How To Address Other "Doctors"

[christian15213]

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WOW... sorry but I have to soap box this one. I think it disgusting that the institutions are doing this anyway. It really isn't even the people's fault. Schools are looking to capitalize on making degree's harder and harder to obtain. Weeding out method is another reason too. Everyone wants to be one of these individuals, especially when they can't get into medical school.

Fact is it's BULL Crappola. I am referring to Doctor's of physical therapy and the nonsense like that. let me first defend and hold the scientific community of pHD's and researchers they truly are doctors and should be regarded as such... Dr. smith etc... these are poeple who earned the right to be called Dr. and can easily explain their status by simply saying, no mam not an MD but rather a pHD... I am fine with that and I will respect them as an equall in the community by calling them Doctor.

On the other hand, a physical therapist that took the GRE and got into some willy nilly school and obtained their master's and then did years of CE credits and then took some one year program to call themselves Dr. is pure rubish. I think it not only confuses people but makes a true physcians work cheapened. I am not being arrogant or smug I am being real. One should have to do something extronidary in their life to be hailed as Doctor... We should not be allowing the capitalistic phenomenon to simply apply time with being called, Doctor.

Furthermore, think about what a lot of actuall MD's / DO's actually do even after they earn their degrees from respective medical schools... Doesn't matter if you are a future heart surgeon or a pediatric specialist you will have to go through some type of residency at some type of rediculously low pay for 3 - 7 years beyond med school... Screw anyone that is going to try and tell me that because some yahoo figured a way to get more money from just about anyone is going to be more pretigous and important in society than a Dentist, Doctor, or pHD or even a JD that is a LAWYER and calls themselve's as such.?.

This really needs to stop and is actually a shame disgusts me thourghly.

***Warning: this is IMO***

 

[Law2Doc]

Screw anyone that is going to try and tell me that because some yahoo figured a way to get more money from just about anyone is going to be more pretigous and important in society than a Dentist, Doctor, or pHD or even a JD that is a LAWYER and calls themselve's as such.?.

FWIW, there was a short opinion-ish article in the ABA journal recently suggesting that lawyers should start using the term doctor, since it's technically not inaccurate. I wouldn't be surprised if this happens in the near future.

 

[8744]

Sexist much?

What about Bobbie Sue?

How is "Bubba" sexist? It's just a contraction for "Brother" and usually sticks to the second son who was called "bubba" by his toddler brother.

What you guys don't know about the South would fill volumes.

 

[8744]

Hey, for your information, it is perfectly acceptable to introduce yourself by saying, "Hi, I'm Dr. Bear, one of the (blank) residents."

It does not make you arrogant or pompous if your patients call you "Doctor." Personally, I like it when they call me "Doc." My first name, in real life, is "Gus" so it is pretty natural for everyone from my Battalion Commander in the Marines to the cafeteria lady and everybody in between to call me "Gus."

 

[Law2Doc]

How is "Bubba" sexist? It's just a contraction for "Brother" and usually sticks to the second son who was called "bubba" by his toddler brother.

What you guys don't know about the South would fill volumes.

I think she was saying that a derivation of "brother" is sexist as it doesn't include the "sisters" who also can be doctors. You don't hear of women being referred to as bubba much. But it's pretty rampant use for everyone else.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hey, for your information, it is perfectly acceptable to introduce yourself by saying, "Hi, I'm Dr. Bear, one of the (blank) residents."

I suspect patients like it a lot better than when you start the encounter with "Holy &*&^%, what the #$%^%& happened to you?"

But no, there's no good reason a physician would not use his title. It explains to people why he's there without so many words, and gives an implicit purpose to the meeting.

 

[DoctaJay]

Hey, for your information, it is perfectly acceptable to introduce yourself by saying, "Hi, I'm Dr. Bear, one of the (blank) residents."

It does not make you arrogant or pompous if your patients call you "Doctor." Personally, I like it when they call me "Doc." My first name, in real life, is "Gus" so it is pretty natural for everyone from my Battalion Commander in the Marines to the cafeteria lady and everybody in between to call me "Gus."

Is it bad to want your patients to call you by your first name? I think it would be cool, but I'm not sure if that is alright in the real world.

 

[Law2Doc]

Is it bad to want your patients to call you by your first name? I think it would be cool, but I'm not sure if that is alright in the real world.

Patients have expectations. They want their doctor to be a professional first and a friend second, although many want both. You may lose some patient confidence and a lot of your apparent authority if you don't use your credentials. It creates confusion as to your role. For instance some people will stop smoking if their doctor tells them they have to, but fewer will if their buddy Jay tells them they have to.

 

[Anastasis]

How is "Bubba" sexist? It's just a contraction for "Brother" and usually sticks to the second son who was called "bubba" by his toddler brother.

What you guys don't know about the South would fill volumes.

Wow. Not the person I expected humor to be lost on.

 

[TPROrgoTutor2]

deleted my comment.

 

[hra87]

Fact is it's BULL Crappola. I am referring to Doctor's of physical therapy and the nonsense like that. let me first defend and hold the scientific community of pHD's and researchers they truly are doctors and should be regarded as such... Dr. smith etc... these are poeple who earned the right to be called Dr. and can easily explain their status by simply saying, no mam not an MD but rather a pHD... I am fine with that and I will respect them as an equall in the community by calling them Doctor.

Wow, this post is pretty arrogant, though I'm not sure I expect differently I believe you're the one that made that "everyone's racist" thread.

Anyway, at my school at least, the dpt students take the same classes as the med students at least for the same year, PLUS extra ones. They work even harder than med students.

 

[chimichanga]

Always be suspicious of people that feel the need to announce their title in a context that doesn't require it.

exactly...

the mechanic who is fixing your car could give a s*!t less what you do...

I always laugh at docs that do this outside of the clinical setting...

They appear egocentric to me...

 

[deuist]

FWIW, there was a short opinion-ish article in the ABA journal recently suggesting that lawyers should start using the term doctor, since it's technically not inaccurate. I wouldn't be surprised if this happens in the near future.

A few of my JD friends told me of law professors who require that students address them as "Dr." None of these friends ever respected attorneys who used the Dr. title.

 

[beefballs]

Actually I've seen more PhD's (particularly in the biological sciences, sociology and history) throw hissy fits over not being addressed as doctor than I have physicians. Granted, it's anecdotal and only my opinion, but the only people who I think are more likely to whine when someone forgets to point out they have earned a doctoral degree are chiropractors.

the only person I ever saw get huffy about not being called a dr was an orthodontist. what a tool

 

[Wackie]

There are so many health professions that now offer doctorates, that it seems confusing in a hospital setting. There are DPT(physical therapy), OTD(occupational therapy), PharmD(pharmacy), DNP(nursing), Au.D(Audiology), (PhD/PsyD)Psychology......

My question is, do I address all of these people as doctor? If I call a physical therapist "doctor" in front of a patient, isn't it confusing for the patient?

Aw, come awn. Give your patient's some credit.😛

If I were introducing, say, a DPT, I'd probably say "This is Dr. Pain. He will be working with you on your physical therapy." Or, "I will give you Dr. Pain's number for your physical therapy."

Most patients will know or figure it out. There's no saving the idiots who can't.

 

[Haemulon]

I tend to make it a practice to refer to anyone as Doctor that has earned their title, academic or medical, when in a hierarchical situation (eg, student-teacher, patient-physician) or for new introductions or general unfamiliarity with someone. Now I agree about only referring to MD/DO's as Doctor in a clinical setting (general rule, there are probably exceptions i'm sure) to eliminate confusion and because medicine is such a hierarchical field. In written correspondence, it is usually always appropriate to either refer to individuals as "Dr. Soandso", or "Jane Doe, MD, PhD, DO, etc ....".

 

[Trismegistus4]

Someone once said there is a general rule that the more Mickey-Mouse the degree, the more adamant its holder is about being called "Doctor." The supreme example being educational bureaucrats who hold the coveted Ed.D.

On the subject of JD's, I had a high school social studies teacher who had been a lawyer. He had us call him Doctor So-and-so on the basis of his JD.

Grade inflation is getting ridiculous. Before long, a doctorate will be the new undergraduate degree. People will be walking around with their Doctor of Undergraduate Studies degree demanding to be called Doctor. Combined with the increase in people wearing scrubs, we are heading for a future dystopia where all people are indistinguishable because they all are called Doctor and wear scrubs. People will be driving buses, operating construction equipment, teaching schoolchildren, and programming computers while wearing scrubs and calling each other Doctor.

Doctors need to quit taking this lying down. To save the profession, med schools should stop admitting these namby-pamby save-the-world types and return to admitting more of the good ol' boy types everyone hates so much. Physicians need to stand up to this nonsense and demand that no one but MDs, DOs, and dentists be called "Doctor" in a clinical setting.

 

[8744]

Someone once said there is a general rule that the more Mickey-Mouse the degree, the more adamant its holder is about being called "Doctor." The supreme example being educational bureaucrats who hold the coveted Ed.D.

On the subject of JD's, I had a high school social studies teacher who had been a lawyer. He had us call him Doctor So-and-so on the basis of his JD.

Grade inflation is getting ridiculous. Before long, a doctorate will be the new undergraduate degree. People will be walking around with their Doctor of Undergraduate Studies degree demanding to be called Doctor. Combined with the increase in people wearing scrubs, we are heading for a future dystopia where all people are indistinguishable because they all are called Doctor and wear scrubs. People will be driving buses, operating construction equipment, teaching schoolchildren, and programming computers while wearing scrubs and calling each other Doctor.

Doctors need to quit taking this lying down. To save the profession, med schools should stop admitting these namby-pamby save-the-world types and return to admitting more of the good ol' boy types everyone hates so much. Physicians need to stand up to this nonsense and demand that no one but MDs, DOs, and dentists be called "Doctor" in a clinical setting.

This is the last time I'm going to say this (well, maybe not), people will know you are physician by your bearing, your command of medical knowledge and language, your skills, and your ability to tell them, definitively either what their problem is or how the problem is going to be discovered. You can put a white coat on anybody but three seconds after opening his mouth the majority of people wil lidentify him as the nursing student in the room to change the bed pan.

Your Uncle Panda is not the biggest booster of residency training or the medical profession but seriously now. You guys are just insecure because the PAs, the NPs, and the other mid-levels have "gotten to you." I am a PGY-2 and I am still have a lot to learn but I can assure you that your feelings of inadequecy will slowly decrease (and be replaced by a knowledge of your limitations which is not the same thing) and (for those of you in first year) six years from now you will laugh to think you ever worried about who wears a white coat. Hell, I can't wait to ditch mine next year when I start working in the Emergency Department full time.

But I agree with you about grade (and degree) inflation. A doctorate means nothing by itself because they are given away in many fields.

 

[Cirrus83]

In the real world (post residency), if you are an MD, almost everyone save for very senior surgeon-types gets addressed by their first name so the issue is really moot.

lol, well, I do know all the doctors just call each other by their first names here, but I feel kinda uncomfortable doing it so I always call them doctor ____.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

On the other hand, a physical therapist that took the GRE and got into some willy nilly school and obtained their master's and then did years of CE credits and then took some one year program to call themselves Dr. is pure rubish. I think it not only confuses people but makes a true physcians work cheapened. I am not being arrogant or smug I am being real. One should have to do something extronidary in their life to be hailed as Doctor... We should not be allowing the capitalistic phenomenon to simply apply time with being called, Doctor.

The word "doctor" is derived from the latin root "doc" which means "to teach." I see medical doctors as those who can teach their patients about their ailments, body, therapies etc. PhD Doctors is self explanatory, aside from usually being professors, they teach the world about the world.

I wouldn't mind calling anyone who can teach their subset of patients, students, consumers, whatever - doctor. I would also like to point out that there are piss poor medical doctors, and fabulous physical therapists out there. When comparing those two, do the horrible MDs still have more of a right to the exclusive use of "doctor" even though they do less good than their PT counterparts?

Ridiculous formalities. It is just a title. Get over it.

 

[epigastric]

Yeah, it's sort of random. My uncle was mentioning how a British surgeon was introduced as 'doctor' at a conference, and how the surgeon had a fit. He wanted to be called 'mister' and not be given the 'lowly' title of 'doctor.'

It's not random. The title of "mister" generally denotes the doctor in question is a member of one of the Royal Surgical Colleges and has passed the required examinations. Anyone graduating from a medical program in the UK can call themselves a doctor, but "mister" takes extra work. To mix them up is similar to omitting the ", FACS" from the formal title of a US surgeon who has earned it.

I don't think that non-surgeons can call themselves mister in the UK, but I admit that's where my knowledge gets a little fuzzy.

 

[Cirrus83]

It's not random. The title of "mister" generally denotes the doctor in question is a member of one of the Royal Surgical Colleges and has passed the required examinations. Anyone graduating from a medical program in the UK can call themselves a doctor, but "mister" takes extra work. To mix them up is similar to omitting the ", FACS" from the formal title of a US surgeon who has earned it.

I don't think that non-surgeons can call themselves mister in the UK, but I admit that's where my knowledge gets a little fuzzy.

I think it matters more there because doctors don't have to go through undergrad and then med school over there, they can go straight to med school from high school. So I guess being a mister there means you've put in a lot more time, whereas over here you've already put in a ton of time just to be a doctor.

Actually I read a little more and it gets more confusing, lol. Because in England to practice medicine all you need is the bachelor's degree like I mentioned, but apparently that bachelor's isn't technically a doctorate. So the doctors there might not neccessarily be doctors in the sense that they have a doctorate? But it seems like they could. At any rate, the entire silliness stems from back when surgeons were barbers too, so they were "regular people" who did apprenticeships, whereas doctors were educated-although back then this was kind of a joke-probably more of a joke than a 7 year apprenticeship.

I think it was kind of like, both sides wanted to be snobs or something, so now the surgeons want to be misters in order to back-snob the doctors who snobbed the surgeons centuries ago. However, apparently most female surgeons (in the UK) would like for surgeons just to be doctors too, but apparently most male surgeons are against it (although personally I think it's still kinda close, it's like 60/40).

Of course if you're used to being called something I could see why you'd rather just continue it instead of a weird sudden title change.

 

[45408]

this is Dr. Johnson, your urologist, and this is Dr. Phil, your psychiatrist, along with Dr. Dre, your pharmacist. Problem solved.


and I'm Bob, the chief of cardiothoracic surgery

 

[epigastric]

I think it matters more there because doctors don't have to go through undergrad and then med school over there, they can go straight to med school from high school. So I guess being a mister there means you've put in a lot more time, whereas over here you've already put in a ton of time just to be a doctor.

Actually I read a little more and it gets more confusing, lol. Because in England to practice medicine all you need is the bachelor's degree like I mentioned, but apparently that bachelor's isn't technically a doctorate. So the doctors there might not neccessarily be doctors in the sense that they have a doctorate? But it seems like they could. .

The MD is a professional degree, and despite the title of doctor, MD isn't considered equal to a PhD. You could argue that a doctor in the UK (I have a red passport, before you think this is a serious comment) is much closer in spirit to a PharmD than the US's graduate professional MD, but the graduate four-year medical programs in the UK blur that distinction.

As for the power of the mister, it's there. We don't really make a big deal about the FACS/FRCS after a surgeon's name unless we're 1) medical staff or 2) about to be operated on, but Mister Smith gets more respect from the average Joe Briton than Doctor Smith, even if most people don't understand the reason for it.

And going in a complete circle, there is still some dispute that JDs should be able to call themselves doctors. Every now and then someone reopens the case, loudly.

 

[Beau Geste]

The only potential issue I forsee with everyone referring to themselves as "Dr." in a clinical setting is potential bad advice given to a patient by a non-physician who refers to themselves as Dr. so and so that the patient acts upon, and then when asked why, the patient says, "Well, Dr. so and so told me to do this." Or even worse, the patient can't remember the name but "knows they were a doctor!".

By no means would I ever demean the doctoral education someone receives in a particular field, but when it comes to a medically clinical situation, the care AND understanding of the patient outweigh the ego of wanting to be called Dr. no matter what type of doctoral degree it is.