Call me, DOCTOR?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
O

opinionfree

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
127
Reaction score
58
Members don't see this ad.
Perhaps because I'm just finishing an 8 year hiatus from pharmacy or never encountered it before, when I was a working pharmacist, but are the vast majority of pharmacists now wishing to be addressed as: Doctor? Having just rejoined the work force, it seems every pharmacist I encounter, in person or through correspondence, introduces themselves as: Doctor. Did I miss the memo on this one? Not only is this academically misleading, it seems professionally dangerous and publically deceiving. PharmD does NOT equal PhD or MD...

Perhaps someone can intelligently explain why an individual, that has not done a Master's thesis, Doctoral dissertation or can even write a prescription, logically thinks they should be addressed or considered as: Doctor. It really makes me uncomfortable, in a nails on chalkboard kind of way.
 
Insisting on the title makes you sound like a tool IMO.
I'm proud of the fact that I'll hold a doctorate-level degree by the time I'm done, but my ego doesn't need that sort of boost.



Also, I'll know that anyone who addresses me as 'Doctor' is probably asking for money.
 
opinionfree said:
Perhaps because I'm just finishing an 8 year hiatus from pharmacy or never encountered it before, when I was a working pharmacist, but are the vast majority of pharmacists now wishing to be addressed as: Doctor? Having just rejoined the work force, it seems every pharmacist I encounter, in person or through correspondence, introduces themselves as: Doctor. Did I miss the memo on this one? Not only is this academically misleading, it seems professionally dangerous and publically deceiving. PharmD does NOT equal PhD or MD...

Perhaps someone can intelligently explain why an individual, that has not done a Master's thesis, Doctoral dissertation or can even write a prescription, logically thinks they should be addressed or considered as: Doctor. It really makes me uncomfortable, in a nails on chalkboard kind of way.
Click to expand...

I don't really use it in the hospital. But in the outside world, I use it.
 
+1 on the air quotes

Actually I have seem some hospital rph's use doctor only when dealing with students or on minute meetings - either way I agree - misleading - does a RN who holds a Phd insist on being called Doctor? If they do - it is misleading, should only be used in a hospital setting if you are a physician to avoid confusion. In an academic setting - I can see it being used as a sign of respect.


I am proud of my degree - but think you are a douche if you insist on being called doctor - although I do use it when filling out forms for airlines, etc. in hopes its might get me something extra lol
 
Everyone likes to stretch their credentials. Just roll your eyes and move on.
 
That's right. Just roll your eyes at them and make sure they see it. No, pharmacists are not a real doctors. Any pharmacist asking to be called a doctor is a tool. If someone calls me doctor, well thank you, I'm not going to make that person feel bad by correcting them.

I just really really really hate those pharmacists who insist on being called doctor. Give it up already. You want to be called a doctor? Then go back to medical school.
 
I just don't care. Doctor, mister, hillbilly...whatever...

Personally, I feel bad for all the PhDs who had their title stolen by a bunch of dorks with stethoscopes who didn't even have to do a thesis...
 
Sparda29 said:
I don't see it as professionally dangerous and publicly misleading though.

If the chiropractors, dentists, and physical therapists are gonna call themselves doctors, then so am I.
Click to expand...

Well, even if it's not misleading, it still comes off as pretentious and makes people look insecure.
 
I use "doctor" as a title of respect when addressing my pharmacy professors and academic mentors. In the real world, I think it just becomes confusing to patients. "This is doctor so-and-so, the pharmacist." :shrug:

If there's one thing that patients need clarity in - it's who is going to (and should be) doing what for them. "Oh, you're a doctor? I've got this crazy mole on my butt. Would you mind taking a look at it?"
:whoa:
 
I sometimes remind my family and close friends to call me doctor. Every once in a while a tech will get smart and call me Mr owlegrad and I will remind her it is Dr owlegrad. Otherwise it never comes up.

To be clear, I basically only use it as a joke. Nothing against people who use it unironically but I would feel like a tool trying to get people to call me doctor. If you have to tell people to call you doctor, then you probably don't need to be called doctor IMO.
 
Can I get a hit on the horse too?


Ain-t-Nobody-Got-Time-Fo-Dat-sweet-brown-31241125-480-330.jpg
 
I call myself doctor a joke with my techs. I sign stuff as DOCTOR sometimes...again as a joke. Or if someone comes and asks me some question at the pharmacy and I have no idea I will say to my techs something along the lines of, "how should I know, I'm not a doctor!" and they will at that time remind me, yes, in fact, you are. My co-pharmacists also joke about it since they both graduated with BSPharm.
 
In a way it's a nice gesture: you can let somebody know you're a tool, without wasting 5-10 minutes of their time.

Oddly enough, my only customer who ever calls me doctor is a dentist. He was shocked/appalled and asked "Why doesn't your nametag say doctor?!" It says Pharm.D. after my name, so putting doctor would be redundant anyway, but he always calls me doctor, so I return the favor to him, which is probably what he wanted. On my am care rotation a lot of the patients called me doctor, even though it was about a month premature.
 
Ackj said:
In a way it's a nice gesture: you can let somebody know you're a tool, without wasting 5-10 minutes of their time.

Oddly enough, my only customer who ever calls me doctor is a dentist. He was shocked/appalled and asked "Why doesn't your nametag say doctor?!" It says Pharm.D. after my name, so putting doctor would be redundant anyway, but he always calls me doctor, so I return the favor to him, which is probably what he wanted. On my am care rotation a lot of the patients called me doctor, even though it was about a month premature.
Click to expand...

On a similar vein, several of the physicians I work with will introduce me to patients as "Dr njac, our drug expert".

It's not patronizing, it's their way of conveying to the patient that my opinion is to be trusted and respected.
 
Ackj said:
In a way it's a nice gesture: you can let somebody know you're a tool, without wasting 5-10 minutes of their time.

Oddly enough, my only customer who ever calls me doctor is a dentist. He was shocked/appalled and asked "Why doesn't your nametag say doctor?!" It says Pharm.D. after my name, so putting doctor would be redundant anyway, but he always calls me doctor, so I return the favor to him, which is probably what he wanted. On my am care rotation a lot of the patients called me doctor, even though it was about a month premature.
Click to expand...

At least we're not dentists. They get some sort of dopamine rush when someone calls them "Doctor Whatever". The only people that come into the pharmacy and address themselves as "Doctor." I just smile and laugh to myself.
 
njac said:
On a similar vein, several of the physicians I work with will introduce me to patients as "Dr njac, our drug expert".

It's not patronizing, it's their way of conveying to the patient that my opinion is to be trusted and respected.
Click to expand...

Second this. Mostly on rounds and always in the clinics. Often, newly-minted attendings also like to call me "Doctor" as a sign of respect, especially if I've worked with them during their residency/fellowship.

Personally, I've never introduced myself as "Doctor Protongenic" to anyone. Select individuals of my acquaintance like to call me "Doctor", including two ophthalmologists and a dentist, to whom I also return the favor.

Students always call me Doctor at the first meeting. At large academic teaching institutions, I don't correct them. On the other hand when I worked at a smaller community hospital with a pharmacist staff of 25, only 5 of whom were designated 'preceptors', I'd allow students to call me on a first-name basis since "Doctor" seemed a little out of place.

Like others have mentioned, a few pharmacy colleagues and I sometimes call one another "Doctor" as a joke. Occasionally, family members or close friends would also slip in a "Doctor" here and there to get smart. All in good fun.
 
The best is how some of the more seasoned veterans started using this at my last hospital job to avoid dealing with petty issues called in... they'd say "I can't enter xyz per hospital policy, only PharmD's can do that!" After a while the nurses and docs started calling asking to speak to specifically Doctors of pharmacy and PharmD's... LOL. Pretty smooth move on their part.
 
I'm only "doctor" when I'm lecturing/on-campus. I don't insist on it, but I don't insist on my first name either.

Cuz that's just weird. What kind of jerk off pharmacist insists on being called doctor outside of academia/large tertiary medical center?

*designation is culture dependent, depends on your work environment.
 
Beacon said:
The best is how some of the more seasoned veterans started using this at my last hospital job to avoid dealing with petty issues called in... they'd say "I can't enter xyz per hospital policy, only PharmD's can do that!" After a while the nurses and docs started calling asking to speak to specifically Doctors of pharmacy and PharmD's... LOL. Pretty smooth move on their part.
Click to expand...

Some of the staff pharmacists did this where I did my pgy1. Ugh.
 
From an academic standpoint the PharmD is equal to an MD. Both are 4 year professional degrees that award a doctorate in a field and are both inferior to a PhD from an academic standpoint. The "real" doctorates are the PhDs that have truly earned a graduate degree and not a professional degree when looking from the academic side of things.

I call all my teachers "doctor" whether they have a PhD or a PharmD and when I'm being precepted I call my pharmacist "doctor." You've done the work, you've earned the title. In an academic setting you should address those holding doctorates as a "doctor." I think it's arrogant to demand to be addressed as doctor even if you are a physician/surgeon/PhD. When I graduate I'll put my title as "Dr." on forms and whatnot because that's true, and also because (sadly) you may get better service like putting your name as "Dr." on an airline reservation and in other settings.

I think the fuss over the title is silly. On one end you have pharmacists that either want to stroke their egos by wanting to be called "doctor" or you have some that believe the title somehow validates their knowledge, education or status. On the other end you have physicians wanting to protect their ego and reserve the term for themselves and diminish the title or education of others with the "that's our word, you underlings can't use it and you need to know your place" mentality. There may be other reasons as well, but these seem to be the more prominent ones. I'm not saying everyone who has an opinion falls into one of the categories but they appear to be what pops up the most.

It's a title. Has someone who holds the Pharm.D. earned that title strictly speaking? Yes. Is it appropriate to use? That's up to you and your setting. It might confuse patients that equate "doctor" with "physician" or it might make you look like an arrogant person. I've seen physicians address pharmacists as doctor before as well as patients, I've also seen people that know each other on a first name basis or simply just go by the title of "pharmacist." Bottom line though, I think the debate is relatively... stupid. It's a title.
 
Last edited:
There's a big difference between being a doctor and having a doctorate. A doctor diagnoses, treats diseases, does surgery, etc. Someone with a doctorate has a terminal professional or academic degree. It seems like the only people who insist on being called doctor want to blur the lines. When someone says "I am a doctor" it is taken at face value to mean "I am a physician" not "I have a Ph.D. in history/DPT/Pharm.D./Psy.D." This is how the phrase is generally perceived, especially in the healthcare setting that we all exist in. Its hard to argue against that perception, and that is why people have a hard time letting non-physicians use this title in healthcare settings.

I think the reason a lot of people have an issue calling physical therapists, pharmacists, nurses, and non physicians "doctors" is the fact that a lot of these professions have recently switched to the doctorate as the degree needed to practice. I don't think it reflects well on the profession to say "you need a doctorate to get into the profession, but everyone with a bachelor's or master's is still qualified to practice." People see the non-doctorates doing the same work and don't respect the profession because the doctorate degree looks like a lot of padding to what was the real meat and potatoes of professional training.
 
Your hard earned Pharm.D should give you the right to be a doctor. If more people say to the patient: " I am Doctor. A, I am your pharmacist, what I can do for you today", it's only a matter of time where people will call you a doctor. Some argue about the old perception that the public only recognize MD as doctor is relatively true. I have seen patients call physical therapists a doctor. Some patients surprise me call me a doctor even they know i am pharmacist. The american's perceptions change all the time, and even over night, look at some of the recent polls conducted by the media. Now, not that we play the ego game or something, we just want what we deserve as pharmacist. We have our own unique practice and we continue to improve, expand our scope of practice. Many countries already give pharmacist a prescribing right whether MD likes it or not.
 
5minutes said:
Your hard earned Pharm.D should give you the right to be a doctor. If more people say to the patient: " I am Doctor. A, I am your pharmacist, what I can do for you today", it's only a matter of time where people will call you a doctor. Some argue about the old perception that the public only recognize MD as doctor is relatively true. I have seen patients call physical therapists a doctor. Some patients surprise me call me a doctor even they know i am pharmacist. The american's perceptions change all the time, and even over night, look at some of the recent polls conducted by the media. Now, not that we play the ego game or something, we just want what we deserve as pharmacist. We have our own unique practice and we continue to improve, expand our scope of practice. Many countries already give pharmacist a prescribing right whether MD likes it or not.
Click to expand...

Late-to-the-party.jpg


Thanks for stopping by for the Thanksgiving party
 
Last edited:
If one is to be formally correct, 'doctor' is a title that is associated with an academic degree. 'Physician' is the word that relates to the profession of diagnosing, treating, performing surgery, etc. on patients. A physician should be addressed as 'doctor,' but the the converse is not necessarily true. On the other hand, I suppose that if we insist on being formally correct, the dictionary would not contain words like ain't, fantabulous, or twerk.

Personally, I never introduce myself as 'Dr. Rouelle,' and if someone addresses me as such I quickly insist on the Dr part being dropped. The closest I come is having my pre-set email signature set as 'Rouelle, Ph.D.'
 
Rouelle said:
If one is to be formally correct, 'doctor' is a title that is associated with an academic degree. 'Physician' is the word that relates to the profession of diagnosing, treating, performing surgery, etc. on patients. A physician should be addressed as 'doctor,' but the the converse is not necessarily true. On the other hand, I suppose that if we insist on being formally correct, the dictionary would not contain words like ain't, fantabulous, or twerk.

Personally, I never introduce myself as 'Dr. Rouelle,' and if someone addresses me as such I quickly insist on the Dr part being dropped. The closest I come is having my pre-set email signature set as 'Rouelle, Ph.D.'
Click to expand...

Excuse me. That is Rouelle to you sir.

A Ph. D. would be appropriately addressed as Dr. in hisher place of work if heshe was the expert de jour. Correct? Teaching, lab what have you. To get a Ph. D. one does an inordinately large amount of self directed study and analysis. Many abandon the Ph. D because it is so back brakingly (no in the dictionary) difficult financially etc. Still if you had a Ph. D and worked outside of your area of expertise you would be addressed by your given name in the contemporary workplace setting: Bob, Butch etc.

Now, a Pharm D is not a graduate degree. It is a professional degree called the Doctor of Pharmacy. The schools don't bother to correct anyone because they want the dollar. When you are ringing up Ms. Jones you are the cashier to her. If you are ringing out a student you precept at the local college of pharmacy heshe may say thank you Dr. Dingdong. So? Either way you are ringing people up or someone is going to report your ass to the front store manager. How valuable is the label really? Good for garden parties and such but in the real world a pharmacist is a pharmacist is a druggist.
 
StellargalS said:
Now, a Pharm D is not a graduate degree. It is a professional degree called the Doctor of Pharmacy. The schools don't bother to correct anyone because they want the dollar. When you are ringing up Ms. Jones you are the cashier to her. If you are ringing out a student you precept at the local college of pharmacy heshe may say thank you Dr. Dingdong. So? Either way you are ringing people up or someone is going to report your ass to the front store manager. How valuable is the label really? Good for garden parties and such but in the real world a pharmacist is a pharmacist is a druggist.
Click to expand...

So you don't think people with a doctor of medicine degree (MD) should be called Doctor either, then, right? Since it's also a professional degree?
 
Carboxide said:
So you don't think people with a doctor of medicine degree (MD) should be called Doctor either, then, right? Since it's also a professional degree?
Click to expand...
We're called "doctor" because of what we do not just the degree. Lawyers earn a Juris Doctor but no one calls them Doctor.
 
Carboxide said:
So you don't think people with a doctor of medicine degree (MD) should be called Doctor either, then, right? Since it's also a professional degree?
Click to expand...

No. Professional degree? If you say so. No need to crack that can of worms. Here is why: totally different league.
Medical doctors are always the expert de jour in the workplace. We call them doctor everywhere because they can doctor and do doctor everywhere and anywhere it is needed. Unlikely scenario for case in point: "Is there a doctor in the house?" "No I am currently Mr. Jones but at work they call me Dr. Jones. You can call my office for appointment."​
Further because they do not typically take up work as carpenters, line food worker, mail men etc the argument there is moot.

Lastly society adopted a pedestal position for physicians back in the days of out houses because a.)no one could pay them their worth. I mean how many eggs can you give a guy for saving your wife. Today what they do is as much of value but we are a greedy jealous spoiled society.
Could you imagine if they held out?
"Ummm you know what. We have all decided to stop saving lives until you people quit bitching about how much gd money we make and how bad USA healthcare is. I mean that last one is a passive aggressive slap in the face we think. Were going let you reevaluate our worth by letting a couple million die..."​
Sorry you don't dont dispense or cashier in Mr Pauls backyard. No Doctor for you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Mr.Smile12
Call for nominations for 2025 Advisor of the Year
Replies
0
Views
650
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
PharmDBro2017
  • Question Question
On call pay
Replies
10
Views
2K
mustang sally
mustang sally
R
Iowa doctor sues pharmacy board to mandate dispensing of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin
Replies
23
Views
3K
CetiAlphaFive
CetiAlphaFive
G
Nurse Practitioner with DNP Fined 20k for Referring to Herself as "Doctor"
Replies
38
Views
2K
confettiflyer
confettiflyer
Dred Pirate
Doctor being tried for murder in Ohio - euthanasia?
Replies
3
Views
912
Reirrac
Reirrac
Top