Rapid Responses to:
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Rapid Responses: Rapid Responses published:
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How about nurses with Ph D's
- Ying K Leung (13 May 2005)
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Surgeons as "Mister", Anachronism or Innovation?
- Douglas West (14 May 2005)
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Re: How about nurses with Ph D's
- Susan B. Tree (14 May 2005)
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Patients' interpretation of titles should be the primary concern
- Jacqueline J Tudball (16 May 2005)
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Who's for the German system?
- William S Monkhouse (16 May 2005)
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Is doctor a synonym of physician?
- Mara P Guerreiro (17 May 2005)
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Who's for the American System ?
- Thein H Oo, MD, FRCP (17 May 2005)
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India a Jungle of Doctors
- Dr. S. K. Roy Chaudhary (21 May 2005)
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Re: How about nurses with Ph D's
- muhammad kamran zafar (21 May 2005)
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Its time English Surgeons are caled Doctor
- Jai Shankar (28 May 2005)
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Titles are not job descriptions
- Susan L Blakeney (22 June 2005)
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Re: Who's for the American System ?
- Timothy R. Church (4 July 2008)
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Ying K Leung, Gastroenterologist Precious Blood Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong
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Surgeons calling themselves or preferred being called Mr/Ms/Mrs is becoming less popular nowadays, and the public may become confused that they are not being cared for by a 'doctor', so I hope the anachronistic surgeon will finally agree to retain the title 'Dr.' even after passing the professional examination. As more and more nurses are getting Ph D's, I would like to know the opinion of the medical profession how do they feel having nurses being called 'Dr.'. It will even be more ironic if the doctor is a 'Mister' while the nurse is a 'Doctor'. Competing interests: None declared |
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Douglas West, Specialist Registrar Dept of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Scotland, UK.
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Editor, As a surgeon in training, I read Roger Dobson's report that English surgeons may adopt the title "Doctor" with great interest. All professionals in modern working environments- architects, lawyers, accountants and medical practitioners- work in teams with para- professional and other members of staff. A minority of all of these professionals hold university doctorates and are clearly doctors, yet other professions have not sought formal prefixes to clarify their role. In an effort to modernise medical working practices, is is not time that psychiatrists, rheumatologists, oncologists and others adopted the pioneering approach of the London surgeons of 1745 and adopted the title "Mister"? Competing interests: Current Surgical Trainee |
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Susan B. Tree, Dietetic Internship Coordinator Lehman College, Bronx, NY 10468
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An interesting point. What about any health care professional with a doctoral degree? I consult part time in a health care facility as a clinical dietitian. Culturally, they are very title-conscious and address me as "doctor". It can get very confusing for the patients. Perhaps only people with doctoral degrees should truly be able to call themselves "Doctor". I am curious to see what other people think. Competing interests: None declared |
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Jacqueline J Tudball, PhD Candidate School of Public Health & Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Australia, 2010
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The title of 'Dr' implies a Bachelor of Medicine and a Bachelor of Surgery to the majority of lay people. If Colleges support patient-centred care, then the title 'Dr' should be adopted for surgeons. If Doctors of Philosophy without the aforesaid Bachelor degrees are committed to patient -centred care, it would be most appropriate for them not to use their title when dealing with patients. I am not medically trained, yet I am undertaking a PhD in a medical faculty. In the best interests of future research participants, I intend on never using my title when communicating with them (unless, of course, they ask for it). My role in the research and the consequences of their participation will be far more meaningful to them. My title will be most relevant to colleagues, students, employers, journal editors and conference convenors. And to me. Competing interests: None declared |
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William S Monkhouse, Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, University of Nottingham Medical School at Derby Medical School, Derby City General Hospital, Utooxeter Road, Derby DE22 3DT
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I quite like the German system. Then we could call someone with an MD (a British one, that is, not an American one) and a PhD "Dr Dr Dr So-and- so." What fun. As some of your correspondents imply, titles and status are so very important. Competing interests: Medically qualified but not practising, with PhD |
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Mara P Guerreiro, PhD Student School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester UK
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I agree the professional background of health care providers should be clarified, but I don't think doctor is a synonym of physician. There are countries where other non-medical degrees without a PhD have the right to use the same title as physicians. In addition, it seems illogical to have a doctorate, which in fact entitles one to use the two letters before the name, and drop the title just to avoid confusion with physicians. I thought the abbreviations widely used in the UK after one's name served the purpose of saying who is who. Competing interests: None declared |
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Thein H Oo, MD, FRCP, Attending Physician in Hematology & Medical Oncology Caritas St Elizabeth's Medical Center, 736 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02135, USA
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I was reading above article with great interest. Having trained in both British and American systems, I was at times confused with British terminology when I was in England for post-graduate training. North american ( US and Canadian ) system and terminology are more clearly defined and straight-forward. North american students gained BS ( Bachelor of Science ) degree before being enrolled into the medical school. Once they graduate from medical school, they're awarded MD ( Doctor of Medicine ) degree, as it is a postgraduate study. So, everybody is Doctor whether they are surgeons or gynaecologists or Internal Medicine doctors. So, in my view, all surgeons or gynecologists should be called Doctors. Competing interests: Currently an Attending Physician in a US Hospital and an Assistant Professor at Tufts University Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts |
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Dr. S. K. Roy Chaudhary, Professor & Head of Forensic Medicine UFHT Medical College Haldwani, Nainital, Uttaranchal, INDIA, 263139
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The confusion with the title doctor has assumed alarming proportion in India. Now if somebody introduces himself/herself as a doctor then you cannot reasonably guess his/ her professional qualification. It is very difficult to separate real doctors from the fake ones. And fakes out number real ones manifold. Persons qualified or unqualified practicing any type of Pathy in India call themselves doctors. So Homeopaths, Ayurvedic practitioners, Unani practitioners, Naturopaths, veterinarians, dentists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, not to mention quacks holding a qualification procured by paying a few thousand rupees which is called “Registered Medical Practitioner” “RMP” in short call themselves doctors. Here I have not counted Ph. D degree holders a very large body of academicians addressed as doctors. The unfortunate part is that people holding degree in some other field quite frequently practice modern science of medicine still called Allopathy. It is therefore not only advisable but also most essential now to give specific name to different type of practitioners so that there is no confusion in the mind of the patient regarding the qualification of the person treating him/her. It is the responsibility of the medical profession to try to protect our patients from being cheated Competing interests: None declared |
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muhammad kamran zafar, generral physcian pakistan 46000
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i think nurses with PhDs should be asked to use term DOCTOR non medical. Competing interests: None declared |
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Jai Shankar, Consultant Ophthalmologist Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Wrexham LL13 7TD
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I entirely agree with Roger Dobson (BMJ Vol 330, 14th May 2005, pg 1103) that it is about time that English Surgeons should be called doctors again. I, as a Consultant Ophthalmologist, often find patients confused as to whether the Mr. X they saw was an Optometrist, Consultant Ophthalmic surgeon or a Nurse Practitioner – all of whom could have the title Mr. prefixed to their name. Furthermore, many patients are under the mistaken impression that a hospital Mr. refers to a Consultant Surgeon and anybody who is addressed as Doctor must be a surgeon-in-training. We have worked hard to become doctors. They is no reason to lose this status just because we have specialised further in surgery Competing interests: None declared |
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Susan L Blakeney, Optometrist London SE26
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The point regarding the difference between the two 'types' of doctor is that one is a title (indicating a certain standard of academic achievement), whereas the other is a job/profession (indicating a certain standard of achievement in the medical profession). It could be argued that calling a medic 'doctor' X is equivalent to calling an optometrist 'optometrist' X. Having said that, custom and practice has lead to medics being referred to by this academic title and it would probably confuse patients to abandon it. I agree though that calling surgeons 'Mister' is likely to confuse them even more. When I am asked if I am a medical doctor I usually reply with something along the lines of 'it is my title, not my profession'. What about dentists who call themselves 'doctor' - they are neither PhDs or medics... Competing interests: I worked hard for a PhD, partly to avoid the title 'Ms'! |
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Timothy R. Church, Professor University of Minnesota, USA 55455
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It should be noted that the degree "Medicinae Doctor" (MD) is still a professional baccalaureate degree, even though it contains the word "doctor". There is no training in either scholarship or research for MD programs. The title of doctor has been usurped in order to confer status on physicians, because early in the academic history of medicine, the better doctors had formal doctoral degrees in their specialty and the very best were professors in their specialty. Wanting to sound as learned as the doctoral level physicians, the degree was changed, but in name only. The trend has spread so that even lawyers in the US are awarded Juris Doctor degrees, but they are no more doctors than they were 30 years ago, and the degree they get is still a baccalaureate degree. Basically, any profession can choose to call itself "doctor", following the example of physicians, and it really means very little, other than for true doctoral degrees. Competing interests: None declared |
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