The first of twelve books in the Sector General series. This vast sectionalized hospital in space is staffed by almost every species in the galaxy.
"The story of Sector General is told in a series of related, but not connected, episodes, each having to do with the particular problems of one alien creature... while O'Mara, the all-too-human head of a circus with as many rings as it has performers, is surely the most unusual space commander yet conceived -- a far cry from the jut-jawed heroic idiot of conventional space opera" (blurb).