Parents and Relatives Incessantly Calling you Doctor

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NJapplicant12

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This applies mostly to those recently accepted to c/o 2016, but can loosely apply to other pre-meds and those in medical school, but.......

Has anyone had the experience of being called doctor (insert name here) almost exclusively by their parents and relatives? For me, my family members have been calling me "doctor" ever since i started studying for the MCAT. However, since having been accepted to medical school it has become considerably more frequent. It was somewhat flattering and a joyful reminder that I got in at first, but now it's getting a little annoying!

Can anyone commiserate?
 
if it's getting annoying, ask them (politely) to stop and/or clarify that you're years away from truly becoming a doctor.
 
People used to call me that jokingly when I first told them I got accepted. No one really does now...

Maybe you should just relax and enjoy it. It seems they mean it as a compliment, but thats just imo. If it bothers you that much just be frank with them about it.
 
plumhill said:
if it's getting annoying, ask them (politely) to stop and/or clarify that you're years away from truly becoming a doctor.
Click to expand...

Yes, yes. I know exactly how I will handle it if it continues to go on. Thanks for your reply, though.

I was mostly wondering out of curiosity if it has been happening to others as well.
 
This felt thread-worthy, doctor. :laugh:
 
What are you going to do when you are a doctor and everyone always calls you doctor....Damn thats gunna sux
 
MrLahey said:
What are you going to do when you are a doctor and everyone always calls you doctor....Damn thats gunna sux
Click to expand...


I wouldnt mind being called doctor if i actually was a doctor or even a 3rd year med student. It's just somewhat awkward being called doctor (and asked medical questions even) when you havent even set foot in medical school.
 
Friends and family, no. Acquaintances, yes. I just correct them and tell them "not for several years".

True story though: when I was a pre-PA student my family kept saying I was Going To Be A Doctor, despite me correcting them every time. I finally decided it would be easier to switch to pre-med than keep explaining the difference to them.
 
I can definitely relate to this - my mom bought me a brand new stethescope when I got my acceptance...and had it engraved on the tubing "Dr. Chinchillin89".

Since I work as an EMT, I had to cover-up the "Dr." part with some electrical tape.

:bang:
 
kpcrew2oo2 said:
:laugh: that was really funny. totally did not expect that reply
Click to expand...

Should have done it like this


3356b8194d8964c513b950dedf7b8afc.jpg
 
How dare they! Tell 'em all to go crawl back up the deep, dank cave from which they were spawned. Calling you a doctor 4 years before you become one.... pshhhhh, the nerve.
 
So a friend of mine said that when he was first accepted, his best friends started calling him Dr. D-bag.

Guess it could be worse?
 
I've never had family say that. But it's probably because they're proud of you. As long as people understand that you're not really a doctor, I'd just roll with it. Although you certainly still have plenty of work to do until you get that magical MD, you've earned the right to be proud of yourself. Your family has supported you so far, so they have also earned the right to be proud of you. Like doug said, things could be worse.
 
MT Headed said:
Friends and family, no. Acquaintances, yes. I just correct them and tell them "not for several years".

True story though: when I was a pre-PA student my family kept saying I was Going To Be A Doctor, despite me correcting them every time. I finally decided it would be easier to switch to pre-med than keep explaining the difference to them.
Click to expand...

LOL! Best post...ever...:laugh:
 
This won't be the only thing to happen. I see people when I'm home visiting my parents that I don't see for months to years and often hear, "Guess what your mom told me..." and it always goes back to medical school, becoming a physician, wanting to practice a certain specialty, etc.

Your parents and relatives are proud. They're going to gloat. Let them. Attendings often have mentioned I am a student and then go on to call me doctor the entire time I'm in the exam room with them and the patient. I doubt you'd correct the attending 😉.
 
At my last interview, both of my interviewers (both physicians) referred to me as "Dr. ______" the entire time. It was definitely in a light manner, as they knew I will be a doctor in the future. I'm sure your relatives understand that you're not just automatically awarded the title when you enter medical school, they're just proud of you. Just as long as you don't start introducing yourself as Dr. ______....
 
Just my experience with this....
So although I am very very close to my grandparents, I've never been especially girly...Fifteen or so years my junior comes along the next little girl in the family (all in between are a lot of boys)...shes five now and shes totally a little princess...so my grandfather who spends a lot of time with her refers to her as princess (insert her name here)...well now that I've gotten into medical school somehow even though i was never his princess he has decided to soley call me Princess Doctor (no first name involved). Occasionally it will be Doctor Princess. And my family thinks its hysterical so often its my aunts/uncles/cousins/extended family calling me Princess Doctor.
WEIRDDDDD and annoying...but i love them for it anyway...
 
HurricaneKatt said:
:laugh:
Click to expand...

Does anyone else get mistaken for a doctor pretty regularly? I do some volunteer work at a local clinic and I don't wear scrubs because I'm not a tool. But that means I have to dress up a bit. I get mistaken for a doctor quite freqently... I even stopped hanging a stethoscope over my neck (again, to avoid being a tool) but that didn't help. #firstworldproblems
 
Two mores weeks and it will be over. Just take it.
 
Cinclus said:
:laugh:

I did one of those breathy laughs, you know, the ones that sound like you're out of breath. There isn't a smiley that really shows that sort of laugh...
Click to expand...

Lulz. 😉 Anyway, I find that my family does this kind of thing, too. I initially corrected them to say that "Yes, I was on the path to becoming a doctor, but I was many years away from coming close to being an MD or being able to practice medicine." They keep it up. I know they're proud, but I worry they aren't grasping what I'm telling them due to the steady onslaught of medical treatment questions at family gatherings.

It wouldn't be so bad if the ignorance stayed behind closed doors, but I'm sure they go to their doctors and gloat about their grandson/nephew/cousin that is a doctor and starts medical school this fall. All the while, the Dr. Is thinking "What is this toolbag telling his family?". Lol.
 
dreamweaver1988 said:
Does anyone else get mistaken for a doctor pretty regularly? I do some volunteer work at a local clinic and I don't wear scrubs because I'm not a tool. But that means I have to dress up a bit. I get mistaken for a doctor quite freqently... I even stopped hanging a stethoscope over my neck (again, to avoid being a tool) but that didn't help. #firstworldproblems
Click to expand...

See, I see it exactly opposite.

Those people who come into free clinics know they don't have the money to go to a hospital, so why make matters worse by rubbing in the fact that you're a lazy undergrad who can't be forced to put on more than what you rolled out of bed in?

Wearing scrubs isn't that difficult. You take a shower, you put on pants, you put on top, tie your shoes, basically the end. You look professional and you don't rub your patients' faces in the fact that they're economically disadvantaged and have to deal with little Johnny BIO I "I'm going to be a doctor" pre-med.

(I'm not saying this is how you feel exactly, just saying that perceptions are everything.)
 
Yes, I corrected my relatives, and now I get to enjoy them calling me "you who's not gonna be a doctor for a really, really long time."
 
NJapplicant12 said:
This applies mostly to those recently accepted to c/o 2016, but can loosely apply to other pre-meds and those in medical school, but.......

Has anyone had the experience of being called doctor (insert name here) almost exclusively by their parents and relatives? For me, my family members have been calling me "doctor" ever since i started studying for the MCAT. However, since having been accepted to medical school it has become considerably more frequent. It was somewhat flattering and a joyful reminder that I got in at first, but now it's getting a little annoying!

Can anyone commiserate?
Click to expand...

OP, I can kinda relate to that. The whole situation might be a cultural thing. What ethnicity are you, if you don't mind me asking?
 
Bro Dude said:
OP, I can kinda relate to that. The whole situation might be a cultural thing. What ethnicity are you, if you don't mind me asking?
Click to expand...

White.. More specifically Italian American
 
Apparently, it is a cross-cultural phenomenon, then. 😀
 
What's worse is anytime someone has a sore throat my mom is like "Well, go on, look, DOCTOR!"

Okay, so maybe she's also a dentist and when I was a kid I always said she wasn't a real doctor and she's giving me my just desserts. :laugh:
 
Glad to see some others are in the same boat as I am :laugh:

My parents just said 'Doctor NJapplicant12' so many times that I just had to see if this was happening around the country.
 
Bacchus said:
This won't be the only thing to happen. I see people when I'm home visiting my parents that I don't see for months to years and often hear, "Guess what your mom told me..." and it always goes back to medical school, becoming a physician, wanting to practice a certain specialty, etc.

Your parents and relatives are proud. They're going to gloat. Let them. Attendings often have mentioned I am a student and then go on to call me doctor the entire time I'm in the exam room with them and the patient. I doubt you'd correct the attending 😉.
Click to expand...

One of my friends/classmates is a paramedic locally and the other paramedics call him "dr backrub" lol fcking OMM
 
scarshapedstar said:
What's worse is anytime someone has a sore throat my mom is like "Well, go on, look, DOCTOR!"

Okay, so maybe she's also a dentist and when I was a kid I always said she wasn't a real doctor and she's giving me my just desserts. :laugh:
Click to expand...

you also put ms0 in your profile. sounds like you deserve it.
 
I had a friend ask me how much a breast cancer screening test costs. I haven't even started med school yet!
 
I don't have this problem. My parents think I'm matriculating for agriculture.

But I don't think it should be annoying. I had a male friend who was very intelligent. We'd either call him Dr. Spock, or Doctor (insert his last name).

I could see, however, if a tough class was taken, or an unwanted grade was obtained either for a class or an assignment/exam, and they called you "doctor" that, that would be troublesome.
 
Weird, my dad just asked me how much for a prostate check.
 
People I have met have started asking me medical questions and these girls I met the other night were calling me doctor. It was pretty amusing and ego inflating :laugh:
 
Well. It's just in a jest. Learn to take a kidding. I was called an engineer by my father and relatives since I was five because I used tor try to repair anything that was broken.
 
At least it's only your family and relatives joking around. I have this one close friend who would point at me and said "this guy is going to be a surgeon" in a room/table full of people whenever he gets drunk enough. What makes it worse is that mostly the people we hang out with are working class people. I have to explicitly tell him to stop.
 
I have a somewhat more awkward situation....I told my dad I'm going back to school for my post bacc pre-med, which he somehow mistakenly equated to medical school. (I have no idea how he got that in his head). Just today I get a facebook message from some family friends back home congratulating me on getting into med school, and texts from some other friends as well. I called my dad and asked him about it, and he said misunderstood me??? Guess I better get in now.....
 
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