The Stars That Govern Us takes place in a fictional teaching hospital in Perth, Western Australia known as Stirling University Hospital.
Note that during the time the novel was set, Australia generally followed British tradition where doctor is a title for a doctor of medicine, and mister is the title for a full fledged and accredited surgeon.
Dr. Timothy Michael Latimer
“Beating yourself up is all right if it makes you better, Alec. Beating yourself up is not all right if all it does is cause you to question yourself. That’s all I have to say on the matter, other than my door is always open.”
Tim Latimer is Stirling University Hospital’s chief of cardiology and a medical doctor. He is a caring physician and one who is well-liked by the staff. A lifelong bachelor, Tim has a penchant for bow ties. He shares responsibility for the care of the patients on A2-CTS, the hospital’s cardiothoracic surgery ward, with Alec. When Alec has a mental breakdown and panic attack in the operating theater, it is Tim who stands up for Alec and defends him against dismissal by his boss, chief of surgery Henry Miller.
Mr. Henry Buck Miller
“You’ll be bitten someday,” Pete said, shaking his head. “Those cockies could take off a finger. Then where will you be? I’ll tell you where you’ll be. You’ll be out of a job. They won’t keep a four-fingered surgeon on staff. Henry isn’t running a charity. His loyalty lasts only as long as you remain useful.”
Henry Miller is Stirling University’s Chief of Surgery, which makes him Alec and Pete’s immediate superior. Pete refers to him as “the Devil,” while Alec simply calls him, “The Old Man.”
In the novel, Miller is described as:
Miller was indeed an old man. He had served as Stirling’s surgical chief since the beginning of the decade and was now in his late seventies. Eighty pounds overweight, pompous, and parsimonious with the department coffers, he had developed a noticeable tremor and many of the consultants whispered Miller should not be operating at all.
When Alec has a breakdown in the operating theater, Henry is inclined to terminate Alec, but is convinced otherwise by Tim Latimer. At the end of the novel, he ensures that Alec and Pete get the attention they deserve — whether they wanted it or not!
Dr. Joshua Garland
Just under average height, Josh had a round soft face and mild blue-gray eyes. He jerked his head in the affirmative, gaze darting everywhere as if expecting interlopers. Alec had only worked with Josh a handful of times, but the young man’s reputation was as a gentle soul and a talented doctor, one with excellent technical skills.
When Alec loses Pete’s services and decides to proceed with attempting to repair a VSD using a cardiopulmonary bypass machine on a very sick 4-year-old g, he selects one of the hospital’s surgical fellows, Josh Garland, to assist. Josh is an earnest and ambitious young surgeon, eager to please and learn. He proves to be a capable first assistant despite a lack of experience in heart surgery and having never worked with Alec before, and Alec keeps him on the team when they make their second attempt with the machine.
Dr. Gabriel Bancroft
Of mixed Māori and English ancestry, and with a solid build still well-suited for the rugby pitch—he had played for the New Zealand national team as a full-back—the young native of Wellington had been a promising surgical trainee before a road accident had left him a paraplegic. Henry hadn’t seemed to know what to do with a paralyzed surgical house officer, assigning Gabe to pointless research projects. But the fact Gabe was in a wheelchair didn’t bother Alec in the least. He had needed someone smart, responsible, and diligent to help him research, build, and ultimately run the machine; over the past several weeks—and the last few days in particular—Gabe had proved to be all those things and more.
Gabe Bancroft acts as Alec’s research assistant. He is a conscientious and diligent young man, tireless and willing to undertake whatever task Alec places in front of him. Gabe proves an incredible asset and extremely important to Alec; in the theater, Alec trusts Gabe completely to run the heart-lung machine.