Calling yourself "Doctor" as a premed or med student...bad karma?

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What is your opinion of premeds and med students who call themselves "doctor"?

  • It is perfectly ok for anyone to call themselves doctor in any way.

    Votes: 12 3.9%

  • Bad luck to call yourself doctor w/o degree. Doesn't annoy u when others do, let them have bad luck!

    Votes: 30 9.8%

  • It's ok to jokingly call yourself doctor but not to include it in any SN, SDN name, email, etc.

    Votes: 69 22.6%

  • It's annoying when under-qualified people call themselves doctor, but I deal with it.

    Votes: 105 34.4%

  • It is a travesty to falsely call yourself doctor and people who do it make me angry!!!

    Votes: 89 29.2%
  • Total voters
    305
Husky85

Husky85

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The question was posed in another thread: "Is it bad karma/luck, morally wrong, or perfectly ok for students who are not yet MD's, PhD's, or any other terminal degree to call themselves 'doctor'?"

Examples of this would be if my SDN name were DrHusky85 or if I allowed my friends to refer to me as Dr. ______ in jest even though I'm just a medical student.

Please vote on which you feel is closest to your opinion in the poll above:

1. It is perfectly ok for anyone to call themselves doctor in any way.
2. It's bad luck to call yourself doctor if you don't have a terminal degree, but it doesn't bother you personally (calling yourself doctor before you are one might bring bad luck/jinx you, but if other people want bad luck, they're welcome to it!)
3. It's ok to slip up once in awhile and call yourself doctor, but one should try to avoid it. (It's ok to jokingly call yourself doctor ______, but not to include it in any SN, SDN name, email address, or anything like that)
4. It's annoying when under-qualified people call themselves doctor, but I deal with it.
5. It is a travesty to falsely call yourself doctor and people who do it make me angry!!!


This idea was an interesting hijack in another thread, so I decided to give it its own thread so that we can actually find out how people feel about this!
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Husky85 said:
The question was posed in another thread: "Is it bad karma/luck, morally wrong, or perfectly ok for students who are not yet MD's, PhD's, or any other terminal degree to call themselves 'doctor'?"

Examples of this would be if my SDN name were DrHusky85 or if I allowed my friends to refer to me as Dr. ______ in jest even though I'm just a medical student.

Please vote on which you feel is closest to your opinion in the poll above:

1. It is perfectly ok for anyone to call themselves doctor in any way.
2. It's bad luck to call yourself doctor if you don't have a terminal degree, but it doesn't bother you personally (calling yourself doctor before you are one might bring bad luck/jinx you, but if other people want bad luck, they're welcome to it!)
3. It's ok to slip up once in awhile and call yourself doctor, but one should try to avoid it. (It's ok to jokingly call yourself doctor ______, but not to include it in any SN, SDN name, email address, or anything like that)
4. It's annoying when under-qualified people call themselves doctor, but I deal with it.
5. It is a travesty to falsely call yourself doctor and people who do it make me angry!!!


This idea was an interesting hijack in another thread, so I decided to give it its own thread so that we can actually find out how people feel about this!
Click to expand...


I don't think it's a big deal if you call yourself Dr as a screen name or a joke. But there are liability issues if you mislead people into thinking you are actually a doctor, (and eg they rely on your advice not to have a cancerous mole checked, like in Seinfeld, or so on) so you really don't want to do it in other contexts.
 
wow...thanks for the quick responces! sorry i couldn't get the poll up quicker (it took some doing to get the choices under 100 characters!)

please everyone vote, i think this is an interesting premed/med etiquette topic.
 
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honestly i don't think i'll be referring to myself as "dr." when i actually have the md, so i don't really see the point of doing it now.
 
My friends jokingly call me "doctor" sometimes (which I don't think there's anything wrong with) because I want to be one and I know a lot more about medicine than they do, but I'd never call myself "doctor" until I actually have a degree.
 
When I've been shadowing, the Dr I'm with has normally referred to me by my first name when asking patients for permission to allow me to observe their care. Then, while he's busy, I'll usually strike up conversation with them (especially when they seem nervous) or they'll chat to me. I've normally been introduced as someone who is considering a medical career, so they usually forget a bit and ask if I'm a medical student. They ask where I'm from (UK accent (do British people really have accents, or is it just the rest of the world that doesn't get it right? 🙂 )), and all sorts of things which eventually lead to questions about education, which leads to discussion of my PhD (if the doctor I'm shadowing hasn't brought it up first, that is).

I usually use the same joke in those situations:

Patient: "So... are you a doctor?"
Me: "Well, Dr. X is a real doctor. I've got a PhD, so I'm a fake doctor! He does all the work, and I stand at the side of the room, watch him and think deep thoughts!"

Or something to that effect. It usually gets a good chuckle and relaxes the patient quite a bit. It also helps clearly delineate me from the rest of the medical staff, so there is no confusion on the part of the patient.
 
GoldShadow said:
My friends jokingly call me "doctor" sometimes (which I don't think there's anything wrong with) because I want to be one and I know a lot more about medicine than they do, but I'd never call myself "doctor" until I actually have a degree.
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My friends do that too and it drives me crazy. I'M NOT A DOCTOR YET; DON'T JINX ME!! haha.
 
It's funny that here in Australia male surgeons aren't even technically called "doctors." They're called "Mister" instead because back in the day surgeons were seen as "Butchers."
 
PEN15 said:
It's funny that here in Australia male surgeons aren't even technically called "doctors." They're called "Mister" instead because back in the day surgeons were seen as "Butchers."
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Do they get a different degree than other doctors?
 
Husky85 said:
Do they get a different degree than other doctors?
Click to expand...

Nope it's the same degree. Training is longer too. Women surgeons are usually called doctors though... unless you get a really bitchy err butchy one then...
 
I find it somewhat annoying. I also hate looking at the "users online" list of like 500 people and seeing like half of them with "dr," "doc," "med," and other spin-offs in the screenname. Seriously, can you be a little more inventive? LOL.
 
Husky85 said:
Do they get a different degree than other doctors?
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It's only been in the last hundred-fifty years or so that physicians and surgeons trained together. They used to have different schools.

Way back they were thought of as surgeon-barbers. Barbers had the sharpest instruments (razors for shaving) and would wield their tools for blood letting/excisions/surgeries, too. Dentistry spawned from barbery as well, if I remember correctly.
 
jochi1543 said:
I find it somewhat annoying. I also hate looking at the "users online" list of like 500 people and seeing like half of them with "dr," "doc," "med," and other spin-offs in the screenname. Seriously, can you be a little more inventive? LOL.
Click to expand...


When I thought of a screen name, I did it in like 2 seconds. I had no idea that it would pi** so many people off. In retrospect, it is a bit pretentious, but I meant no harm by it. As for it being bad Karma though, I don't think so. Outside of my screen name would never do such a thing. Guess from my months of just lurking that I saw others with the same name and assumed its ok.
 
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Law2Doc said:
I don't think it's a big deal if you call yourself Dr as a screen name or a joke. But there are liability issues if you mislead people into thinking you are actually a doctor, (and eg they rely on your advice not to have a cancerous mole checked, like in Seinfeld, or so on) so you really don't want to do it in other contexts.
Click to expand...

I totally agree; and i think people are making way to big of a deal about screen names or jokes. I wouldn't never pass myself off as a physician if i wasn't. And in fact I would not want to even be addressed as doctor by anyone other than my patients even (if) when i am a doctor.

(not yet or possibly ever) Dr. Josh

Crimson doc said:
When I thought of a screen name, I did it in like 2 seconds. I had no idea that it would pi** so many people off. In retrospect, it is a bit pretentious, but I meant no harm by it. As for it being bad Karma though, I don't think so. Outside of my screen name would never do such a thing. Guess from my months of just lurking that I saw others with the same name and assumed its ok.
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that was exactly my situation and I can't believe people are making such a big deal about it. i said this last night when someone attacked me in profanities for my screen name...that was uncalled for (and yea i GUESS HE THOUGHT SO TOO B/C HE DELETED IT 5 MINUTES LATER, BUT NOT BEFORE I HAD CAPTURED IT IN A RESPONSE)

PS: I didn't mean to capitalize that but my typing sucks too.

PS: Mods, when can we change screen names?????
 
Oh and I didn't vote because you should have included "it's ok to joke or include it as sns or sdn sns but not ok to pass yourself off as a real doctor in real life". Others probably would have chosen that as well, but i guess the OP had a bone to pick with those using doc in their sdn sns.
 
I don't do it, but I think it can be a motivating factor for some people to jokingly add "Dr" in front of their SNs or email, etc. There's nothing wrong with a little wishful thinking and optimism.

As for bad karma, don't think so. I think it usually helps people by constantly reminding them of their goal.
 
jochi1543 said:
I find it somewhat annoying. I also hate looking at the "users online" list of like 500 people and seeing like half of them with "dr," "doc," "med," and other spin-offs in the screenname. Seriously, can you be a little more inventive? LOL.
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no, some of us didn't put much thought into it and try to be creative. what's so creative about your name; what does it mean?
 
Dr. Josh said:
no, some of us didn't put much thought into it and try to be creative. what's so creative about your name; what does it mean?
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the source of my user name involved alcohol... I will say no more.
 
Yeah, I hate those people with that stuff in their name. Makes me sick. 😛
 
I just started M3 yr recently. I have never called myself doctor. In fact, I always tell patients that I am a 3rd year medical student. Nevertheless, some patients proceed to call me doctor. My attendings introduce us as 'student doctors' on occasion.

After I explain my status, it makes no difference whether they call me doctor or not, but I will never go and tell anyone that I am a doctor.
 
With the selection that goes into pre-medical coursework and then the med school admissions process, I would think rather premature (and bad karma) to start dubbing yourself doctor before anyone else does. Even after getting into medical school, there's a huge amount of work that you have to do before you earn that title.

IMO, giving yourself the title of Doctor now devalues the accomplishment of earning the degree and having someone else give it to you later.

But that's just me... I tend to over think these things.
 
my mom sometimes calls me Dr. Becca, my best friend always tells everyone she introduces me to that I'm going to be a doctor ("This is Becca...she's going to be a doctor"...I always reply "I hope so"), and most of my family and friends ask me medical questions...

however, i remind them all that i am not a doctor YET!

when my friend told her sister that i was going to be a doc, she asked me for my autograph....i don't quite understand why.....

Anyway, I don't believe you'll jinx yourself by calling yourself a doctor and I don't think making your screen-name premed/med student themed is that big of a deal. It's just a screen-name!!
 
maestro1625 said:
no, this thread in no way deserved bumping...
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Why not? It's interesting and fairly original. Even if you don't care about it, other people (myself included) do.

What doesn't deserve bumping are the 20,000 "what are my chances" threads or the 3000 "let's talk about SICKO" threads!
 
i dont call myself dr. but my friends and family tend to jokingly do it, and it gets on my nerves actually. and i think its hilarious that my friends will come to me and ask me for medical advice, and when i tell them that i have no idea, i usually get the "but arent u into that kinda ****" response. im PRE-med people!!!!!
 
UCDavisdude said:
i dont call myself dr. but my friends and family tend to jokingly do it, and it gets on my nerves actually. and i think its hilarious that my friends will come to me and ask me for medical advice, and when i tell them that i have no idea, i usually get the "but arent u into that kinda ****" response. im PRE-med people!!!!!
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Yea, definately. I think everyone who's openly premed gets that. I don't mind people asking for advice...I just tell them I don't know.

I just think it's funny that the same people keep asking...as though I've gotten so much smarter since yesterday or something!!!
 
jochi1543 said:
I find it somewhat annoying. I also hate looking at the "users online" list of like 500 people and seeing like half of them with "dr," "doc," "med," and other spin-offs in the screenname. Seriously, can you be a little more inventive? LOL.
Click to expand...

I use Dr in my screen name and email address not to impress anyone or because I'm not imaginative enough to come up with something more original. Instead, I use it as a constant visual reminder to ME of my goal. Keeping my long-term goal "in my face" so to speak, makes it that much more real to me and makes it easier to "keep on keeping on" even when I'm struggling in a class I hate. Just one more tool to keep me on my path.
 
Hey guess what I just found out? Dr. Dre is not a real doctor. I know, I was shocked too.
 
I don't think it's bad Karma or anything for a pre-med to jokingly refer to themselves as Doctor, it's just annoying. When anyone introduces me with "he's gonna be a doctor" or "he's going to medical school" I always, always say "Maybe. I hope so." I hate being given credit for something I haven't accomplished. I guess maybe it's a compliment because people have faith in me, but I still don't like it. It'd mean much more to me when I actually got ACCEPTED to medical school. It's why I don't like it when people include in their screen name's or e-mail addresses "doctorAggieSean" or "AggieSeanMD" or whatever, it's annoying and even worse it's meaningless.
 
I find it strange that some people are "annoyed" by people with "Dr" or "MD" in their user name. Who cares? Its just an internet forum. Jeez. People can make their name whatever they want. Its not like they actually put those things next to their name in real life. Whats the big deal? Chill out.

P.S. The "MD" in my user name stands for MunDane 😀
 
MundaneMD said:
I find it strange that some people are "annoyed" by people with "Dr" or "MD" in their user name. Who cares? Its just an internet forum. Jeez. People can make their name whatever they want. Its not like they actually put those things next to their name in real life. Whats the big deal? Chill out.

P.S. The "MD" in my user name stands for MunDane 😀
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i totally agree!!
 
I'm very superstitious about people calling me doctor or telling me I'm going to be a doctor. I feel like graduating med-school (godwilling) will be one of the most significant passages in my life, and I like to keep the ceremonial bric-a-brac (the title, white coats, offering children wolly-pops) special and off limits until they're appropriate.

Heck, while in my EMT class I and even now that I'm licensed I'm very hesitant to walk around with my stethoscope around my neck because I associate that so strongly with being a doctor, even though in reality I hardly ever see doctors in the hospitals I've been at just walking around with stethoscopes outside TV.
 
It's a screenname. Not much harm, more of a joke really. But once you get outside of the internet realm or start acting like a pompous prick here on SDN, I really do hope karma catches up with those people. :meanie:
 
While I was an undergraduate, I had a course assistant (also an undergraduate). His name was, for the sake of anonymity, John Smith.

His email address was DrSmith@[my college's name].edu. Everyone thought it was a little bit presumptuous, to say the least. I didn't like him very much.

However, he is now in med school, so I guess he can keep his email address.
 
DoctorPhud said:
I usually use the same joke in those situations:

Patient: "So... are you a doctor?"
Me: "Well, Dr. X is a real doctor. I've got a PhD, so I'm a fake doctor! He does all the work, and I stand at the side of the room, watch him and think deep thoughts!"
Click to expand...


:laugh: That's pretty good! I'm going to remember this for my weekly shadowing.

BTW, your signature line is the story of my life! 😀
 
I work for the government so my friends call me ``Dr. DoLittle" since I finished grad school!
 
GeorgeFoster said:
Heck, while in my EMT class I and even now that I'm licensed I'm very hesitant to walk around with my stethoscope around my neck because I associate that so strongly with being a doctor, even though in reality I hardly ever see doctors in the hospitals I've been at just walking around with stethoscopes outside TV.
Click to expand...

Here's a hint...stop walking around with your stethoscope around your neck. My instructor broke that habit of me the first day I did it. She said "Hey stand there for a sec, I want to show the class something...look I'm a psych patient" and she then proceeded to choke me on my own stethoscope. Yeah, when you take classes at the fire academy, they get to do stuff like that you :laugh:

But in all seriousness, it's downright wreckless to be carrying your stethoscope around your neck in the field. It's not a hospital, and people don't give a s*** that you're just trying to help them. It's just far too easy for a combative pt to grab and pull.

Stay safe out there.
 
I definately think of it as tempting fate, quite similar to when pre-meds say things like "I'll never treat one of MY patients like that" or something to that effect. But we Irish are superstitious people.

As a side note, In Ireland medical students don't wear their stethoscopes around their neck until final year. Junior students carry them in their pockets. It's considered very arrogant to break this rule. I feel sorry for the American students who come over here for college, don't know about it and have a consultant dress them down over a tradition they're not aware of.
 
I don't even say "I want to be a doctor". I keep it at "I am aiming for medical school" ....then the questions tend to fire off about that crap and somehow I miraculously know what their rash or shoulder pain is about.
 
jochi1543 said:
I find it somewhat annoying. I also hate looking at the "users online" list of like 500 people and seeing like half of them with "dr," "doc," "med," and other spin-offs in the screenname. Seriously, can you be a little more inventive? LOL.
Click to expand...

The sad thing on my part is that I am not inventive at all when it comes to screen names! 🙁 I like running and I want to be and MD...hence MDrunner. Very boring and lacks a lot of creativity, but oh well! 😉
 
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