We've gotten a lot of these questions lately and a lot of the people complain that there's no good information out there on the subject. Personally I disagree with that but I've got some time on my hands so I figured I'd outline some of the common lowbie weapon choices for docs in an effort to head off the creation of more of the same posts...
INTRODUCTION
Before we start I suggest you read The Bible for doctors, within it's pages you will find all the information you may need (including the fact that the general consensus is that docs shouldn't use any weapons at all before 150, but we'll just ignore that for now ).
Also check out this thread about weapons. "But they're all about end game weapons" you say, and "why should I waste my time reading that when I'm level 5" you say. Simply put it's more efficient to simply pick one weapon route and walk down that road, so figure out what weapon you want to use in the end game and then go from there .
Alright, onto the meat of the subject...
WEAPON CHOICES FOR LOWBIE DOCS
Martial Arts: This can actually be quite effective in the low to mid-levels (losing effectiveness after that). In fact I've heard tell of (though never met) a doc who apparently used MA all the way up into Shadow Levels. Some of the bonuses to this are it's fairly cheap on the IP and it's easy on the creds (don't have to go out and buy weapons/ammo, etc.). And besides I'm sure everyone has wanted to be Bruce Lee at some point or other (although why you'd choose to be Bruce Lee as a doc is a little beyond me ). Oh and there's also this thread in the stickies about being a MA doc...
PS: Don't bother collecting a lot of the MA special attacks (such as the ones that drop in ToTW) as they were nerfed to be MA only a while back
Pistols: Probably the most common choice for docs and probably the one that I'd recommend. Damage will be a bit lower than some of the other options, but other nice options do open up. Pistols to keep an eye out for would be The Original Electronicums (think you can buy these in SL, otherwise players usually have them in their shops), Flux Pistols (drop in SL, not really the best choice at low levels because they're so slow), at level 41 go get a CDR, also be on the look out for a QL 51 Worn Soft Pepper Pistol great buffing gun .
1HE: This can be a good choice, although it's a bit more expensive on the IP and can involve some serious camping. Some options would be the swords sold by The Melee Smith (although I'm not sure if they're prof restricted, can't quite remember ). What you really want to find though are some Phase Blades from ToTW and then get some Tears off of Uklesh, expect to camp long and hard for those though
2HE: This is often the choice of lowbie doc twinks. 2HE docs can do absolutely sick damage at lower levels and the best part of it is that the weapons are free . I'm of course talking about a couple of ToTW standby's, namely the Energy Scythe, the Lego Scythe and the big daddy of them all, The Stygian Desolator. There's also a thread about this in the stickies.
Shotguns: If you want to PvP Shotgun is the choice for you. "Why" you ask? Because some shotguns have Aimed Shot, which is the be all and end all of PvP in it's current form. If you're going to use shotgun then go and get yourself a Ithaca or a Vektor or a Home Defender. Also check out this from the stickies. Once you hit 125 take a trip to IS and grab a Maw, that'll last you until you can get a higher QL Kyr shottie on .
These are the main choices for lowbie doc weapons. There are, of course, other possibilities (take a look at threads like this or this and you'll see what I mean.
EQUIPPING WEAPONS
Someone suggested I include a little blurb about this, which is a good idea. Really though I'm not the greatest twinker and others have covered twinking methods better than I ever could have. So rather than rehash what they've all said I figure I'll just provide some links to their guides. First off our very own Disq and his guide on Equiping Weapons v3 Beta. Full of useful information geared towards docs.
Secondly is a great twinking guide by Old Man Gigas. While aimed at enforcers this is still full of great tips and tricks .
A few things that I will say. Always, always, always get the best implants you possibly can, it'll make your life much easier. Don't neglect to get ability buffs, Essence of Behemoth will add something like 4 points to your 2he skill just through trickle down. Alien Armor has made twinking much easier, however since this is a meant as a guide for newbs I'm assuming none of you'll have access to that so I won't mention it.
Anyways, that's it for now, I might add more later if I feel up to the challenge....
CONCLUSION
Lastly I feel I would be remiss not to say that personally I strongly believe that the best weapon for a baby doc is his (or her) team mates. Docs will not have decent AR until much later on in their lives, this means that any weapon which they do use will be siginificantly reduced in effectiveness. This is why so many people will say that you're better off not using a weapon until late TL5.
If, however, you are dead set on using a weapon then the ones listed above are all good choices and hopefully you'll find them helpful .
Edited to include Maw in the shotguns