Professional
Dr Crusher remains professional and dedicated to her job at all times. Even in We'll Always Have Paris when Jean-Luc gives Janice Manheim a little friendly kiss, trying to pass it off to Beverly that they are merely "old friends", Dr Crusher just says a quick "Yes, I can see that", before making it clear that it's Jenice's dying husband that she is more interested in right now.
Her direct respect for life over the otherwise absolute authority of captain Picard is highlighted in The High Ground.
In Suspicions we see that Beverly places justice before diplomacy, and scientific advance before her own career. Going further than merely disagreeing with one of his orders in The High Ground, this episode sees Beverly disobey a direct order from the captain as she maintains her own moral stance. Despite being relieved of duty by Picard, she still gets the job done, even though a bit of encouragement is required by Guinan after Beverly's medical enquiries are thwarted.
Even though Thine Own Self seemed to show that Dr Crusher had decided to advance her career without recourse to marriage, her inclusion in Attached as the sole aide to captain Picard as the representatives to a planet requesting membership of the Federation was an unexpected career development. Mind you, the captain had purposefully misinformed the Aldeans in When the Bough Breaks that at least 2 starfleet representatives are required in any negotiations, nominating Dr Crusher as his partner. Of course she goes on to her own captaincy in All Good Things, by which time she has divorced Jean-Luc.
Command Performances
The doctor's command skills are first seen in Descent when she is left in charge of the Enterprise while most everyone else is chasing Data. Her bridge officer status is briefly elaborated upon in Thine Own Self, in which episode (you guessed it....) Data goes missing. Beverly is finally captain of the medical starship Pasteur in All Good Things.
Thine Own Self
Extract from Bridge Officer's chat with Deanna
BeverlyI volunteered tonight. I like to put in a little bridge time now and then, stay on top of operations, tactical procedures. The truth is, I like it. It's not every doctor who gets to command a starship, even if it is the night shift.
DeannaWhy did you decide to become a commander ? It's not as if you need the rank to be Chief Medical Officer, so why put yourself through all the extra work ?
BeverlyI never even thought about my rank for a long time. It seemed pretty trivial compared to being a doctor. But then, about eight years ago, I started to feel like I wanted to stretch my self a little.
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