The doctor will be with you shortly

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SpartanLaser

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I called a local rite aid to transfer a rx into my pharmacy. The technician said "the doctor will be right with you". Weird....who ever calls pharmds doctors in retail?

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That's some weird **** right there.
What do they do when it's an OG BS Pharm working?

And what damn ego made the tech say that?
 
Maybe the tech just knew that the Pharmacist on duty was a PharmD and chose to say that. I think a bigger problem if they work in the Pharmacy, but have no clue about the profession at all. One situation that I heard about where a Pharm student wanted to set up a meeting with a retail pharmacist and called to ask to come in. They referred to the Pharmacist as "Doctor xxxx" and the tech actually said "Oh, she's not a doctor!". The student knew already that Pharmacist was a PharmD, but the tech actually explicitly corrected her by repeatedly saying she wasn't a doctor. I think it's more of a problem that a tech inside the Pharmacy would actually discourage people from referring to Pharmacists as doctor.

While I understand that non-PharmDs need to be considered as well, I do think that PharmDs need to have a little more respect for themselves too to enhance the future of the profession. Optometrists are referred to as doctors even while working for America's Best and it does play into the public perception of the profession. I understand that it's less clear for Pharmacists because there are still many without PharmDs, but eventually someone needs to find a way to give the PharmDs some respect too just for the sake of public perception. Either way, at a minimum, I certainly wouldn't complain about something like this or try to discourage people from it. It actually may perpetuate the myth that retail Pharmacists are somehow less worthy.
 
I think it's pretty arrogant if a pharmacists demands the title out of pride and wanting to puff themselves up, but I think it's a title that's earned.

Seems like every other non-physician doctorate program commonly calls themselves "Dr. soandso" these days. Chiropractors, dentists, veterinarians, optometrists, naturopaths, and some physical therapists go by "doctor x" and even have such wording on the signs to where they practice, it's pretty common place for them to use the title. Heck, I've heard chiropractors labeling themselves as "Dr. X, chiropractic physician." I think pharmacists, who did more schooling than some of the other professions that use the title, who have rightfully earned the doctor of pharmacy degree should be allowed to use that designation. Not out of arrogance, but out of advancing the profession and being rightfully recognized for the study put into becoming a pharmacist. If everyone else can do it, why not PharmDs? If we want to go by real "original" terminology the only people who "rightfully" should be called doctor are the Ph.D. graduates.

Pharmacists have done a horrible job with marketing themselves. How many people don't realize that pharmacy is a grad school required degree, that we are experts in a healthcare field, or do more than count by 5s as so many people think pharmacy practice entails?
 
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