Doc Mitchell

Doc Mitchell is a surgeon and doctor living in Goodsprings

Background
Doc Mitchell grew up as resident of Vault 21 underneath New Vegas Strip, where he earned the nickname "mole-butt" by the Vault's younger residents due to a "big mole in his rear bumper." During the New Vegas Strip renovations from 2274 onwards, Mr. House contacted the Vault 21 residents with the prospect of participating in the city's resurgence. Most of the residents refused, while others challenged those against the change on House's behalf, deciding the fate of the Vault via a game of Blackjack. House's supporters won in an "extremely risky, and fateful, gambit," leading to the opening and stripping of the Vault. House filled the entire Vault with concrete, leaving part of the top level untouched. This forced many residents into homelessness, including Mitchell.

Mitchell parted ways with residents and became a traveling doctor, which he felt was a "good idea at the time." He used his medical expertise to help others, noting that "most folks out here ain't educated," making his skillset a rare occurrence. Eventually, Mitchell went back to Vault 21 to marry his childhood sweetheart. They had plans to travel to California, but only made it as far as Goodsprings when his wife became ill from germ infection caused by years of isolation in the vault. When she passed away, Mitchell had no reason to keep traveling, and opted to remain in Goodsprings to keep close to her.

During Fallout: New Vegas, a courier shot in the head was discovered by Victor at the Goodsprings Cemetery buried. Victor determined the courier was still alive after digging their grave, quickly bringing them to Doc Mitchell, who removed most of the lead shrapnel from their brain.

Other interactions

 * Mitchell revives the player character after being found by Victor and sets the character's stats for the game with the help of the Vit-o-Matic Vigor Tester. He then gives the Courier a set of weapons (depending on tagged skills), a Vault 21 jumpsuit (either his own or his late wife's, depending on gender), and his old Pip-Boy 3000. Having either of the pre-order packs, or the Courier's Stash installed, the items will be added when the game begins, though cannot be accessed until receiving the Pip-Boy 3000.
 * Prior to leaving the house for the first time, the Courier can also gain an additional eight stimpaks if the Medicine skill is initially lower than 30 by passing a Speech check (30). An additional Medicine check (31) can be completed after using the Today's Physician on one of his tables, followed by another Speech check (30), again this must be done before leaving the house the first time. All three skill checks reward 30 XP for a total of 90 XP. Similarly, with attribute builds that start both Speech at or above 30 and Medicine above 30 (e.g. Int 10, Chr 10, Luck 7), Medicine can be temporarily lowered by drinking alcohol (e.g. from Mitchell's refrigerator) to temporarily lower it below 30 and enable passing all three checks.
 * During the word association part of the psych evaluation, if the player picks any of the following; kick, demolish, crush, heavy and human shield, Doc Mitchell will mention how disturbing their answers are.
 * If in the word test "campfire" is picked as an answer, the next word will be "enemy" instead of "bandit."

Vit-o-matic comments
Mitchell's dialogue is influenced by the Courier's choice of S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes.


 * If the highest attribute is Strength at 8 and the lowest is Perception at 1, he will comment on lacking Perception.
 * If two stats are at equal opposite extremes, for example Strength at 10 and Perception at 1, he will comment on the high extreme.
 * If two or more attributes are tied for an extreme, he will comment on the one corresponding to the latest letter in SPECIAL as a form of tiebreaker. For example, a Strength, Perception and Endurance all at 9, and no other attribute at 1, he will comment on Endurance.
 * If all attributes are between 4 and 7, he will use the "pretty standard score" comment.

Inventory

 * Only during Run Goodsprings Run.

Behind the scenes
A mod was made that changed one of the answers on Doc Mitchell's inkbloth test to "Two bears high-fiving." The mod was then referenced in Honest Hearts with the Two-Bears-High-Fiving Wild Wasteland occurrence.

Appearances
Doc Mitchell appears in Fallout: New Vegas and is mentioned in the add-on Old World Blues.

Bugs
Doc Mitchell will not fix radiation poisoning if the player character selects any other fix after that choice until they exit out of dialogue with him.