Dr. Rae Sunshine is the only child of Dr. Ray Sunshine, a prominent physician and professor at Johns Hopkins University and a leader in biomedical engineering, and Dr. Marie O. Sunshine, head of the Bioethics Institute at Johns Hopkins and author of several books, including To Test or Not to Test: My Medical Experiments on the Poor, Love Machine: Coping With the Transplant of a Loved One into a Cyborg Body and Robots Are People Too, Or They Might Have Been at One Point.'' With parents so intensely devoted to their respective fields, it was no wonder Rae never considered being anything but a physician. Being raised in an extremely ethical and scientific environment had an odd effect on Rae. While she knows the "right" action to take in a given situation, the natural emotional connection or drive that should incite that response just isn't there. She knows that taking other people?s feelings into consideration is a required part of social interaction, and therefore tries to, but just doesn't get why others are so emotional.
Logic is the order of the day and her life is a series of checklists. Graduate top of class: check. Get into medical school: check. Graduate top of her class: check. Seek employment somewhere gritty where doctors are needed: check. Become a leader in biomedical research. Teach. Publish a book. Get married. Have two children, a boy and a girl (or two dogs. Same thing.). All of her hobbies are "should do's." She was on the track and swim team in high school in order to diversify her extracurricular activities. She has been president of every team or group she has ever joined. Most of her friends are minorities or people she doesn't necessarily like, and all but one of her boyfriends has been unattractive, simply to prove to others (and herself) that she doesn't discriminate against anyone (although she does resent men for the power they think they have). She isn't above playing dirty to get what she wants, if she feels she rightfully deserves it more that the other person (like the Student Government Presidency).
Rae is generally liked by most people as long as they don't meditate too deeply on the relationship or require too much of her attention. Her closest friend is (gay) Andy Roma, a fellow medical student who is deeply humored by her low empathy and general social awkwardness. She has had few romantic relationships, most notably with Dr. Simon Mendelev, a military doctor from Australia. This is the only time Rae has been in love and allowed herself to act (slightly) impulsively. The relationship ended in a broken engagement and Dr. Sunshine's sudden acceptance of a position at Mars General Hospital. Needless to say, this was not part of her plan and the burn was enough to teach her that people really do suck and distance is required. She threw her self into her work and has been frantically trying to keep preoccupied ever since. Freelance work off the holonet seemed like the perfect distraction when Dr. Feinstein forced her to use her vacation time.