This is from an American Psychological Association website for clinical psychologists. The post was in response to a bill put forth by the American Psychiatric Association (ApA) that will prevent psychologists from addressing themselves as "doctor" There is OUTRAGE on the listserv about this bill, which is near passing in one state (Michigan) and being introduced next year in California and 11 other states.
I am curious if anybody else, especially in the state system, has noticed the flagrant disregard for our degrees that this poor poster to the listserv has endured...
Darin,
Thanks for your clarfication. In that narrow context, it certainly
does not seem to be an unreasonable distinction.
And you are also correct that arrogance exists in all professions --
we are certainly not immune.
However, while I know you intended it as a joke, it does distress me
that we do often foster the belittlement of our profession referring
to ourselves as "fake doctors."
I currently am working in an assisted livin facility where my
supervisor and I PRIVATELY refer to ourselves as fake doctors because
that is precisely how we feel. When the internist or psychiatrist
comes in, the staff gather charts and then residents and make sure
that the physician is busy minute-to-minute. We in-house
psychologists, on the other hand, are left to literally troll the
hallways "ambulance chasing" our patients to beg and plead them to
keep their scheduled appointment. Adding insult to injury, I strongly
doubt that the facility administrator has ever said to a physician "I
really think all this person needs is [insert medication/procedure.]"
But we are constantly bomdarded with "Oh, all you need to do with Mr.
X is ... "
I have the joy of working in this facility after a brief tenure in a
state facility where they get to totally ignore scope of practice
licensing laws. To be fair, they do that for ALL professions.
However, I do not see the physicians being supplanted with allied
health professionals who get to call themselves physicians. You can
come into our state civil service system with a Master's degree and
legally be called a psychologist. As a doctoral level (real)
psychologist, I was repeatedly and pointedly reminded that I was "no
better" than the Master's level practitioners. (In fact, I actually
had one person say all I did for my doctorate was do an "extended
book report.")
Bottom line, yes, it may make sense for the AMA to keep nursing from
moving that much closer to erasing the final demarcation between the
two professions. But this proposal also has the sweeping effect of
closing a door on EVERY doctoral healthcare profession.
And, IMHO, psychology has been too eager, for the sake of avoiding
discord, to just accept being "fake doctors."
Steve
I am curious if anybody else, especially in the state system, has noticed the flagrant disregard for our degrees that this poor poster to the listserv has endured...
Darin,
Thanks for your clarfication. In that narrow context, it certainly
does not seem to be an unreasonable distinction.
And you are also correct that arrogance exists in all professions --
we are certainly not immune.
However, while I know you intended it as a joke, it does distress me
that we do often foster the belittlement of our profession referring
to ourselves as "fake doctors."
I currently am working in an assisted livin facility where my
supervisor and I PRIVATELY refer to ourselves as fake doctors because
that is precisely how we feel. When the internist or psychiatrist
comes in, the staff gather charts and then residents and make sure
that the physician is busy minute-to-minute. We in-house
psychologists, on the other hand, are left to literally troll the
hallways "ambulance chasing" our patients to beg and plead them to
keep their scheduled appointment. Adding insult to injury, I strongly
doubt that the facility administrator has ever said to a physician "I
really think all this person needs is [insert medication/procedure.]"
But we are constantly bomdarded with "Oh, all you need to do with Mr.
X is ... "
I have the joy of working in this facility after a brief tenure in a
state facility where they get to totally ignore scope of practice
licensing laws. To be fair, they do that for ALL professions.
However, I do not see the physicians being supplanted with allied
health professionals who get to call themselves physicians. You can
come into our state civil service system with a Master's degree and
legally be called a psychologist. As a doctoral level (real)
psychologist, I was repeatedly and pointedly reminded that I was "no
better" than the Master's level practitioners. (In fact, I actually
had one person say all I did for my doctorate was do an "extended
book report.")
Bottom line, yes, it may make sense for the AMA to keep nursing from
moving that much closer to erasing the final demarcation between the
two professions. But this proposal also has the sweeping effect of
closing a door on EVERY doctoral healthcare profession.
And, IMHO, psychology has been too eager, for the sake of avoiding
discord, to just accept being "fake doctors."
Steve