Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related FFQ: Dr. Klein

Does anyone know what kind of scientist he is? What's his main field? Chemistry of some kind?

Thanks!
Carol

I believe he is a medical doctor specializing in research. In the episode, It's a Small World After All, he says:

The bit about clinical work and the whole conversation between him and Clark about doctor / patient confidentiality says to me that he's probably a medical doctor.

I rather had the impression that Dr. Klein has several specialties. He may be a medical doctor specializing in research but he also seems to be an expert in physics, engineering and chemistry. This isn't as far fetched as it may seem at first. One can take a Bachelor's degree in one thing and a Masters in something else, and then a Doctorate in something else -- as long as you have enough prerequisites to your credit, either from your other degrees or independently. My brother has his doctorate in Mechanical Engineering but he qualified for medical school, and for a while was considering switching careers.

Nan

I don't know that he has a specialty per se. He's an advanced research scientist. He's good at all that sciency stuff. Whatever the writers need him to be good at this week.

More seriously, he's probably got an MD-PHD. Dual doctorates in medicine and... probably physics. Or maybe biology, with an undergrad background in physics. Or something like that.

When it gets down to it, though, he's a nerd. He likes science. Understanding how stuff works. Knowing all the cool things you can do. He works in a building full of nerds and swaps information with them all the time. Lunchtime at STAR Labs should probably be worth college credit. So, he's aware of stuff outside of his field because he's interested in it and, whatever it is, the guy down the hall is probably an expert in it.

LOL...
LOL...
From my experience in science, once you get the qualifications/degrees in whatever field (medical research, psychology, enginering/physics.....chemistry/pharmacology and drug design...) there is no stopping where you can go in the science world, you just have to prove the ability to perform and produce quality research, and after that you can chose in which direction you want to pursue further

If he is that brilliant really,
then there is no reason (industrially) why he cannot be a *Jack--of-all-trades* within the scientific community... having a hand in lots of pies simultaneously, while he has students working under him and doing their own PHD's, he may learn theory from their results while they learn technique from him...

to quote my old biology professor... A symbiotic relationship...

Just like your high-school teacher was required to teach you chem/bio/physics/astronomy... and no scientist exists where a biologist knows nothing about physics or chemistry and the same for Physics/chem/bio in whatever combinations

He probably has a couple of upper level degrees. I use to work at the Medical College of Virginia in the Biochemistry Department. We had a student who graduated in 4 years with his Medical Degree and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry. He was the first to do both in 4 years. Usually those who were going for dual degrees put off their internships a year to finish the Ph.D.

He did it by pretty much living in the lab when he wasn't in classes. He would start his experiements and set timers to wake him at the different points he needed. We would come in very often to find him asleep on the conference room table. So obviously a really science nerd. I kind of picture Dr. Klein like that - going for several degrees at one time.

So he could do whatever he does in the daytime [I was thinking chemistry because of his analysis etc. of Kryptonite and such] and be a pretty good astronomer in his spare time? I'm not sure what I need for his daytime thing [though I like the 'jack of all trades' thing!], but I was hoping he could be a very above average astronomer in his off hours.

He's meeting with Lois and Clark momentarily about a break in at Star Labs [though he hasn't bothered to tell ME about it yet], but when Lois was telling Clark all about him [non series continuity obviously], he was really good at astronomy and for reasons to be explained later, I'd like to leave it that way .

Thanks!
Carol

It sounds reasonable to me. At the risk of sounding like I come from a family of nerds (I do) my father was an MD but he had a Masters in biochemistry, and I think another in Physics. He was fascinated by mathematics and loved astronomy. He and my brother built a pretty decent reflecting telescope so that they could go outside on clear nights when we lived in Indiana and observe the sky. He loved all kinds of music (played the trombone, bass fiddle and piano) and he was into Natural Science and a bunch of other things as well. (He was always bringing home exotic animals, when we lived in Trinidad and Panama, so he could show them to my brother, sister and me) Mom hated it. She didn't appreciate the two-toed sloth that he kept in the downstairs playroom for two days before he took it out into the jungle to release it, and she *really* didn't like the foot-long alligator he kept in the washtub on the screened-in porch for two months while we were in North Carolina. Needless to say, he took that out to a stream in the woods and turned it loose, as well. So I see no reason that Dr. Klein couldn't have an expertise in astronomy in addition to everything else he does.

Nan

Ah, Nan. I wish I had grown up at your house!

Nope. It’s not at all far fetched. It just didn’t occur to me. It should have since I have more than one degree myself and almost enough credits for a couple more.


Why not? Even if he doesn’t have a degree in it, it could be a personal interest.


Just think how excited he’d be if Superman took him for a trip into space!

Look at the astronaut Story Musgrave, six degrees, one of them a MD. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/musgrave.html

Suddenly I feel very undereducated!

Chris

Nan, your Dad sounds like a wonderful man! Lucky you, growing up in such a household.

Yvonne