first, good friends who would laugh and help each other out as well. Eventually, they became lovers as well, sharing their secrets and dreams. She trusted him with all she was and he trusted her equally. Prudence graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine. Both her and Leon graduated at the same time and while Leon joined the local law enforcement, Prudence went to get her two years practical practice, which was required before she could go on and do her Ph.D. in psychiatry. She worked at a local hospital, mostly working with mental illnesses as that was what she wished to do with her life. After finishing her two years of practice, Prudence started on her Ph.D, something which would take six years and mean that she spent at least three years working in a psychiatric hospital being overseen by a qualified psychiatrist. She did her dissertation on Post-traumatic stress disorder, as it was a field that interested her, with a section on how childhood PTSD would manifest in adulthood. Both Prudence and Leon now lived in a small flat in North London...it was only two rooms and a bathroom, but it was their sanctuary. Their friends started asking about when they would get married but Prudence never brought it up. She didn't quite believe in marriage anyway, despite her parents' happy marriage, she didn't think that two people needed that sort of 'proof' of commitment. They did get a cat together though, nicknamed Tiger, who spent a lot of time curled up on Prudence's work when she was studying. When he wasn't working, Leon would indulge in his hobbies...which became Prudence's too. Fencing she already knew how to do and she was good at it. She had never been good at shooting, but Leon showed her on the firing ranges. And he would take her hiking too, something which she truly detested. Their fights would be legendary, with her accusing him of being an action man only interested in his own satisfaction and she would be accused of being a stiff upper-lipped cold-hearted witch. Their arguments would end in tears and then laughter, although it was clear that it wasn't healthy for them. Despite this, Prudence said yes when he proposed to her and they married the next year. It was the same year Prudence finished her training and became a proper Psychiatrist. It was a year of whirlwinds for her and Leon. They moved to a bigger house now that Prudence was working properly and Leon started asking about children. Prudence, however, knew she was not going to be a good mother. And more importantly, she knew that their relationship wasn't stable enough for children. The arguments kept coming on it before Prudence was quite honest with him. While she loved him, she couldn't give him a child. And she couldn't change who she was and he couldn't change who he was. Their relationship was love and passion; actual compatibility in a partnership was different. She had expected the arguments to start...instead, she had him agree. They shared a bottle of scotch over it, half celebrating, half commiserating. By 2286 they were divorced. But they would meet up, every year on their wedding day, for dinner, drinks and more. Some traditions had to be celebrated. From 2282 until 2286, Prudence was part of a private practice but would also work at the closest medical centre. Due to the nature of it, she did medical cases as well as psychiatry, stepping outside of her comfort zone. In 2286, newly divorced and facing having to move out of her house, Prudence had to make some tough decisions. She had been struggling at work after her boss ordered a stop on treatments for a patient of hers and in a burst of anger told him to do one. As a result, Prudence also found herself without a job. Deciding she needed a new start, she went to Starfleet and it was decided that she should do the full four year course in order to understand the Starfleet way of medicine better, and to become a half-decent officer. Prudence was older than most when joining and got through her training without much difficulty. She still was up to date with medical procedure, yet there was more to medicine in Starfleet than it had been on Earth. There was a lot for her to cover and she felt the need to perform well. She fell back into the pattern she had done at university; work hard and focus on the work, do social things when required or when she felt like beating a book over her hair. So again, she was on a fencing team. She also got better training with phasers, as she had only done firing range training before. She graduated in 2290 and went to the USS London to serve there as a medical officer. She spent her time well on the London, showing herself capable both as a psychiatrist and a medical doctor when she needed to be; usually when the London had gotten itself into some disaster. She made some friends and had a rather strained working relationship with the ship's XO, who loathed any support and seemed to struggle with his temper, and unfortunately for him, Prudence would be the one to take an interest for the sake of mental health, and the mental health of those who served under him. However, it somehow seemed to work and she gained confidence with working with Starfleet personnel. She stayed on the London for the next five years, becoming a valued member of the crew and someone whose opinion was listened to, even if it was not always popular. She made Assistant Chief on the London, but when the ship's Captain was transferred off she requested a new posting, as did the majority of the officers. So in 2295 she was the Assistant Medical Officer on the USS Montgomery, a posting that would prove to be more than just a day trip out. The ship was attacked by mercenaries and medical was taken over. Despite any oath that she might have taken as a medical doctor, Prudence joined with Security to take back sickbay in what proved to be a bloody battle. However, for her efforts she would be recommended being assigned to another ship so she had the chance to further her medical studies; in truth the Chief Security Officer believed it had been a stupid idea bringing her along and that it was mere luck she hadn't gotten herself killed. Truthfully, Prudence would agree with him. Her next posting would be the USS America, as the Assistant Chief Medical Officer. |
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| Education Record | ||
| Service Record | 2286-2290 Starfleet Academy, Medical (specialism: Emergency Psychiatry) 2290-2295 USS London, Medical, Assistant Chief Medical Office 2295-2296 USS Montgomery, Assistant Chief Medical Officer 2296-PRES USS America, Assistant Chief Medical Officer |