Using your first name with psych patients?

[NontradCA]

So, throughout med school, I’ve always introduced myself by first name, working with [specialty rotating on] team. So as reality is striking me that I’ll be an intern in a few months I wanted to know y’all thoughts on contiuining this during the course of residency. I could see potential boundary issues with certain patients, mainly young females, but I think I’ll go with it until someone tells me otherwise.

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[splik]

As a resident it is not appropriate (dare I say "unprofessional") to introduce yourself only by your first name. You should introduce yourself by your full name, or dr. last name. You can of course decide what you would like your patients to call you. In child psych, its normal to go by Dr. first name. In the inpatient setting, it is always a good idea to call yourself Dr. Nontrad because patients may not know who the hell you are, and many people don't seem to understand that psychiatrists are doctors. On C/L you always want to introduce yourself as Dr. Nontrad, we have a hard enough time as it is being recognized as doctors. the other day a nurse thought I was a social worker!!! In the outpatient settings, I do have patients call my by first name (especially for therapy patients) but they know my full name. It is also a pet peeve of mine when residents (typically on other services) at the other end of the phone call themselves by their first names alone. This is a nuisance especially if i'm trying to get a hold of someone. I want to know exactly whom I'm talking to.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Part of supervising interns on my service is making sure they start introducing themselves as Dr. Intern and get used to it.
It's harder with the nurses and social workers on teams, I notice.

 

[b52bomber]

You're a doctor now. Introduce yourself as Dr. Last Name.

 

[clausewitz2]

When you were a medical student you could probably get rapport with some more difficult patients by using your first name and clearly not being part of the decision-making hierarchy that was detaining them against their will and/or not providing the treatment that they feel they ought to be getting and/or imposing various indignities on them. You are now part of that hierarchy and are going to be doing things to people against their will sometimes. You have to make peace with that on the inpatient side, and recognizing the role you have to play is part of learning to do the job well.

 

[whopper]

Don't use your first name with patients.

Psychologically, data shows it lowers your credibility. In forensic fellowships you are trained never to allow someone to address you by your first name in court. It will lead to judges and juries not thinking as well of you. A common tactic among cross-examining lawyers is to get you to allow them to call you by your first name.

Okay so treatment is different right? 1) Involuntary inpatient almost all the times involve courts. 2) Mixed voluntary and involuntary units: same applies. You might have a voluntary patient but it's not good practice to allow some to use a first name and not others. 3) Always play it out as if your case could go to court. That is always document well, always practice good care, and always use the doctor title. 4) The credibility thing still is highly important whether you do the court thing or not. You will get patients with bad outcomes despite that you did good care. You need to reinforce credibility. Last thing you need is you doing good care and your patient not following your recommendations cause they doubt you the physician.

You don't need nurses and other staff members doubting you when you make the loud order for an antipsychotic to inject into a dangerous patient who's punching other people.



If you want to show compassion and empathy do so by listening, looking into their eyes, double checking details, listening to staff members, trying to look through the patient's perspective. With staff members you do your job well, listen to them, but you also stand your ground. Do not allow them to use your first name except maybe outside of work. I've hung out with a lot of staff members as friends, but at work I was the doctor-first.

 

[slappy]

As a resident it is not appropriate (dare I say "unprofessional") to introduce yourself only by your first name. You should introduce yourself by your full name, or dr. last name. You can of course decide what you would like your patients to call you. In child psych, its normal to go by Dr. first name. In the inpatient setting, it is always a good idea to call yourself Dr. Nontrad because patients may not know who the hell you are, and many people don't seem to understand that psychiatrists are doctors. On C/L you always want to introduce yourself as Dr. Nontrad, we have a hard enough time as it is being recognized as doctors. the other day a nurse thought I was a social worker!!! In the outpatient settings, I do have patients call my by first name (especially for therapy patients) but they know my full name. It is also a pet peeve of mine when residents (typically on other services) at the other end of the phone call themselves by their first names alone. This is a nuisance especially if i'm trying to get a hold of someone. I want to know exactly whom I'm talking to.

That's ridiculous. Social workers don't wear white coats. I doubt the name was the issue there. And even if a nurse did think that, so what?

It would also be extremely annoying if someone introduces themselves as "This is Dr. X" on the phone when I'm on the psychiatry C/L service. Thankfully no one does that. We're all colleagues here. Let's not get too hung up on this fake prestige.

What does happen and does annoy me is a lot of attendings in psychiatry going by "Dr. X" instead of by their first name. Most services do not do this. In neurology, just about everyone's on a first name basis, not only to residents, but also to nurses, etc. This feigned hierarchy in psychiatry needs to end.

 

[b52bomber]

That's ridiculous. Social workers don't wear white coats. I doubt the name was the issue there. And even if a nurse did think that, so what?

It would also be extremely annoying if someone introduces themselves as "This is Dr. X" on the phone when I'm on the psychiatry C/L service. Thankfully no one does that. We're all colleagues here. Let's not get too hung up on this fake prestige.

What does happen and does annoy me is a lot of attendings in psychiatry going by "Dr. X" instead of by their first name. Most services do not do this. In neurology, just about everyone's on a first name basis, not only to residents, but also to nurses, etc. This feigned hierarchy in psychiatry needs to end.

Not a lot of psychiatry wear white coats either - I think the problem was introducing yourself as 'Dr. X' causes no one to question you're the psychiatrist, whereas introducing yourself by first name will make them think you might be a nurse/social worker/case worker/therapist etc.

As for introductions to C/L or other attendings or services, if you know them you can obviously introduce yourself your first name, but many times they've only heard of you from other people (who will use Dr. X) or from your notes, in which cause they'll remember, Dr. X. I know most of the attendings in other services not by their first name, but their last names until I actually meet them. So using Dr. X isn't necessarily for some pompous formality, but to create a standard of consistency.

 

[thoffen]

I think the most important consideration is the expectations a patient has about salutations. I don't know of any place in the US aside from CAP where culturally the expectation for a psychiatrist (resident or otherwise) would not be Dr. Lastname. It can be harmful to disrupt that expectation for some patients, and there should be no patient that wouldn't expect a salutation of Dr. Lastname to be reasonable if it were not preferred. Now, there are some who will intentionally call you by your first name. That is most certainly done with meaning attached.

Between professionals and within care teams, things are much more gray.

 

[siliso]

Hi I’m Dr. Lastname with the X team works great as an intro to patients/families. In fact I repeat it every day that I see someone because they meet so many folks in the hospital. It will feel weird at first because you’ve never been Dr. Lastname before, but objectively it is not weird and is in fact expected and professional. As is addressing patients as Mr./Ms. Lastname unless otherwise instructed by the patient.

“Hi I’m Firstname one of the residents on the X service,” to consultants and other health team members.

 

[Crayola227]

As a resident it is not appropriate (dare I say "unprofessional") to introduce yourself only by your first name. You should introduce yourself by your full name, or dr. last name. You can of course decide what you would like your patients to call you. In child psych, its normal to go by Dr. first name. In the inpatient setting, it is always a good idea to call yourself Dr. Nontrad because patients may not know who the hell you are, and many people don't seem to understand that psychiatrists are doctors. On C/L you always want to introduce yourself as Dr. Nontrad, we have a hard enough time as it is being recognized as doctors. the other day a nurse thought I was a social worker!!! In the outpatient settings, I do have patients call my by first name (especially for therapy patients) but they know my full name. It is also a pet peeve of mine when residents (typically on other services) at the other end of the phone call themselves by their first names alone. This is a nuisance especially if i'm trying to get a hold of someone. I want to know exactly whom I'm talking to.

I can't say I know the culture of psych....

I will say that when I called consults to other doctors, I would say, "Full name, specialty intern" because other docs know what an intern is (I wouldn't use this to anyone not a physician) that way they knew exactly who I was, and where I was in training, and obviously other docs appreciate that an intern is a baby doc. You could say "Full name, specialty intern from Uni Hospital Program" if that needs clarifying. Whoever is on the other line will choose what to call you, if not pressed for too much time I would tell them to call me Crayola if for some reason they're using my title.

(also, you should address any doc that is not a resident as Dr. Last Name, until they correct you. I've had some faculty look at me funny and then correct me. Egos can bruise easily in medicine and I'd just as soon be too formal than not formal enough. The psychiatrists here can tell me if I'm wrong. More up in the air is what to do with attendings you've never addressed that you know already all the residents call by their first name. Again, here I would say, "Doctor Last Name," and let them correct me. Might show more respect than necessary, still.)

For anyone else not a patient, I would often say, "Dr. Crayola 227, call me Cray..." depending on the power dynamics needed. I found some nurses responded better to first name basis... and others not so much.

If you are calling the operator or outside the institution, like to a front desk elsewhere trying to get a hold of another doc, I think you should ALWAYS use your title. Without it, whatever layperson might not prioritize your call like they would knowing you're a doctor calling for help.

Lastly, except for situations like comes up in psych or peds sometimes, I feel VERY strongly that you should use your title and last name. I think first name basis is damaging to the image of the profession and the therapeutic alliance overall - except where splik has said is specialty specific.

Basically, unless the consensus here or your institution regarding psychiatrists encourages first name basis, I WOULD NOT use first name as a rule.

 

[Crayola227]

Don't use your first name with patients.

Psychologically, data shows it lowers your credibility. In forensic fellowships you are trained never to allow someone to address you by your first name in court. It will lead to judges and juries not thinking as well of you. A common tactic among cross-examining lawyers is to get you to allow them to call you by your first name.

Okay so treatment is different right? 1) Involuntary inpatient almost all the times involve courts. 2) Mixed voluntary and involuntary units: same applies. You might have a voluntary patient but it's not good practice to allow some to use a first name and not others. 3) Always play it out as if your case could go to court. That is always document well, always practice good care, and always use the doctor title. 4) The credibility thing still is highly important whether you do the court thing or not. You will get patients with bad outcomes despite that you did good care. You need to reinforce credibility. Last thing you need is you doing good care and your patient not following your recommendations cause they doubt you the physician.

You don't need nurses and other staff members doubting you when you make the loud order for an antipsychotic to inject into a dangerous patient who's punching other people.



If you want to show compassion and empathy do so by listening, looking into their eyes, double checking details, listening to staff members, trying to look through the patient's perspective. With staff members you do your job well, listen to them, but you also stand your ground. Do not allow them to use your first name except maybe outside of work. I've hung out with a lot of staff members as friends, but at work I was the doctor-first.

Speaking of medico-legal, I was taught by an MD/JD who worked a lot of malpractice before attendinghood, that one of the most important little moves you can do is use the patient's actual name instead of "Patient" wherever possible. I guess the malpractice attorneys looooove to make the point to juries, "Look, Dr. Last name clearly didn't give a shyte about Mr. Lawsuit, they couldn't even be bothered to refer to this human being by their name!! They were just another nameless faceless pt, all interchangeable, who knows if the defendent even had his patients straight while he was practicing!" This MD/JD made the point to me that it's a lot of this fluff BS that matters to juries, moreso than the actual medicine practiced. They are more inclined to think the big bad evil doctor that didn't care made an error that deserves punishment.

To this end I make a super duper effort to use Title Patient Last Name (shows politeness and respect, but is personalized) wherever possible. It really does humanize your notes. I daresay it humanizes my care.

 

[deleted736562]

I'm not really big on the uptightness in medical culture, and I've had no issue with being called with my first name on the inpatient unit by other staff (be nurses, SW or colleagues). There are a million other ways to establish good boundaries; being firm and standing your ground goes far, far further and, on the flip side, some of the most intimidating characters tell everyone to call them by their first name. A rule of thumb though for residents is of course you always want to call superiors with Dr. unless told otherwise. With patients though it's a different story.

 

[Armadillos]

You will get used to it, but as an intern you really need to be “Dr lastname” to your patients. If your not confident enough to say your someone’s doctor then you probably shouldn’t be their doctor.

To nurses/consultants/other residents/etc you should probably be “firstname the psych intern”.

 

[NontradCA]

You will get used to it, but as an intern you really need to be “Dr lastname” to your patients. If your not confident enough to say your someone’s doctor then you probably shouldn’t be their doctor.

To nurses/consultants/other residents/etc you should probably be “firstname the psych intern”.

It’s not at all about confidence for me. I have a lot of gripes with the pretentiousness of medicine and it’s something I’d like to change, at least for the teams I’m working with. I’ve just ran into too many cowards, backstabbers and liars in school that Id like to maintain my own set of principles. I tried to rank where I matched based on genuinity, but this process is unpredictable.

 

[siliso]

You’re not putting on airs or lording it over the patient to state your title/position on the healthcare team. Helps people be oriented to what is your role and how you can help them - especially as they do meet half a dozen or more healthcare professionals of varying credential and ancillary staff throughout their day in hospital.

 

[Armadillos]

It’s not at all about confidence for me. I have a lot of gripes with the pretentiousness of medicine and it’s something I’d like to change, at least for the teams I’m working with. I’ve just ran into too many cowards, backstabbers and liars in school that Id like to maintain my own set of principles. I tried to rank where I matched based on genuinity, but this process is unpredictable.

Thats a great mindset, but it’s making it more about your own principles than the patient’s. When a patient is in distress they are often anxiously awaiting a doctor to show up, so your not being pretentious, your reassuring someone who is suffering.

 

[NontradCA]

Thats a great mindset, but it’s making it more about your own principles than the patient’s. When a patient is in distress they are often anxiously awaiting a doctor to show up, so your not being pretentious, your reassuring someone who is suffering.

I do see your point. Have you or anyone who’s replied here seen where using your first name, I’m a doctor etc turn out to be bad? I’m trying to figure out what everyone’s basing this stuff on. For instance, I see no practical reason for having social workers and nurses address me as doctor.

 

[WingedOx]

Part of supervising interns on my service is making sure they start introducing themselves as Dr. Intern and get used to it.
It's harder with the nurses and social workers on teams, I notice.

Eh, I've always been first name with the social workers. Nurses if I work with them frequently.

 

[Crayola227]

It's basic human psychology. Sometimes authority and hierarchy matters for all involved.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

I always introduce myself as “Hi I’m (name) one of the doctors here”. I’ve never had a problem.

 

[FlowRate]

Eh, I've always been first name with the social workers. Nurses if I work with them frequently.

Same.

I always introduce myself as “Hi I’m (name) one of the doctors here”. I’ve never had a problem.

Similarly, I use "Hi I'm Dr. (full name)" if on call: "The unit/consult psychiatrist." or during the day inpatient "your psychiatrist." or other appropriate variations dependent on setting.

I think it's helpful to be 100% clear that I am a psychiatrist and to use appropriate articles to indicate whether they have any likelihood of seeing other psychiatrists during my shift (no, there is no other psychiatrist you can appeal my decision to at 2AM except in very specific circumstances. More likely, I will discuss that appeal for you if it's a situation that could use attending oversight.) I might say "resident psychiatrist" if it would benefit the situation.

The only place I've used my first name regularly is as a DBT therapist/group therapist because that's the way they do things.

 

[Liquid8]

When dealing with other doctors or health professionals, it's always Dr Full name first, but with patients I have always introduce myself with first name followed by stating my title - usually just "doctor" for simplicity, and then psychiatrist when I was qualified. Most of the patients I treated in public don't know the difference between our intern/resident/registrar system, and for those who do enquire it's a reliable sign they have a relative in the medical field. In one of my early medical jobs I worked with a few nurses who had run into trouble with obsessed stalker type patients and covered up their surnames on ID tags. One of our ward psychologists had done a lot of forensic work and did similar, so I also figured it wasn't a bad idea as a safety measure.

 

[Wilf]

One of the smartest child neurology attendings I worked with would introduce himself to patients and parents with “hey I’m [first name]. While I wouldn’t do that, I never thought of it as unprofessional.

And in all the time I spent in child psychiatry in residency and fellowship I never heard a single one introduce themselves as Dr. First Name. To me that seems more fitting of a DNP or DPT or psychologist.

 

[Bartelby]

In some contexts Dr. Lastname is the right way to go for patients - CL, inpatient, forensics for sure. In others, like DBT programs, first names are the norm. You have to feel out the cultural norms and then do what feels comfortable for you. I introduce myself as "Firstname Lastname, the psychiatrist who will be working with you here at (program)." I then typically use my first name unless the patient uses Dr. Lastname. If you use Dr. Lastname, your patient should be Mr./Ms./Mrs. Last name for consistency.

For colleagues, my first name is always fine by me! Especially when that is the culture, I think you could look insecure or conceited if you insist your colleagues always address you as "Doctor." One exception is with colleagues you don't know where roles need to be clarifies (like in CL).

 

[bashir]

I guess I'm in the minority in the sense that I see no problem calling patients by their first name while expecting them to call me Dr. last name. Generally when I meet a patient for the first time I will ask them how they prefer to be addressed, and it's almost always by first name. If it's likely to be a contentious interaction, where I may end up having to compel treatment, I guess I do tend to err on the side of formality (Ms./Mr.) to emphasize my respect for the individual.

 

[Ceke2002]

From a patient's point of view I greatly prefer it if a Psychiatrist introduces themselves as 'Doctor', and will feel incredibly uncomfortable otherwise. I also used to get the momentary wiggins if the people on the reception desk referred to my former Psychiatrist by his first name, and not as Dr so and so. Seriously, I was raised fairly strictly to always address a Doctor by their correct title, so a Doctor introducing themselves as anything other than 'Doctor' tends to throw me, and immediately put me into a defensive mode where I feel like I have to establish, or re-establish boundaries.

 

[Ceke2002]

I do see your point. Have you or anyone who’s replied here seen where using your first name, I’m a doctor etc turn out to be bad? I’m trying to figure out what everyone’s basing this stuff on. For instance, I see no practical reason for having social workers and nurses address me as doctor.

Again just speaking personally, if you walked in and introduced yourself as "Hi, I'm *first name*, I'm one of the Doctors here", it's not like outwardly I'd start having fits of the vapours, but I would immediately counter with, "Hello Doctor *first name*", because internally it would make me feel somewhat uncomfortable, and (like I said before) as if I immediately needed to establish or reset boundaries, which would probably then make me feel even more uncomfortable because as far as I'm concerned as a patient I'm not the one who should be doing that. If, after I had made it perfectly clear that I preferred to address Doctors by their correct titles, you kept pushing the issue about how it was perfectly okay, and totally cool for me to call you by your first name, and I didn't need to feel as if I had to be so formal by addressing you as 'Doctor', there would be a very good chance that I would then politely ask to see someone else.

 

[thepoopologist]

I never introduce myself by my first name to patients. I've had patients call me by my first name or ask if they can and I always tell them that while that's what I go by outside of work, the first name I go by while at work is Dr.

You are not at the top of the hierarchy as a resident, however you are practicing to be in that position and you'll find that the way you introduce yourself and carry yourself will greatly influence how effective you are in getting staff to carry out your instructions, or shutting down the Xanax seeking patients who tries to flatter you/buddy up to you. It is possible to maintain an authoritative presence and still connect with others in a way that makes them feel respected and comfortable with you.

 

[hallowmann]

So, throughout med school, I’ve always introduced myself by first name, working with [specialty rotating on] team. So as reality is striking me that I’ll be an intern in a few months I wanted to know y’all thoughts on contiuining this during the course of residency. I could see potential boundary issues with certain patients, mainly young females, but I think I’ll go with it until someone tells me otherwise.

Dr. Lastname for all inpatient settings when dealing with patients/their families. Firstname when dealing with basically any staff. Dr. Lastname when you have to do a prior auth, commitment hearing, or one of those damn insurance peer-to-peers.

It’s not at all about confidence for me. I have a lot of gripes with the pretentiousness of medicine and it’s something I’d like to change, at least for the teams I’m working with. I’ve just ran into too many cowards, backstabbers and liars in school that Id like to maintain my own set of principles. I tried to rank where I matched based on genuinity, but this process is unpredictable.

Yeah, that's really making it more about you and your perceptions than about the patient or their care. The vast majority of patients expect you to say Dr. ____. I would get used to it. Patients see literally dozens if not hundreds of people throughout their stay. Most psychiatrists don't wear white coats, so if you're not identifying yourself as Dr. when you first meet them, they have no idea who to talk to or ask for when they have a problem with their med or want to talk about their options.

It takes time getting used to, and I still sometimes slip up and use my first name, but its something that I try to avoid. It is true that patients seem to be more comforted by Dr. Hallowmann than by my first name.

I do see your point. Have you or anyone who’s replied here seen where using your first name, I’m a doctor etc turn out to be bad? I’m trying to figure out what everyone’s basing this stuff on. For instance, I see no practical reason for having social workers and nurses address me as doctor.

Honestly, I've seen people take me less seriously or repeatedly struggle to realize that I'm their doctor and they need to tell me the things they don't feel comfortable telling anyone who's not "their doctor". They also tended to always refer to the attending as their doctor, which while accurate doesn't reflect the fact that I'm making a lot of the decisions in their care when Dr. Attending peaces out for a few hours a day, and ultimately its me who is communicating with their family, setting up follow-up, filling out FMLA, committing them, and writing virtually everything that is in their patient record.

Maybe in an outpatient setting first name would work (although as you alluded to it could get you into more trouble with certain populations), but for inpatient, Dr. Lastname is the way to go. The vast vast majority of people don't find it pretentious, its helpful because it helps identify you as that person that Nurses are talking about when they say, "you'll have to talk to your doctor about that". Now if you start expecting to be called Dr. literally everywhere, that's where people start to feel its pretentious, but when you first meet patients, they need to know you're their doctor.

Again, for every other member of staff (nurses, other residents/attendings, pharmacists, social workers, front desk staff/clerks, schedulers, PAs, ARNPs, custodians, etc.) its Firstname. I don't really need to make it clear to those people that I'm a doctor for the sake of patient care.

 

[Monocles]

Interesting to read the different perspectives in this thread.

At our institution there has been a big push to be on first name basis within the field itself, a majority of our affiliated hospitals are moving their psych departments to a "first name basis" culture, which I think has been fantastic in that it makes it much more collegial than hierarchical. The department chair feels much more human and approachable when you know them as "John" or "Susan" etc.

I primarily work with kids and adolescents and I always introduce myself as "Hi I'm [first name], I am one of the doctors here." Whenever I am on units and various students and nursing staff call me Dr [last name], I always make a point and correct them and say I go by [first name]. I honestly just believe in that culture change and hope that all the interns and students I train will consider the same.

 

[birchswing]

What do you all think about PAs going by Dr.?

I find it misleading, for the exact reason that I have been misled. I'm not snobbish about PAs; I've seen some great ones. Maybe it's because I'm in the South where deference reigns and they think they need to come up with some title, as to avoid becoming "too familiar." But if that's the case, they need a new title.

 

[NickNaylor]

What do you all think about PAs going by Dr.?

I find it misleading, for the exact reason that I have been misled. I'm not snobbish about PAs; I've seen some great ones. Maybe it's because I'm in the South where deference reigns and they think they need to come up with some title, as to avoid becoming "too familiar." But if that's the case, they need a new title.

Not only is that inappropriate, but in my state it is illegal.

 

[Monocles]

What do you all think about PAs going by Dr.?

I find it misleading, for the exact reason that I have been misled. I'm not snobbish about PAs; I've seen some great ones. Maybe it's because I'm in the South where deference reigns and they think they need to come up with some title, as to avoid becoming "too familiar." But if that's the case, they need a new title.

What about PA? (Pronounced "Pah") 😛

 

[birchswing]

Not only is that inappropriate, but in my state it is illegal.

The way it came up recently was that I was thinking about going to an urgent care, and I usually call ahead to ask which doctor is working. There's one I really like in particular and I try to go when she's there. They told me Dr. X and Dr. Y are working now, and I didn't recognize either name but I still went in. And when I got there, I saw they were both PAs. So I asked who the supervising doctor was (I was under the impression there had to be a doctor on site), and they said, "Well I guess Dr. X is more like that," even though the sign said PA. I kind of wonder if they have a set-up where they have a doctor on-call and if that satisfies the doctor requirement. The reason I say that is that they told me the doctor I like had been there earlier in the day to pinch-hit when they had an emergency and got backed up but then left because it wasn't her scheduled day. So I dunno.

 

[NickNaylor]

The way it came up recently was that I was thinking about going to an urgent care, and I usually call ahead to ask which doctor is working. There's one I really like in particular and I try to go when she's there. They told me Dr. X and Dr. Y are working now, and I didn't recognize either name but I still went in. And when I got there, I saw they were both PAs. So I asked who the supervising doctor was (I was under the impression there had to be a doctor on site), and they said, "Well I guess Dr. X is more like that," even though the sign said PA. I kind of wonder if they have a set-up where they have a doctor on-call and if that satisfies the doctor requirement. The reason I say that is that they told me the doctor I like had been there earlier in the day to pinch-hit when they had an emergency and got backed up but then left because it wasn't her scheduled day. So I dunno.

The particulars surrounding mid-level supervision vary by state according to their licensing laws, so who knows. In my state, a physician supervisor must be available but does not necessarily need to be on-site all of the time. However, there’s a requirement that the supervising physician be on-site a certain proportion of the time, though this amount of time is actually fairly low.

 

[smalltownpsych]

The only patient that I have that calls me by first name has an online coaching certificate and thinks that they are my peer. In other settings, such as a therapeutic boarding school, we all went by first name and it made sense because that was the culture. In current hospital setting, it makes sense to introduce myself as "doctor lastname, I'm a psychologist here". Especially since all the staff call us doctor. It confuses patients if I slip and call a colleague by their first name. We refer to various midlevels by first and last name. Oftentimes patients will refer to midlevels as doctor and I rarely correct them, but i won't call them doctor cause they aren't.

 

[Shikima]

The only patient that I have that calls me by first name has an online coaching certificate and thinks that they are my peer. In other settings, such as a therapeutic boarding school, we all went by first name and it made sense because that was the culture. In current hospital setting, it makes sense to introduce myself as "doctor lastname, I'm a psychologist here". Especially since all the staff call us doctor. It confuses patients if I slip and call a colleague by their first name. We refer to various midlevels by first and last name. Oftentimes patients will refer to midlevels as doctor and I rarely correct them, but i won't call them doctor cause they aren't.

Need to correct patients about calling MLPs doctor. It sets a bad precedent for MLPs and the patients as they're confused enough by everyone calling themselves doctor and wearing white coats.

 

[smalltownpsych]

Need to correct patients about calling MLPs doctor. It sets a bad precedent for MLPs and the patients as they're confused enough by everyone calling themselves doctor and wearing white coats.

My wife likes to correct people and I love it when she does. 🙂 In the context of psychotherapy, I only correct them if it makes sense from a conceptual standpoint. I will much more often explain the difference between psychologist and psychiatrist, especially when they insult me by calling me a psychiatrist .
If they do see a NP for their medications, there are times that I clarify their role and training. If the NP said something really stupid and counterproductive or potentially harmful I will emphasize that they are a nurse not a doctor.

 

[thoffen]

I will much more often explain the difference between psychologist and psychiatrist, especially when they insult me by calling me a psychiatrist .

How should I interpret all the time you spend with us on the internet?

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

How should I interpret all the time you spend with us on the internet?

Sarcasm meter broken I see...

 

[thoffen]

Sarcasm meter broken I see...

You should really get that fixed.

 

[smalltownpsych]

How should I interpret all the time you spend with us on the internet?

Truth be told sometimes I think I identify more with psychiatrists than psychologists. Especially when it comes to humor. Psychologists tend to be too damn serious. 😉

 

[Schizotypy]

PGY2 here -- It definitely took some getting used to, but to all patients I interact with (my program is 90% involuntary patients) I am Dr. Lastname. To all the nurses on the unit, I am Dr. Lastname. I am a small female and I have been called a nurse or social worker more times than I can count. I try to stay pretty firm about being called doctor by the nurses, especially because it needs to be very clear when stuff gets busy and I'm the one making orders for all 120 patients.

With the social worker on the team, I introduce myself as Firstname Lastname and if I call on the phone for something, I say "hey, it's Firstname." They can choose what to call me and I don't care which they choose.

I agree with splik above that it's an annoyance when I call another resident and they answer with "hello" or "hey it's Firstname whats up?" I usually introduce myself (to non-psychiatry residents and attendings) as "Firstname Lastname, one of the psychiatry residents." It's so much clearer.