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I was wondering what are the legal requirements for an IMG to use "M.D." designation after his/her name
MD title
- Thread starter grigory76
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Graduate from WHO recognized medical program.
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grigory76 said:
after one graduates from medical school, one can place MD after his/her name.
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ramonaquimby said:
The school has to be WHO recognized or else it is fraud.
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grigory76 said:
You have to graduate from a WHO recognized medical school. Period.
Practicing is another matter.
M
Miklos
No, actually, it is not simple, as each state has its own rules regarding this.
For instance, I know that California will not legally allow you to use the MD title unless you have a license in that state to practice medicine. The rationale behind this is to prevent someone without a license from misleading the public. Makes perfect sense to me.
Another jurisdiction where this was recently enforced was Kansas, when a DDS went to a Carib school for a "short course" MD diploma and tried to advertise as an DDS/MD. The Kansas board fought him in the courts and won and was granted a judgement preventing him from using the title MD.
Any US jurisdiction worth its salt will enforce this rule, simply to protect itself and its authority to grant licenses (never mind the public).
So, grigory, please do yourself a huge favor and contact your local medical board (NY, isn't it?) and ask them about this in writing BEFORE you fall into their bad graces.
For instance, I know that California will not legally allow you to use the MD title unless you have a license in that state to practice medicine. The rationale behind this is to prevent someone without a license from misleading the public. Makes perfect sense to me.
Another jurisdiction where this was recently enforced was Kansas, when a DDS went to a Carib school for a "short course" MD diploma and tried to advertise as an DDS/MD. The Kansas board fought him in the courts and won and was granted a judgement preventing him from using the title MD.
Any US jurisdiction worth its salt will enforce this rule, simply to protect itself and its authority to grant licenses (never mind the public).
So, grigory, please do yourself a huge favor and contact your local medical board (NY, isn't it?) and ask them about this in writing BEFORE you fall into their bad graces.
M
Miklos
Just remembered:
A very similar topic was recently discussed on ValueMD.
azskeptic, who follows these kinds of issues very closely and knows alot more about this is a great resource (moderates the state licensure forum at ValueMD). You might want to pm him.
However, the final authority is the state medical licensing authority. It would be very unwise to cross them.
A very similar topic was recently discussed on ValueMD.
azskeptic, who follows these kinds of issues very closely and knows alot more about this is a great resource (moderates the state licensure forum at ValueMD). You might want to pm him.
However, the final authority is the state medical licensing authority. It would be very unwise to cross them.
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Miklos says it best.grigory76 said:
Each state has different laws.
For instance in California it is against the law to use an MD title if it could make people think you are offering medical expertise if you aren't licensed but supposedly you could acknowledge it in social occasions I would suppose.
But lets be honest......how many people use their titles in non-business titles. It is boorish (english meaning..ha ha). Better to get yourself licensed. it is proper to refer to yourself as a physician working on getting licensed though,eh?
Dean
M
Miklos
azskeptic said:
If my memory serves me right (please correct me), while grigory has an MD from a Russian school, he currently practices as a PA while he is applying for a residency position. So, adding the title MD to his businesscard probably has greater legal ramifications than mentioning that you are a "doctor" at a cocktail party.
M
Miklos
azskeptic said:
Those were my thoughts, exactly. (I just forgot to mention his background, as I remembered it.)
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Miklos said:
That is exactly right, Miklos, I have an MD degree from Russia and RPA-C degree here in the states. I have no intention of adding an MD designation on my business card until I finish my residency and start practicing, although I have seen people that went the same way as I am going and used MD, RPA-C designations after their names- when reading lectures for PA students, for example (I don't see many other reasons for still using a PA title if you are a practicing physician). The reason I asked is because one of my fellow PAs is going for a job interview and asked me for a recommendation letter, which I wrote, but wanted to add extra weight to it by adding an MD title. Otherwise I wouldn't care less. But even for this letter, I wanted to make sure I can actually put it down.
Thanks to all of you for your input.
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Why would you "mention" you are a doctor at a cocktail party?Miklos said:
M
Miklos
toofache32 said:
Heck if I know, as I personally don't do it, but here is my guess:
If you are a guy, obviously, to impress the chicks. If you are a gal, I guess, to scare off the unwanted attention.
M
Miklos
grigory76 said:
Gotcha.
