Out of curiosity...

[owlegrad]

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actually, when I was working at pfizer, colleagues greet teach others on a first name basis, but people who comes from the out-side should and do greet Ph.D level scientists as "nice to meet your, Dr. xyz". Not doing so is considered disrespectful.

You are correct. When I interned at the Smithsonian I called all the scientists Dr. Highlyeducated and they thought it was funny. As in:

"Have you seen Dr. Valerie Myboss?"
"No, but Val is in lab 102, haha".

They always joked about it, like:

"Hi Dr. Cool what are we working on today?"
"'Dr. Cool?' I could get used to this haha".

They were really good people and I don't recall them ever using the title Dr among themselves, except for presentations. I will say that in that setting everyone is familiar with their colleagues' educational level. And of course they are all friends or at least friendly toward one another. This is not true for pharmacists with the general public. So I do kinda understand the desire to make the public aware of our "Dr" status, although I don't personally share it, particularly since not all pharmacists are "Dr's". I would go so far as to say that the pharmacists who have experience (but not the PharmD) are better than their PharmD colleagues in many (most?) instances.

 

[womp]

dude... were doctors, period.

confusing or not. People should know that a physician is just a type of doctor. Same as a pharmacist, a dentist, etc... we're all types of doctors.

physicians dont have "Dr." copy written or something.

The concept of homonyms go whoosh over many of the posters here, like this guy quoted above.

Doctor
noun
1. a person licensed to practice medicine, as a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian.

2. a person who has been awarded a doctor's degree: He is a Doctor of Philosophy.

3. Doctor of the Church

4. Older Slang. a cook, as at a camp or on a ship.

7. an eminent scholar and teacher.

(Random House Dictionary - Unabridged)

No, you're not a doctor in the sense that a physician is a doctor (a person who practices medicine). English is a highly contextual language, where the same word in different contexts have completely different meanings.

You can certainly use doctor to refer to a pharmacist's education level and his title (Dr. Jones), but you can't hang up a sign in a clinic that says "The Doctor is In" while referring to a pharmacist. That's a bastardization of the English language.

 

[gotdrugs]

The concept of homonyms go whoosh over many of the posters here, like this guy quoted above.

Doctor
noun
1. a person licensed to practice medicine, as a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian.

2. a person who has been awarded a doctor's degree: He is a Doctor of Philosophy.

3. Doctor of the Church

4. Older Slang. a cook, as at a camp or on a ship.

7. an eminent scholar and teacher.

(Random House Dictionary - Unabridged)

No, you're not a doctor in the sense that a physician is a doctor (a person who practices medicine). English is a highly contextual language, where the same word in different contexts have completely different meanings.

You can certainly use doctor to refer to a pharmacist's education level and his title (Dr. Jones), but you can't hang up a sign in a clinic that says "The Doctor is In" while referring to a pharmacist. That's a bastardization of the English language.

While I agree with you, you aren't doing the best job with this post to make your point

 

[jinga]

How many of you guys know of a pharmacist who insists on being called Dr. XYZ? In my opinion, that just screams tool.

To most people, the term "doctor" denotes a prescriber. You'd be surprised at how many people don't even know what a doctorate degree is. Thus, the term doctor implies "physician." Pharmacists aren't physicians, they're pharmacists who happen to hold a doctorate degree. To take the title "Dr" causes confusion to the layman.

 

[womp]

While I agree with you, you aren't doing the best job with this post to make your point

Whoosh...

Just because there are many definitions for the word "doctor" and one of them happens to apply to pharmacists, doesn't mean the definitions are interchangeable and can be applied in all contexts. The word doctor might be used to refer to a campground cook, but he's not a "type of doctor" in the sense that a surgeon is a type of doctor. Similarly, just because a pharmacist and an economist have doctorate degrees (second definition), doesn't mean they can co-opt the first definition of doctor ("a person licensed to practice medicine.")

They do still teach homonyms in the third grade, right?

British physicians and surgeons are also called "doctors" in the UK, but the vast majority of them don't even have a doctorate, just a bachelors degree. Also British surgeons have titles of "Mister" (Mr. Smith) but are still considered doctors. How the hell do you explain that? Simple. Referring a British doctor as a doctor is in a completely different context than addressing a pharmacist or an economist with a PhD as a doctor.

So no, it's not as simple as "we're all types of doctors."

http://www.bma.org.uk/ British Medical Association - "Standing up for doctors"

 

[PharmaTope]

fact is, people are going to use the term when they are doctors of anything.


fyi, i saw a nurse practitioner (called doctor by her patient), she didnt correct him even though she has no doctorate degree.

what do you guys think of chiropractors calling themselves Dr. and Chiropractic Physicians?

 

[PharmaTope]

Whoosh... as the point is missed, again.

Just because there are many definitions for the word "doctor" and one of them happens to apply to pharmacists, doesn't mean it's appropriate to use in all contexts. The word doctor might be used to refer to a campground cook, but he's not a "type of doctor" just because his job shares the same word the way a surgeon is a type of doctor.

They do still teach homonyms in the third grade, right?

British physicians and surgeons are also called "doctors" in the UK, but the vast majority of them don't even have a doctorate, just a bachelors degree. How the hell do you explain that? Referring a British doctor as a doctor is in completely different context than addressing a pharmacist or an economist with a PhD as a doctor because they earned a doctorate degree or teach.

actually the surgeons in UK prefer to not be called doctors, the looked at as if it was lessor than what they are doing.... FYI from personal conversations with them

 

[gotdrugs]

Whoosh...

Just because there are many definitions for the word "doctor" and one of them happens to apply to pharmacists, doesn't mean the definitions are interchangeable and can be applied in all contexts. The word doctor might be used to refer to a campground cook, but he's not a "type of doctor" in the sense that a surgeon is a type of doctor. Similarly, just because a pharmacist and an economist have doctorate degrees (second definition), doesn't mean they can co-opt the first definition of doctor ("a person licensed to practice medicine.")

They do still teach homonyms in the third grade, right?

British physicians and surgeons are also called "doctors" in the UK, but the vast majority of them don't even have a doctorate, just a bachelors degree. Also British surgeons have titles of "Mister" (Mr. Smith) but are still considered doctors. How the hell do you explain that? Simple. Referring a British doctor as a doctor is in a completely different context than addressing a pharmacist or an economist with a PhD as a doctor.

So no, it's not as simple as "we're all types of doctors."

http://www.bma.org.uk/ British Medical Association - "Standing up for doctors"

You're still doing a terrible job of making your point.

 

[womp]

actually the surgeons in UK prefer to not be called doctors, the looked at as if it was lessor than what they are doing.... FYI from personal conversations with them

They're still called doctors, they just don't use the title Dr. So they are "Mr. Smith, your surgeon" or "Mr. Smith, your orthopedic doctor."

Again, most doctors in the UK only have a bachelors degree (MBBS). They are still called doctors. The usage of doctor for "someone who practices medicine" is inherently different from the usage for "someone who has a doctorate degree." It's intellectually dishonest to suggest otherwise.

 

[Quiksilver]

fact is, people are going to use the term when they are doctors of anything.


fyi, i saw a nurse practitioner (called doctor by her patient), she didnt correct him even though she has no doctorate degree.

what do you guys think of chiropractors calling themselves Dr. and Chiropractic Physicians?

hahaha not to bash nurses but could you imagine that NP saying that she was a nurse and loose all credibility instantly?