Professional vs. Academic

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Noun 1. Doctor of Medicine - a doctor''s degree in medicine
Synonyms: MD

By Wordnet Dictionary



The Medicinæ Doctor or Doctor of Medicine (M.D. or D.M.) is a doctorate level degree held by medical doctors. See Physician or Medicine for a fuller discussion of the holders of this degree and their field of study.

The M.D. in Canada and the United States is not a doctorate level degree. The M.D. is an undergraduate degree but mistaken to be a doctorate level degree due to the title. It is a professional degree much like the J.D. ( juris doctor ) is. All programs require a previous undergraduate degree or some undergraduate coursework to be completed before acceptance into a medical school.

In the United States most physicians have earned a M.D., although some may instead hold a D.O.. See the Flexner Report.

In the United Kingdom and in countries that follow its tradition, medical doctors instead graduate as Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery, usually abbreviated as 'MB BS' or 'BM BCh'. The Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery are higher doctorates reserved for those who have contributed significantly to the academic study of medicine and surgery respectively. (It follows that the title of "Dr." is technically honorary for the majority of practising physicians in the UK.)






This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Doctor_of_Medicine".

http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/Doctor_of_Medicine

 

[lawguil]

Noun 1. academic degree - an award conferred by a college or university signifying that the recipient has satisfactorily completed a course of study; "he earned his degree at Princeton summa cum laude"
Synonyms: degree

By Wordnet Dictionary



A degree is any of a wide range of awards made by institutions of higher education, such as universities, normally as the result of successfully completing a program of study.

Contents
1 History

2 Types of academic degrees

3 See also

4 External links


History
The first universities were founded in Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. As with other professions, teaching in universities was only carried out by people who were properly qualified. In the same way that a carpenter would attain the status of master carpenter when fully qualified by his guild, a teacher would become a master when he had been licensed by his profession, the teaching guild.

Candidates who had completed three or four years of study in the prescribed texts of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric and logic), and who had successfully passed examinations held by his masters, would be awarded a bachelor's degree. Thus a degree was only a step on the way to becoming a fully-qualified master — hence the English word graduate, which is based on the Latin gradus ("step").

Today the terms master, doctor and professor signify different levels of academic achievement, but initially they were equivalent terms. The University of Bologna in Italy, regarded as the oldest university in Europe, was the first institution to award the degree of Doctor in Civil Law in the late 12th century; it also awarded similar degrees in other subjects including medicine. Note that medicine is now the only field in which the term doctor is applied to students who have only obtained their first academic qualification.

The University of Paris used the term master for its graduates, a practice adopted by the English universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The naming of degrees eventually became linked with the subjects studied. Scholars in the faculties of arts or grammar became known as masters, but those in philosophy, medicine and law were known as doctor. As study in the arts or in grammar was a necessary prerequisite to study in subjects such as philosophy, medicine and law, the degree of doctor assumed a higher status than the master's degree. This led to the modern hierarchy in which the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) is a more advanced degree than the Master of Arts (M.A.). The practice of using the term doctor for all advanced degrees developed within German universities and spread across the academic world.

The French terminology is tied closely to the original meanings of the terms. The baccalauréat (cf. bachelor) is conferred upon French students who have successfully completed their secondary education and admits the student to university. When students graduate from university, they are awarded licence, much as the medieval teaching guilds would have done, and they are qualified to teach in secondary schools or proceed to higher-level studies.

In Germany, the doctorate is still the only higher degree granted; additions to the title specify the area of study, such as Dr.rer.nat. (Doktor rerum naturalium) in the natural sciences and Dr.Ing. (Doktor-Ingenieur) in engineering.

In Europe, degrees are being harmonised through the Bologna process, which is based on the three-level hierarchy of degrees (Bachelor, Master, Doctor) currently used in the United Kingdom and the United States. This system is gradually replacing the two-stage system now in use in some countries.

http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/Academic_degree

 

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For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal).
Science is both a process of gaining knowledge, and the organized body of knowledge gained by this process. The scientific process is the systematic acquisition of new knowledge about a system. This systematic acquisition is generally the scientific method, and the system is generally nature. Science is also the scientific knowledge that has been systematically acquired by this scientific process.

Some of the findings of science can be very counter-intuitive. Atomic theory, for example, implies that a granite boulder which appears as heavy, hard, solid, grey, etc. is actually a combination of subatomic particles with none of these properties, moving very rapidly in an area consisting mostly of empty space. Many of humanity's preconceived notions about the workings of the universe have been challenged by new scientific discoveries.

Contents
1 Scientific models, theories and laws

2 Philosophy of science

3 Mathematics and the scientific method

4 Goals of science

5 Locations of science

6 Fields of science

6.1 Natural sciences
6.2 Social sciences


7 Etymology

8 Related topics

9 See also

10 External links

10.1 Resources



Scientific models, theories and laws
Main article: scientific method

The terms "hypothesis", "model", "theory", and "law" have a different use in science to colloquial speech. Scientists use the term model to mean a description of something, specifically one which can be used to make predictions which can be tested by experiment or observation. A hypothesis is a contention that has not (yet) been well supported nor ruled out by experiment. A physical law or a law of nature is a scientific generalization based on empirical observations.

Most non-scientists are unaware that what scientists call "theories" are what most people call "facts". The general public uses the word theory to refer to ideas that have no firm proof or support; in contrast, scientists usually use this word to refer only to ideas that have repeatedly withstood test. Thus, when scientists refer to the theories of biological evolution, electromagnetism, and relativity, they are referring to ideas that have survived considerable experimental testing. But there are exceptions, such as string theory, which seems to be a promising model but as yet has no empirical evidence to give it precedence over competing models.

Especially fruitful theories that have withstood the test of time are considered to be "proven" in the scientific sense – that it is true and factual but of course can still be falsified. This includes many theories, such as universally accepted ones such as heliocentric theory and controversial ones such as evolution, which are backed by many observations and experimental data. Theories are always open to revision if new evidence is provided or directly contradicts predictions or other evidence. As scientists do not claim absolute knowledge, even the most basic and fundamental theories may turn out to be incorrect if new data and observations contradict older ones.

Newton's law of gravitation is a famous example of a law falsified by experiments regarding motions at high speeds and in close proximity to strong gravitational fields. Outside of those conditions, Newton's Laws remain excellent accounts of motion and gravity. Because general relativity accounts for all of the phenomena that Newton's Laws do, and more, general relativity is currently regarded as our best account of gravitation.

Philosophy of science
See main article😛hilosophy of science
Science's effectiveness has made it a subject of much philosophical speculation. The philosophy of science seeks to understand the nature and justification of scientific knowledge, and its ethical implications. It has proved remarkably difficult to provide an account of the scientific method that can serve to distinguish science from non-science.

Mathematics and the scientific method
Mathematics is essential to science. The most important function of mathematics in science is the role it plays in the expression of scientific models. Observing and collecting measurements, as well as hypothesizing and predicting, typically require mathematical models and extensive use of mathematics. Mathematical branches most often used in science include calculus and statistics, although virtually every branch of mathematics has applications, even "pure" areas such as number theory and topology.

Some thinkers see mathematicians as scientists, regarding physical experiments as inessential or mathematical proofs as equivalent to experiments. Others do not see mathematics as a science, since it does not require experimental test of its theories and hypotheses. In either case, the fact that mathematics is such a useful tool in describing the universe is a central issue in the philosophy of mathematics.

See: Eugene Wigner The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics.

Richard Feynman said "Mathematics is not real, but it feels real. Where is this place?"

Bertrand Russell's favourite definition of mathematics: "the subject in which we never know what we are talking about nor whether what we are saying is right."

Goals of science
Despite popular impressions of science, it is not the goal of science to answer all questions, only those that pertain to physical reality (measurable empirical experience). Also, science cannot possibly address all possible questions, so the choice of which questions to answer becomes important. Science does not and can not produce absolute and unquestionable truth. Rather, science consistently tests the currently best hypothesis about some aspect of the physical world, and when necessary revises or replaces it in light of new observations or data.

Science does not make any statements about how nature actually "is"; science can only make conclusions about our observations of nature. The developments of quantum mechanics in the early 20th century showed that observations are not independent of interactions, and the implications of wave-particle duality have challenged the traditional notion of "objectivity" in science.

Science is not a source of subjective value judgements, though it can certainly speak to matters of ethics and public policy by pointing to the likely consequences of actions. However, science can't tell us which of those consequences to desire or which is 'best'. What one projects from the currently most reasonable scientific hypothesis onto other realms of interest is not a scientific issue, and the scientific method offers no assistance for those who wish to do so. Scientific justification (or refutation) for many things is, nevertheless, often claimed.

Locations of science
Science is practiced in university and other scientific institutes as well as in the field; as such it is a solid vocation in academia, but has also been practiced by amateurs, who typically engage in the observational part of science.

Some workers in corporate research laboratories also practice the methods of science and eventually become renowned enough in their fields to also work in academia. Conversely, some academics become well-known enough to consult to industry by applying their findings in some technology.

Fields of science
Natural sciences
Physics
Acoustics
Astrodynamics
Astronomy
Astrophysics
Atomic, Molecular, and Optical physics
Biophysics
Computational physics
Condensed matter physics
Cryogenics
Dynamics
Electronics
Engineering
Fluid dynamics
Materials physics
Mathematical physics
Mechanics
Nuclear physics
Optics
Particle physics (or High Energy Physics)
Plasma physics
Polymer physics
Vehicle dynamics
Chemistry
Analytical chemistry
Biochemistry
Computational chemistry
Electrochemistry
Inorganic chemistry
Materials science
Organic chemistry
Physical chemistry
Quantum chemistry
Spectroscopy
Stereochemistry
Thermochemistry
Earth Sciences
Geodesy
Geography
Geology
Meteorology
Oceanography
Limnology
Seismology
Biology
Agricultural science
Anatomy
Anthropology
Astrobiology
Biochemistry
Bioinformatics
Biophysics
Botany
Cell biology
Cladistics
Cytology
Developmental biology
Ecology
Entomology
Epidemiology
Evolution (Evolutionary biology)
Evolutionary developmental biology ("Evo-devo" or Evolution of Development)
Freshwater Biology
Genetics (Population genetics, Genomics, Proteomics)
Health Science
Dentistry
Medicine
Pharmacology
Toxicology
Veterinary medicine
Histology
Immunology
Marine biology
Microbiology
Molecular Biology
Morphology
Neuroscience
Oncology (the study of cancer)
Ontogeny
Paleontology
Pathology
Phycology (Algology)
Phylogeny
Physiology
Structural biology
Taxonomy
Toxicology
Virology
Zoology
Social sciences
Anthropology
Archaeology
Economics
Linguistics
Etymology
Psychology
Behavior analysis
Biopsychology
Cognitive psychology
Clinical psychology
Developmental psychology
Educational psychology
Experimental psychology
Forensic psychology
Health psychology
Humanistic psychology
Industrial and organizational psychology
Neuropsychology
Personality psychology
Psychometrics
Psychophysics
Sensation and perception psychology
Social psychology
Sociology
Education
Social Work
Etymology
The word science comes from the Latin word, scientia, which means knowledge.

Until the Enlightenment, the word "science" (or its Latin cognate) meant any systematic or exact, recorded knowledge. "Science" therefore had the same sort of very broad meaning that "philosophy" had at that time.

There was a distinction between, for example, "natural science" and "moral science," which latter included what we now call philosophy, and this mirrored a distinction between "natural philosophy" and "moral philosophy." More recently, "science" has come to be restricted to what used to be called "natural science" or "natural philosophy." Natural science can be further broken down into physical science and biological science. Social science is often included in the field of science as well.

Fields of study are often distinguished in terms of "hard sciences" and "soft sciences," and these terms (at times considered derogatory) are often synonymous with the terms natural and social science (respectively). Physics, chemistry, biology and geology are all forms of "hard sciences". Studies of anthropology, history, psychology, and sociology are sometimes called "soft sciences." Proponents of this division use the arguments that the "soft sciences" do not use the scientific method, admit anecdotal evidence, or are not mathematical, all adding up to a "lack of rigor" in their methods. Opponents of the division in the sciences counter that the "social sciences" often make systematic statistical studies in strictly controlled environments, or that these conditions are not adhered to by the natural sciences either (for example, behavioral biology relies upon fieldwork in uncontrolled environments, astronomy cannot design experiments, only observe limited conditions). Opponents of the division also point out that each of the current "hard sciences" suffered a similar "lack of rigor" in its own infancy.

The term "science" is sometimes pressed into service for new and interdisciplinary fields that make use of scientific methods at least in part, and which in any case aspire to be systematic and careful explorations of their subjects, including computer science, library and information science, and environmental science. Mathematics and computer science reside under "Q" in the Library of Congress classification, along with all else we now call science.

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[lawguil]

Noun 1. doctorate - one of the highest academic degrees conferred by a university
Synonyms: doctor's degree

By Wordnet Dictionary


Doctorate: (?), n. The degree, title, or rank, of a doctor.

Doctorate: (?), v. t. To make (one) a doctor.
He was bred . . . in Oxford and there doctorated. Fuller.


By Webster Dictionary



A doctorate is an academic degree of the highest level. Traditionally, the award of a doctorate implies recognition of the candidate as an equal by the university faculty under which he or she has studied. There are essentially three types of doctorates: research, first-professional (USA only), and honorary. Research doctorates are nearly always awarded in recognition of academic research that is of a publishable standard (even if not actually published) and represents at least a modest contribution to human knowledge. It is usually assessed by submission and defense of a doctoral thesis or dissertation, though in some cases a coherent body of published literature can be accepted instead. Honorary doctorates are awarded for a substantial contribution to a field but this need not be academic in character. In the UK, Australia, and some other Commonwealth countries, a distinction is made among research doctorates into junior doctorates (generally awarded after a course of 3-5 years postgraduate research and study and submission of a thesis), and higher doctorates -- awarded on the basis of ~10 years outstanding research, judged through examination of publications. These higher doctorates are also used as honorary doctorates, but those awarded on the basis of academic research are non-honorary.

The title of Doctor is used both by and of those holding research doctorates or some professional (usually medical) degrees, but according to convention is not used by or of those holding honorary doctorates. Additionally, in the United States while a person with a research doctorate would use the title "Doctor" in an academic or research/development setting, and in publication, he would generally not use the title if working in a corporate setting. In some countries the term "doctor" may by used as a title of respect even if the person being addressed has no doctoral degree, e.g. holders of a bachelor's degree (regular doctors, lawyers, physical therapists, nutritionists, dentists, etc.) in Portuguese-speaking countries.

Contents
1 General information

2 Types of doctorates

2.1 Research oriented doctorates
2.2 Higher Doctorates in the United Kingdom
2.3 Higher Doctores in Denmark
2.4 First-Degree Doctorates


3 Related topics


General information
USA only: First-professional doctoral degrees are first degrees in a given field and include: Chiropractic, Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Optometry, Osteopathy, Pharmacy, Podiatry, Psychology and Veterinary medicine. There are many others. First-professional doctoral degrees such as the M.D. and J.D. do not require completion of a thesis/dissertation or publication of a coherent body of literature. The normal minimum term for a first-professional doctorate can be as little as 4 years past secondary education. These "first-professional" doctoral degrees therefore lack the status of the research doctorates. Actual practice within the field requires that the degree holder become licensed by the appropriate body (an organization not affiliated with the schools granting the degrees) and registration can require a certain amount of work experience.

The most common type of research doctorate is a Ph.D. (Philosophiæ Doctor or Doctor of Philosophy), though there are many other designations, listed below. Some British universities, including York, Oxford and Sussex refer to the Ph.D. degree as the D.Phil..

Minimum periods for research doctorates vary considerably: In the UK and USA the minimum time for completing a Ph.D. is usually 3 years from time of enrollment (which usually takes place after the award of a bachelor's or master's degree). Although completions within this period are possible, most candidates take considerably longer.

Although the Ph.D. is almost universally accepted as the standard qualification for an academic career, it is a relatively new invention. The older-style doctorates (now usually called "Higher Doctorates" in the United Kingdom) take much longer to complete, since candidates must show themselves to be leading experts in their subjects. These doctorates are now becoming rare, and are usually only awarded as Honorary degrees. In France, the higher doctorate (doctorat d'État) was suppressed and replaced for academic recruitment purposes by the much lighter "habilitation to direct theses".

Types of doctorates
Since the Ph.D. is the most widely known of the research doctorates among university professors in the United States, there is often a perceived bias in favor of the Ph.D. over other doctoral degrees, though in certain fields outside of university teaching/research, an alternate to the Ph.D. may be preferred. The U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) recognize numerous other research-oriented doctoral degrees as equivalent to the Ph.D. and do not discriminate between them.

Research oriented doctorates
Doctor of Arts (D.A.)
Doctor of Architecture (D.Arch.)
Doctor of Applied Science (D.A.S.)
Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.)
Doctor of Chemistry (D.Chem.)
Doctor of Criminal Justice (D.C.J.)
Doctor of Comparative/Civil Law (D.C.L.)
Doctor of Computer Science (D.C.S.)
Doctor of Criminology (D.Crim.)
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
Doctor of Environmental Design (D.E.D.)
Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng.)
Doctor of Environment (D.Env.)
Doctor of Engineering Science (D.E.Sc./Sc.D.E.)
Doctor of Forestry (D.F.)
Doctor of Fine Arts (D.F.A.)
Doctor of Geological Science (D.G.S.)
Doctor of Hebrew Literature/Letters (D.H.L.)
Doctor of Health and Safety (D.H.S.)
Doctor of Hebrew Studies (D.H.S.)
Doctor of Industrial Technology (D.I.T.)
Doctor of Information Technology (D.I.T.)
Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.)
Doctor of Library Science (D.L.S.)
Doctor of Music (D.M.)
Doctor of Musical Arts (D.M.A., A.Mus.D.)
Doctor of Musical Education (D.M.E.)
Doctor of Ministry (D.Min./D.M.)
Doctor of Modern Languages (D.M.L.)
Doctor of Music Ministry (D.M.M.)
Doctor of Medical Science (D.M.Sc.)
Doctor of Nursing Science (D.N.Sc.)
Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A.)
Doctor of Physical Education (D.P.E.)
Doctor of Public Health (D.P.H.)
Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.)
Doctor of Design (Dr.DES.)
Doctor of Religious Education (D.R.E.)
Doctor of Recreation (D.Rec./D.R.)
Doctor of Science (D.Sc./Sc.D.)
Doctor of Science in Dentistry (D.Sc.D.)
Doctor of Science and Hygiene (D.Sc.H.)
Doctor of Science in Veterinary Medicine (D.Sc.V.M.)
Doctor of Sacred Music (D.S.M.)
Doctor of Social Science (D.S.Sc.)
Doctor of Social Work (D.S.W.)
Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D.)
Doctor of the Science of Law (L.Sc.D.)
Doctor of Rehabilitation (Rh.D.)
Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.)
Doctor of Theology (Th.D.)
Higher Doctorates in the United Kingdom
The notion of doctorates that are higher than the Ph.D. is one that is rare in the United States, but more established in the U.K., these include:

D.D. (Divinitatis Doctor or Doctor of Divinity)
LL.D. (Legum Doctor or Doctor of Laws)
D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Law)
D.Sc. (Scientiæ Doctor or Doctor of Science)
D.Litt. (Literarum Doctor or Doctor of Letters)
D.Mus. (Musicæ Doctor or Doctor of Music)
D.Tech. (Doctor of Technology)
D.Univ. (Doctor of the University - usually honorary)
D.M. (Medicinæ Doctor or Doctor of Medicine)
Higher Doctores in Denmark
In Denmark there are five levels of degrees: Bachelor's, Master's, "magisterkonferens" (similar to an MPhil in the United Kingdom system; a degree by research, higher than a Master's but lower than a Ph.D.), Ph.D., and finally Dr., which is the higher doctorate.

dr.med. Medicine
dr.jur. Law
dr.theol. Theology
dr.phil. Philosophy (humanities)
dr.scient. Science (natural sciences)
dr.techn. Technology
First-Degree Doctorates
D.C. (Doctor of Chiropractic)
D.D.S. (Doctor of Dental Surgery)
J.D. (Juris Doctor or Doctor of Law)
M.D. (Medicinæ Doctor or Doctor of Medicine) (US)
D.P.T. (Doctor of Physical Therapy)
D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine)
D.P.M. (Doctor of Podiatric Medicine)
D.M.D. (Doctor of Dental Medicine)
D.V.M. (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine)
Psy.D. (Doctor of Psychology)
Pharm.D. (Doctor of Pharmacy)
O.D. (Optometry Doctor or Doctor of Optometry)

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