Should we address ourselves as "doctors?"

[Greatpharma]

Should pharmacists address themselves as "doctor?" In which scenario would that be or not be appropriate?

Our degree does indicate that we are doctor of medications, but I have never seen pharmacists address themselves as doctors. Should that be changed?

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[owlegrad]

Yes. I always refer to myself in the third person as Doctor owlegrad.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Only pharmacists that are full of themselves.

And yes I of course call myself......wagrxm2000.

 

[projektreverb]

Nope. Never did, don’t ever intend to.

 

[lane one]

I think it confuses people, and for that reason it's avoided. Some patients understand the distinction between MD and PharmD (been called the pharmacy doctor a time or two), but most do not. If you walk into a patient's room and introduce yourself as a pharmacist, its a good way of stating your intentions and scope of what you want to discuss with them. If you introduce yourself as "Dr. X", then they might try to show you their peri-anal abscess that smells "way worse than yesterday". No thanks.

 

[PA_dud3]

I personally introduce myself as Certified Pharmacy Technician everywhere I go.

In all seriousness, I think I will call myself "doctor" when it is appropriate, once I am a Pharmacist. Physicians certainly don't have a monopoly on the title.

 

[W19]

Why shouldn't pharmacists do it since DNPs with online degree are doing it?


I have seen a lot of DNP in the hospital calling themselves doctors..

 

[Rouelle]

It feels like we’ve had this discussion before.

 

[owlegrad]

It feels like we’ve had this discussion before.

Nah I have been here a while and I don't recall this ever coming up before.

 

[BC_89]

Do you call lawyers doctors? I don’t...

 

[WVUPharm2007]

They just call me Mike. Or Mikey.

 

[wagrxm2000]

Nah I have been here a while and I don't recall this ever coming up before.

Do US pharmacists use the title 'doctor'

They just call me Mike. Or Mikey.

We're not pretentious enough to make people call us by some facade-of-prestige moniker. Mike is fine. Always has been.

Good to see after 12 years, Mike is still fine.

 

[RxRetailRx]

Clinical pharmacist more often use “dr xxx” , My preceptor at diabetes clinic in VA , introduce herself to pt as “ I am doctor xxx , your pharmacist ! Very weird ! but my pt call me “doctor “ a couple times , not myself 🙂

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I think the only wrong answer is being a self-loathing weakling who is afraid of what others think.

If it's appropriate, go for it

 

[Modest_anteater]

Yes. I always refer to myself in the third person as Doctor owlegrad.

" For years, there had been two sides to this quirky, haughty researcher known for introducing herself as “Dr. Amy Bishop, Harvard-trained.” Many had met Arrogant Amy, who seemed to thrive on order and usually had the upper hand. An unlucky few had encountered another Amy—chaotic, confused, full of menace."

 

[Kharak]

Indiana Jones was never addressed as "Professor" Jones, it was always "Doctor Jones".

 

[jjcayce123]

No, it brings in too much confusion. If I'm at work I want to know who the MD (doctor) is not the physical therapist

 

[jjcayce123]

Clinical pharmacist more often use “dr xxx” , My preceptor at diabetes clinic in VA , introduce herself to pt as “ I am doctor xxx , your pharmacist ! Very weird ! but my pt call me “doctor “ a couple times , not myself 🙂

Clinical pharmacist most often are butt hurt that they aren't actually physicians. I'm a hospital pharmacist but they are the douchey ones that make their students address them as "Doctor".

 

[jjcayce123]

Do you call lawyers doctors? I don’t...

They were the OG doctors haha

 

[Reirrac]

I introduce myself with my name and call myself a pharmacist. If others call me doctor, I wouldn't mind.

 

[John Detter]

I only use Dr. in an academic setting. In the clinical setting, I just introduce myself as a pharmacist with my first name.

Quite frankly it doesn't matter anyway because half of my patients automatically assume all males are doctors and all females are nurses. They can't even get over the gender stereotype so I might cause some brains to explode explaining that you can be a doctor and not a physician.

 

[rxdawg21]

I feel as a clinical pharmacist prescribing medicines it is appropriate for me to use it as there are a select few (patients) that would not respect/listen to you if they thought you were just a pill pusher. I never referred to myself as one before I got this job and personally don’t really like it. But due to professional/respect reasons I use it. Most other actual physicians refer to me in the same way.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Clinical pharmacist most often are butt hurt that they aren't actually physicians. I'm a hospital pharmacist but they are the douchey ones that make their students address them as "Doctor".

-t.Bpharm

 

[MrBonita]

I really despise it when I get a per diem position and they hand me a pharmacy coat with Dr in my title.

 

[hye345]

I think it's silly to address/introduce ourselves as doctors... Patients will get confused, and other medical professionals might mistake us for medical doctors.

 

[lord999]

I don't use it in the clinical setting. I call myself Dr. owlegrad too most of the time, and only when I'm being sarcastic, as in, this Dr. owlegrad spent too much time learning pharmacy to give an answer so dumb. I'd rather not be known to the patient at all besides just "you" (I'm not joking, I rarely actually give my called name to anyone, I have a VA ID (including an aliased PIV) made up with an alias that I use when in the hospitals, since I had an incident with a patient stalking me at home).

In the academic setting, I will use Dr., again as a sarcastic reference. I try instead to call academicians by their proper rank (Dean, Professor, Instructor), because Dr. is the lowest on the totem pole there besides the undergraduates.

Feel free to call yourself whatever the #(*$ you want for whatever reason you think you need. In public to keep up with theatrics, I'll call physicians, dentists, ODs, Pods, DPTs, by their academic rank when in their clinical setting and they are acting in it for the patient peasants, but I prefer to be introduced as the nameless pharmacist on the team or even more preferably not at all (I won't introduce myself if I just show up, just mumbling that I'm a pharmacist). But in private, I won't address physicians with Dr., even at Mayo. I don't have a problem with someone announcing themselves as a pompous a.. in private though, it gives me leverage on them.

That, or you are German. In normal conversation, I'll say "Herr Professor Dr. ing (Mikael) Wetter" to someone who I actually sat on his Habilitation, and we've known each other for years, but the Germans are something else when it comes to etiquette.

 

[jjcayce123]

I really think the whole Doctor of Pharmacy is a load of BS. It works out great for the schools though...they just tack on an extra year of school call it a doctorate and can double the tuition.

 

[AlwaysContrary]

Physician's get butt hurt when other professions call themselves doctors. Physicians also get butt hurt when another profession tells them they're wrong. Can you imagine how butt hurt they would get if one profession did both??

 

[Digsbe]

I honestly dont think it's a problem to use a title we've earned considering nearly every doctorate degreed medical professional (dentist, chiropractor, podiatrist, etc). are addressed as such. Pharmacists as a collective need a spine.

 

[Rouelle]

I signed my last Mother’s Day card to Mom as “Rouelle, PharmD, PhD.” My hospital name tag also has the PharmD PhD thing, but HR did that without me asking for it. That’s pretty much the extent of my title touting.

 

[radio frequency]

Why shouldn't pharmacists do it since DNPs with online degree are doing it?


I have seen a lot of DNP in the hospital calling themselves doctors..

I really don’t think that would fly where I work. When I’ve called NPs doctors, they have corrected me. I use the honorific often because I find if I’m deferential, I’m more likely to get the prescriber on my side when fixing issues.

Ironically, the only people who call me doctor are my own doctors usually. It’s happened a few times, and each time I’ve been totally surprised by it...as in, Dr. radio frequency, who is that?!

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I really don’t think that would fly where I work. When I’ve called NPs doctors, they have corrected me. I use the honorific often because I find if I’m deferential, I’m more likely to get the prescriber on my side when fixing issues.

Ironically, the only people who call me doctor are my own doctors usually. It’s happened a few times, and each time I’ve been totally surprised by it...as in, Dr. radio frequency, who is that?!

That's because NPs don't have a degree that says "doctor of.."

 

[bacillus1]

That's because NPs don't have a degree that says "doctor of.."

Sure they do, there's a DNP now.

 

[bacillus1]

Clinical pharmacist most often are butt hurt that they aren't actually physicians. I'm a hospital pharmacist but they are the douchey ones that make their students address them as "Doctor".

Yeah never got that...most of my coworkers make students address them as Dr...I would understand the faculty ones, but otherwise it's just weird...I do not make my students call me Dr. as my clinical preceptors when I was a student did not make me do that either.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

Sure they do, there's a DNP now.

I mean, sure.
The potential for them to acquire a DNP in addition to their NP exists.

I meant "NPs" to mean people who are "just NPs"

 

[radio frequency]

I mean, sure.
The potential for them to acquire a DNP in addition to their NP exists.

I meant "NPs" to mean people who are "just NPs"

I meet a lot of DNPs; it seems more common than the alternative. Especially with younger NPs, which are the vast majority now.

There is a movement to make it the required entry level degree, much like a PharmD. Off topic, but it seems like the extra years in school may negate some of the positives of being an NP (namely, being a quick and cheap route to practice) and hiring them (if they’re more expensive to make, they’re more expensive to hire, I would assume).

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I meet a lot of DNPs; it seems more common than the alternative. Especially with younger NPs, which are the vast majority now.

There is a movement to make it the required entry level degree, much like a PharmD. Off topic, but it seems like the extra years in school may negate some of the positives of being an NP (namely, being a quick and cheap route to practice) and hiring them (if they’re more expensive to make, they’re more expensive to hire, I would assume).

How interesting.

I only know of / have interacted with one in my area.

 

[confettiflyer]

No, it’s confusing to the lay patient and the lay hospital staff. The only time I’ll allow it is when students address me in lecture or in initial emails. Never hospital staff, you’re a special kind of **** if you insist that.


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[BidingMyTime]

I don't use it in the clinical setting. I call myself Dr. owlegrad too most of the time, and only when I'm being sarcastic, as in, this Dr. owlegrad spent too much time learning pharmacy to give an answer so dumb.

Oh that is interesting that your name is owlegrad....who would have ever guessed we had 2 owlegrad's on this board?

I'm not a doctor, but if I were, the only people I would want to call me that would be my children and spouse. In all the hospital settings I'm familiar with, it is bad form (if not against the rules) for anyone other than DO's/MD's to be addressed as doctor. I supposed oral surgeons would be too, but they only do outpatient surgeries (and very rarely at that), so I really don't deal with them. But honestly, it does strike me as a low-self-esteem thing to do, to insist that people call oneself "dr." While "Dr" is an important academic credential, in a healthcare environment, people equate "dr." with DO/MD, and people will be easily confused if everybody starts calling themselves "dr." As laneone says, I wouldn't want to risk someone pulling down their pants to show me something gross, because they thought I was a DO/MD dr, instead of a pharmacist dr.

 

[PA_dud3]

Oh that is interesting that your name is owlegrad....who would have ever guessed we had 2 owlegrad's on this board?

I'm not a doctor, but if I were, the only people I would want to call me that would be my children and spouse. In all the hospital settings I'm familiar with, it is bad form (if not against the rules) for anyone other than DO's/MD's to be addressed as doctor. I supposed oral surgeons would be too, but they only do outpatient surgeries (and very rarely at that), so I really don't deal with them. But honestly, it does strike me as a low-self-esteem thing to do, to insist that people call oneself "dr." While "Dr" is an important academic credential, in a healthcare environment, people equate "dr." with DO/MD, and people will be easily confused if everybody starts calling themselves "dr." As laneone says, I wouldn't want to risk someone pulling down their pants to show me something gross, because they thought I was a DO/MD dr, instead of a pharmacist dr.

You're a BSPharm?

 

[owlegrad]

You're a BSPharm?

A dinosaur. 😉

 

[owlegrad]

Oh that is interesting that your name is owlegrad....who would have ever guessed we had 2 owlegrad's on this board?

I can’t decide if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or if I should be concerned for identity theft. *shrug*

 

[PA_dud3]

A dinosaur. 😉

I've worked with a couple BSPharms, one much older than the other. The older one was pretty interesting to observe. But you're right with that Dinosaur, stuff, haha, they are pretty rare, it seems.

 

[owlegrad]

I've worked with a couple BSPharms, one much older than the other. The older one was pretty interesting to observe. But you're right with that Dinosaur, stuff, haha, they are pretty rare, it seems.

In the old days you didn’t have to have a doctorate to become a pharmacist it was a BS degree. So that’s where that comes from.

My joke was in good fun though several of the best pharmacist I have ever worked with come from that era.

 

[PA_dud3]

In the old days you didn’t have to have a doctorate to become a pharmacist it was a BS degree. So that’s where that comes from.

My joke was in good fun though several of the best pharmacist I have ever worked with come from that era.

Absolutely, the ones I've with worked were extremely competent.

 

[BidingMyTime]

You're a BSPharm?

I'm surprised that BSPharm's are that rare. BSPharm degrees were common through the mid 90's, and wasn't mandatory until 2003. I mean, that isn't that long ago, a lot of pharmacists in their 30's & 40's have the BS, they aren't going to be retiring anytime soon (well, except that guy in the other article who saved up a $1,000,000, but he is an outlier.)

 

[sozetone]

Should pharmacists address themselves as "doctor?" In which scenario would that be or not be appropriate?

Our degree does indicate that we are doctor of medications, but I have never seen pharmacists address themselves as doctors. Should that be changed?

We hold a DOCTORATE of pharmacy. Means nothing. Over-inflated degree. Do you have provider status? can you write prescriptions? (i mean everything)...nope. you are a pharmacist. ,my opinion however.

 

[owlegrad]

I'm surprised that BSPharm's are that rare. BSPharm degrees were common through the mid 90's, and wasn't mandatory until 2003. I mean, that isn't that long ago, a lot of pharmacists in their 30's & 40's have the BS, they aren't going to be retiring anytime soon (well, except that guy in the other article who saved up a $1,000,000, but he is an outlier.)

Consider how enrollment has skyrocketed since 2003 and it shouldn't be surprising that in 15 years PharmD has become much more common that BSPharm. Plus some people from prior to 2003 choose to get the PharmD as well.

 

[BidingMyTime]

Consider how enrollment has skyrocketed since 2003 and it shouldn't be surprising that in 15 years PharmD has become much more common that BSPharm. Plus some people from prior to 2003 choose to get the PharmD as well.

Good point...it's hard to believe there were only about 80 colleges of pharmacy when I went to school. Now I think their is like 120+ and growing, plus the old colleges have all increased enrollment.

 

[ExpressMaiL]

There is only one type of doctor lay people care about, that's the one that can potentially save their life in an emergency situation. Don't confuse them by calling yourself a "doctor."