In this pilot, an older and more experienced Kildare has assumed the role of mentor after the passing of Dr. Gillespie. Kildare and his intern, Dr. Grayson have a patient needing brain surgery after a head injury. The wife tells Kildare that the patient's friend had been paralyzed after such a surgery and that he made her promise not to consent. A young nurse trainee gets emotionally involved, making her wonder if she will be effective as a nurse. When the patient revives from the morphine, Kildare convinces him to consent to surgery. The anesthesiologist informs Kildare and his intern, Dr. Grayson, that the patient's breathing is too shallow to perform the surgery. Kildare realizes that the problem may have come from inhalation exposure and tries to find out what the patient has done in the past. The patient manages to communicate that he previously worked in a factory where fluorescent light bulbs were made, and Kildare diagnoses beryllium poisoning. Meanwhile, Kildare's intern is wanting to leave Blair and take what appears to be a lucrative practice. Kildare, in an effort to keep the intern at Blair, intervenes to get another departing intern the job. The surgery is a success, with both the intern and the nurse having learned something about themselves from the experience.
Wed, Oct 18, 1961
Kildare believes that a highly respected older doctor is slowing down too much in surgery, and informs Gillespie of this even though the man is one of Gillespie's oldest friends and mentors. Gillespie must make the decision as to whether to suggest to his friend that he should retire.
Wed, Dec 13, 1961
After his son's arm is paralyzed in an automobile accident, a man adamantly refuses to allow doctors to perform the operation which should restore it to full use. The man's wife unexpectedly died during surgery after another car accident a few years earlier, and he has been overly fearful and distrusting of doctors, hospitals, and surgery ever since.
Wed, Dec 27, 1961
A young man is admitted to Blair after being stabbed by a street gang. The youth soon exhibits erratic and unpredictable behavior which indicate he is severely paranoid and schizophrenic. However, his parents, particularly his father, refuse to listen to the recommendation of the doctors that he be admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Wed, Jan 3, 1962
Dr. Simon Agurski's older brother has been paying for his medical education, delaying his own career as an accountant, and his marriage, in the process. Upset by this sacrifice, Simon announces he will drop his plans to become a pediatrician and take a job with an insurance firm. He reconsiders, but the conflict with his brother continues to escalate.
Wed, Feb 14, 1962
When he makes a serious mistake with one of his patients, Dr. Eddie Moore asks Kildare to cover up for him. When Kildare refuses to do so, Moore tries to manipulate a vulnerable young nurse into taking the blame. Meanwhile, the young nurse's strict supervisor, Mrs. Fain, is surprised to find her husband back home after he abandoned her seventeen years earlier.
Wed, Feb 21, 1962
Maxwell Keller is admitted to Blair after collapsing from malnutrition at a surgical instrument store. Gillespie recognizes him as a veteran medical researcher who pioneered in attempting to eradicate polio. Keller still does his research now - out of the basement at the apartment he rents. Meanwhile a younger pathologist angers both Gillespie and Kildare by his lack of respect for Keller, and by his actions such as asking another elderly patient for permission to perform his autopsy.
Wed, Feb 28, 1962
Kildare's rodeo rider cousin Lucky Elcott brings in his son who has been stricken with appendicitis. The boy is fine after surgery, but Kildare then notices symptoms in Lucky which turn out to be from rheumatoid arthritis. He tries to persuade Lucky to quit the rodeo, but is it just for his health, or also because Kildare is embarrassed by his cousin's happy-go-lucky, back-slapping style?
Wed, Mar 7, 1962
A young woman is admitted to Blair and discovered to be suffering from a subdural hematoma. Fearful of hospitals, she asks to be released, though Kildare tells her she needs to be operated on within days or she will die. Instead of returning to Blair, however, she seeks help from a charlatan who feeds on people's mistrust of the medical profession.
Wed, Mar 28, 1962
Kitty, a nurse from Blair General Hospital, is ready to deliver a baby after suffering several miscarriages in the past. Winona Pine, a woman estranged from her husband, is also giving birth to a baby. When Mrs. Pine states she does not want to keep her newborn, Dr. Kildare gets caught up in a plan to help the baby find a loving home.
Wed, Apr 4, 1962
A highly tenacious yet compassionate nun is determined to continue her social work at the hospital despite having medical issues herself. When finally admitted, she tries to help her roommate, a woman suffering from bone cancer who stubbornly refuses to let doctors amputate her leg and has become bitter toward God because of her situation.
Wed, Apr 11, 1962
Dr. Paul Probeck, a recovering alcoholic himself, decides to start an alcohol rehabilitation program at Blair, with Kildare as one of his assistants. However, one of the men they are treating is highly uncooperative and doesn't even give his name. After talking to him Probeck starts to wonder if he may be the son he has never met.
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Wed, Apr 25, 1962
Kildare is assigned to intern under Dr. Nicholas Keefe, a brilliant, highly driven, and extremely thorough resident who is admired for his skill, but not for his belligerent and inflexible intolerance of any imperfections from interns and staff. It is due to this difficulty that Gillespie turns down Keefe's application for the position of chief resident.
Wed, May 23, 1962
Kildare is assigned to work in a psychiatric ward to help treat severely schizophrenic patients with a new experimental drug. He recognizes one of the patients as a brilliant orthopedist. However, when Kildare tells the man's wife about the promising breakthrough, she is less than enthused, as she has given up hope for his recovery, and thinks the hospital is just using her husband as a guinea pig.