How did sailors historically interact with doctors onshore?

Sailors historically interacted with doctors onshore primarily through written communication, which included sending messages or letters when they were in port. The effective means of communication in the era before modern technology did not typically include Morse code for direct doctor-sailor interactions. Instead, sailors used letters as a way to convey their medical needs or conditions to onshore physicians.

It's important to understand that while options like telegraph and Morse code represent more modern communication methods that emerged later—especially the telegraph, which allowed rapid long-distance communication—these would not have been the primary or most common method for sailors to interact with doctors prior to their invention.

In conclusion, the historical communication methods for sailors to reach out to doctors primarily relied on written letters, making that choice the most historically accurate.