Introducing med students as "doctor"

[ttac]

As a first year med student, I've noticed that some doctors will introduce me to patients as "Doctor ttac", whereas some others will say that I'm a first year medical student. Originally the first time this happened (by a neurology attending that I was shadowing) I thought this was a fluke, but then he actually started introducing me as "doctor", even to other residents... this _really_ made me uncomfortable. I mean, at least with a patient it might not be obvious that you're not a doctor, but with other doctors?

Last week, I went to a shadow a PCP and he introduced me to his patients as "doctor"... I don't know if he wanted to make his patients more confident in my abilities (b/c I don't know much as a lowly first year anyway) or maybe he wanted me to start thinking of myself as a doctor, or maybe it was just a force of habit (he's practiced for 30 years). This is despite the fact that my bright yellow ID card on my short white coat clearly says "Medical Student" on it.

However, I've noticed that when it comes to our clinical experiences where our faculty-MD's introduce us to patients, they will call us medical students.

Does anyone else have this problem? I feel really uncomfortable being addressed as a doctor. Is this something that only 'old-school' doctors do?

ttac (not a doctor but apparently I play one at school)

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[DrMom]

We're supposed to introduce ourselves as "student doctor _____"

I'm assuming that most of the docs will introduce us the same way, but I'm sure there will be exceptions. I have not yet been introduced as Dr. DrMom, though.

 

[Street Philosopher]

that's pretty disturbing. is ttac even your real name?!

 

[southerndoc]

I introduce myself by first name only and tell people I'm a medical student on such and such team.

The residents tend to introduce me as student doctor.

 

[Brewster]

I have had the same experience as Geek Medic on this one (introduce myself by first, and occasionally last, name then tell them I am a med student; generally I am introduced by attendings/residents to patients as student doctor or medical student).

However, it does occasionally happen that an attending will introduce you to a patient as Doctor _______. In my experience, this has been rare and you just have to take it in stride.

 

[locitamd]

We have been specifically asked NOT to introduce ourselves as student doctors so as to minimize patient's misconceptions about our abilities, roles and responsibilities.

not sure if that helps.

I really need to go read about renal function...

 

[mikecwru]

I've been introduced as Dr. "CWRU," Mike, Mike the med student, Dr. "CWRU who is a med student," and "him," "my cousin," and "my little buddy."

I absolutely hate the term "student doctor," despite my fondness for posting on this web site. Everytime I hear someone use it (a new third year med student) I feel like I want to smack them. I've specifically asked attendings/residents to never call me that. It's just me... I think it's ******ed.

mike

Originally posted by ttac
As a first year med student, I've noticed that some doctors will introduce me to patients as "Doctor ttac", whereas some others will say that I'm a first year medical student. Originally the first time this happened (by a neurology attending that I was shadowing) I thought this was a fluke, but then he actually started introducing me as "doctor", even to other residents... this _really_ made me uncomfortable. I mean, at least with a patient it might not be obvious that you're not a doctor, but with other doctors?

Last week, I went to a shadow a PCP and he introduced me to his patients as "doctor"... I don't know if he wanted to make his patients more confident in my abilities (b/c I don't know much as a lowly first year anyway) or maybe he wanted me to start thinking of myself as a doctor, or maybe it was just a force of habit (he's practiced for 30 years). This is despite the fact that my bright yellow ID card on my short white coat clearly says "Medical Student" on it.

However, I've noticed that when it comes to our clinical experiences where our faculty-MD's introduce us to patients, they will call us medical students.

Does anyone else have this problem? I feel really uncomfortable being addressed as a doctor. Is this something that only 'old-school' doctors do?

ttac (not a doctor but apparently I play one at school)

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by mikecwru
I've been introduced as Dr. "CWRU," Mike, Mike the med student, Dr. "CWRU who is a med student," and "him," "my cousin," and "my little buddy."

The funniest are "this is my med student" (without mentioning my name) or "this is JUST a med student."

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

I was introduced like this "this is my sidekick, Kygrl". I found it funny because I'm a 1st year and have basically zero knowledge and power, I was basically just shadowing. Although, he did tell one woman I was his daughter and I kept insisting to her he was joking, but she believed him....He liked to joke around a lot, but that lady must have been ******ed to believe him. Yeah we both have dark hair, but he has a major accent because he's from HOLLAND and I am from KENTUCKY.

 

[Hero]

when you introduce yourself (especialy if you're a first year) you should refer youself as a student doctor. so if they ask u questions u don't know (and will prolly not know) u can say i'm just a student doctor, i don't know but i'll ask the doctor

other doctors will introduce you as 'doctor ------' because they consider you as 'in the club.' yes it may be another 4-5 years that you actually get your MD degree but you're pretty much set

 

[drchris33]

We have mock patient interviews at my school during our first year. We were told to introduce ourselves as Student Doctor ____, but I choose to introduce myself as my first name and that I am a student doctor working with such and such a doctor

Chris

 

[auster]

Originally posted by Hero
when you introduce yourself (especialy if you're a first year) you should refer youself as a student doctor. so if they ask u questions u don't know (and will prolly not know) u can say i'm just a student doctor, i don't know but i'll ask the doctor

other doctors will introduce you as 'doctor ------' because they consider you as 'in the club.' yes it may be another 4-5 years that you actually get your MD degree but you're pretty much set

I would much prefer to be introduced as a 1st year medical student than as a "student doctor". I feel like the latter is perhaps trying to take advantage of the fact that patients are not always "in the know" about the heirarchy. I think that it is often said in the hope that the patient will focus on the "doctor" part, and ignore the student part. I also think that it is important to mention that I am a first year - many people that ARE in the know will assume the med student they run into in a clinical setting is a 3rd or 4th year - why make people think that I have more knowledge than I do? While we may all know what a short white coat and a title "Student Doctor" means, most patients don't - why identify ourselves in a way that might be misleading?

 

[Behcet]

for me, it's been completely attending-dependent. i've noticed though, that the attendings who seem more aggressive about student autonomy tend to introduce me as "Doctor" and the ones who don't have much faith in students and just want us to shadow introduce me as a "medical student." regardless, i always introduce myself by my first name and tell the patients i'm a med student. i've never heard an attending call anyone "student doctor" but i've heard a few med students call themselves that...

 

[mpp]

For me it's usually the residents that present me as 'Dr. mpp'. Sometimes I correct them, sometimes I don't depending on what is going on. The attendings usually present me as 'mpp, our medical student'. If I'm meeting the patient first I introduce myself as a medical student working with Dr. Smith.

 

[Weil-Felix]

I agree with several posters here in that I think the title "student doctor" is kind of dopey. Usually if an attending introduces me as "student doctor Weil", they say it in kind of a mockingly serious tone of voice as if they think it's funny to refer to us that way.

I ususally just introduce myself by my first name and tell them that I am one of the medical students on the team taking care of them. That way, there is generally no misunderstanding of my role in their care.

 

[Kazu]

If you are a student and you introduce yourself as doctor you are lying making a mistake. Its that simple. And it doesn't matter how you tell them that you are a student, so long as you tell them. I think legally you might not be allowed to introduce yourself as doctor. If a doctor introduces you to another doctor as doctor it is no big deal because they should easily recognize that you are a student (short white coat probably a name tag with student on it) Pts don't easily recognize the distinction and need to be told.

 

[notstudying]

I try to jump in and introduce myself as a medical student, rather than student doctor (we were discouraged from using that term in our thousands of hours of ethics). It doesn't always work, though-I have one attending that has introduced me as student doctor, doctor, and medical student-all in one day!

My favorite though was an attending who introduced me as Dr. Nelson. Never mind that not only am I not a doctor, my last name isn't Nelson!!! He wasn't one of my favorites...

 

[qweewq11]

Uh-oh...I can see myself mistakenly introducing myself as "Hi, I'm student doctor Network...doh!"

Originally posted by DrMom
We're supposed to introduce ourselves as "student doctor _____"

I'm assuming that most of the docs will introduce us the same way, but I'm sure there will be exceptions. I have not yet been introduced as Dr. DrMom, though.

 

[Meuri]

"Hi, I'm (first name, last name), I'm one of the medical students on the team who will be taking care of you."

I feel most comfortable with this form, even as a fourth year; student doctor just doesn't roll off my tongue very well. The only problem with "medical student" is that I've been mistaken for a nursing student (!) by my elderly patients instead, whereas student doctor is probably less ambiguous.

~M

 

[redleft123]

Under California law (and, I think, with increasing frequency in other states), it is actually against the law to call yourself "doctor" until you hold a license. (Calif Business and Professions Code Section 2054) And when you think about it -- it's really a consumer protection issue. You don't wnat a patient to think you are a doctor when you are a med student -- they ask questions, you offer adivce or suggestions, or even say "I think" and they take it as medical gospel.

I have never allowed anyone to refer to me as "doctor" -- until the time was right. There are even a couple of Calif medical schools that have that in the Code of Ethics and a few Calif teaching hospitals have that in their contracts with residents.

Cheers

 

[Airborne]

I always refer to my self as First name, Last name, too.

On occasion, I have been introduced as "Doctor Airborne" - both by residents and attendings, but don't really take too much notice of it, as with a PhD, that is my title.

Granted, they have also said, "and this is Dr. Airborne, the medical student on the team."

Do you feel this is misleading? Also, would it be "against California law" since I don't hold the MD for another 15 months (and counting...)? I know plenty of PhD's who perform clinical studies (ie visual evoked potentials) who are introduced to patients as Dr. VEP.

Airborne

 

[Airborne]

Also in keeping with the California law issue...

Can interns call themselves Dr, as they cannot get a license until Step III is passed and their intern year completed...

Airborne

 

[UCLA2000]

I heard from a friend of mine who attends Drexel that there is a lawsuit being filed against them because a patient claims that a medical student misrepresented himself as a "doctor".

...

 

[DoctorDoom]

Airborne,

You can definitely be called doctor, since PhD's in English are referred to that way, just don't tell the patients you're a doctor, always introduce yourself as a medical student.

Same with interns, they have the academic degree of MD and they are entitled to, um... use the, uhh... title. They just aren't allowed to set up clinics independently or be a solo practitioner as they aren't licensed by the state.

 

[LeslieKay]

More often than not, when I say I am a medical student, I am asked if I am studying to become a nurse. This is from people of all ages, sexes, etc. Maybe its because I am a rather young looking female, but since when did nurses go to medical school? Also, people always assume I am in my undergrad (I get this especially from nurses), even though I say I am a medical student.

 

[DoctorDoom]

Just observer bias Leslie. (A young woman? She can't be a doctor, must be a nurse.) Ignore that stuff, or take the time to explain as you deem necessary. We know what you are!