Who Is Entitled to be Called Doctor?

18 thoughts on “Who Is Entitled to be Called Doctor?”

1. The California law is nonsense. Any physician who attended medical school is entitled to use the initials MD after their name. They earned the degree. (Ditto dentists, chiropractors, and doctors of osteopathy). They put in four years to earn that degree. California by legislative fiat cannot remove one’s degree or the right to use the word doctor that stems from the degree. There may be case law on this.
   However, I am opposed to PhD’s using the term doctor outside of the classroom. G-d help us if they next ask if a doctor is on board a plane for a patient needing medical assistance and a PhD shows up. I am also opposed to nurse practitioners using the term doctor. They have typically attended school for 2 years to reach their RN degree, then work clinically for a couple of years, and then attend school for another 2-3 years. That is the equivalent of a masters, not a doctorate. But they aim to confuse patients and earn by legislation what they did not earn by education.

   • Yes, but there are NP with a doctorate (DNPs). They have gone through and gotten their degree tk be called doctor. That is what he is referring to here, not NPs without the doctorate.

   • Have you ever known of a PhD answer a call on a plane for a doctor? Seriously?

     And you also need to find out what education Doctors of Nursing Practice actually get. Nurse Practitioners who have a doctorate do not have 2 years RN – they have to have a Bachelor’s in Nursing (4 year degree) and then a Master’s Degree (1-3 years) and then the doctoral education (2-3 years. Many go on to get other education as well. Nurse Practitioners who have a doctoral degree are not trying to be seen as a physician. They are not trying to deceive anyone. They do not “aim to confuse patients.” They know when to refer to a M.D. The aim is to help patients…period! Are there outliers? of course. But there are a lot of outliers among M.D.s as well. Then there are all of the other practices: chiropractors, optometrists, naturopathic doctors, physical therapists, psychologists, accupuncturists, all of which have earned doctoral degrees. By definition, the term doctor means teacher, not physician. Physicians do not own the right to be the only ones called doctor.

     • “Have you ever known a PhD answer a call on a plane for a doctor?”

       Only if someone is having a metaphysical crisis.

2. The First Amendment protects us for using the moniker “doctor.” That said, unless someone is practicing medicine in California without a Cali license, it’s not at all obvious how the matter would arise in a legal way.

   I was on a panel in California a few years ago. My Cali license had lapsed years earlier–very expensive–and onerous–to maintain. By law, I suppose my name on the program as M.D. should make me vulnerable to being charged.

   Fuck ’em, I say. Let ’em try.

3. I put off replying to this article about as long as I could. The history of podiatry is unique. “Podiatrist” Isachar Zacharie routinely treated President Abraham Lincoln, (who it is believed suffered from Marfan’s Syndrome, maybe yes, maybe no) who had gnarly feet (very unprofessional) with painful excrescences’ thickened, fungoused nails and difficulty in walking.

   We don’t know if Zacharie actually was trained as a chiropodist or not. Probably not. But allegedly he knew how to do it. Lincoln actually loved this man and Zacharie performed political duties for Lincoln as well, that were undefined.

   I think it is reasonable to say that podiatry was born because MD’s thought it “beneath” their collective dignity to bow to treat feet. We see the same case of deliberate loss of face required when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. So there is a history of loss of dignity associated with feet.

   This is ironic because when a patient is no longer able to walk, for any cause, it is close to complete and total disability. Some people manage to live with and in wheelchairs, but it is not the best way to achieve mobility. Foot pain is a whole new definition. It gets your immediate attention, doesn’t it?

   At the first chiropody schools, at least 75% of professors were MDs. They still are. So we go back a long way and do a huge number of things that would shock “Dr.” Zacharie. Our training now includes a 3 year surgical residency. I myself took my surgical training at a VA hospital and one of our first Army hospitals (Leavenworth).

   I was licensed as a podiatric physician and surgeon in WA state. I actually was the real thing. Only a tiny number of patients eschewed us because we were not MDs. For most, they didn’t give a shit as long as they didn’t remember my name with each step they took. Some of my patients cried when I retired.

   It was the most highly gratifying and interesting years of my life and I thank God every day I did this thing. It was what I was meant to be. You would be shocked and surprised to walk in my shoes.

   Michael M. Rosenblatt, DPM

4. On the one hand, I do chafe at the audacity of some who deign to call themselves doctors, who have clearly inferior training and educational background to me (DNP, DC, DPM, etc). No offense, but y’all know it’s true.

   But then, I hearken back to days of yore when ‘surgeon and barber’ were equivalent, and doctors placed leeches and practiced shamanism. In those years, PhD’s were clearly the higher class.

   What’s in a title? In UK the more senior professorial physicians change from Dr. back to Mr.

   All I know is that I modestly resent those who impersonate others with superior pedigree, such as nurses acting like doctors….or lawyers acting like humans….

   • It may come as a surprise for Dr. Ari to learn that DPM’s with trauma training do ER rotation for foot, ankle and lower leg trauma. He insists that “he has more training” than podiatrists. Perhaps. I never delivered a baby or performed a D and C. I am not qualified to diagnose or treat an intracranial hematoma. Probably most MDs are not either.

     But he was probably not called upon to see a tattooed young male in the ER for a motorcycle accident who required surgical treatment of a pilon fracture/tri-malleolar fracture and differentiate between the two. It would also be possible for this to include a compartment syndrome, which would have to be surgically released immediately. A week later, this patient may gather more complexity and develop reflex sympathetic dystrophy. These are (unfortunately) somewhat more “routine “occurrences in the age of electric bikes and motorcycles.

     Recently Dr. Kittra Owens, DPM was appointed Chief of Staff at the VA Central Healthcare Administration of Alabama. She is a Navy Veteran who served in Afghanistan, Cuba and Japan.

     I am pleased at the opportunity to bring Dr. Ari up to date about podiatrists.

     Michael M. Rosenblatt, DPM

5. Am I still allowed to be called “Provider”?

   • What about PsyD’s ?
     Many are only licensed as MFT’s or MSW’s yet call themselves DR.s, I’d that ok? Thoughts?

6. According to my father, who earned a PhD, only PhDs should be permitted to call themselves “Doctor” because they had to write and defend a dissertation. Physicians don’t, dentists don’t – so, according to him, I am not a “Doctor.” 😀 Nor is my mother, who earned 4 Master’s degrees and a Professional Diploma and had more schooling than the two of us put together.

   And, Dr. Ari, please don’t be so less-than-humble. We all studied our butts off, did the time, took the tests and treat the patients. It’s what we trained to do. I may not have done the internship (not required back then) or residency, but I’m proud to have earned the title of “Doc” and California be damned.

7. I’m looking for legal medical advise. I’m a British trained podiatrist and surgeon from England and now live in California. I’m now working within academia and as a consultant l. I don’t practice as a podiatrist in the U.S, only England.

   I also have a business which sells podiatry products to the public

   Podiatrists do not have Dr titles in England as we study a bachelors podiatry degree. The same is for conventional medical doctors who earn a bachelors medical degree but gain the Dr title on a honory basis.

   Can I use the Dr title as a podiatrist in California

8. Ram:
   If you had a four year podiatry degree after a bachelor’s degree, then by education you should be allowed to call yourself a physician (except perhaps in California with this new law).

9. For those folks that are griping about nurses not being called doctors, my reason for not extending that title to them, is that they are not the equivalent of physicians who have had 4 years of college, 4 years of medical school and 3-8 years of residency. I have seen nurse anesthetists, who had 2 years of schooling to get an RN, then worked clinically for 2 years, then went to nurse anesthetist school for two years obtain a masters degree for that 2 years of academic work. Normally a masters degree is conferred with 2 years of academic work, AFTER a baccalaureate degree is obtained. There is a move afoot to have those same credentials used to obtain a doctorate degree. The premise is to obtain by legislation a title that they are not entitled to by education.

   • DNP’s are not Physicians. Nor do they want to be. They are highly trained nurses with a certain skill set. Some teach Physcicans how to do their jobs by the way! However they have a “DOCTORATE” in the Doctor of Nursing Practice in their particular field. Being called “Doctor” is the highest Honor in ones particular field. Whether you’re a scientist, Surgeon, Nurse, or Historian you have the right if you completed the schooling. You can always call yourself by your title “Oncologist”, “Surgeon”, or “Primary care person” lol. I do think we need to educate the masses of what the term “Doctor” means including a lot of you on this forum. Best wishes!

10. To be clear, while I left out podiatrists from my earlier posts, that was an oversight. They have obtained a 4 year degree, from a professional school, after obtaining a baccalaureate degree, and they do residency training after their podiatry degree. They are certainly entitled to be called doctor.

    For the psychologists with a PhD, we always called them professor, not doctor.

    • Dear Retired, For psychologists to earn a PhD they need to write and defend a dissertation. They also have earned the title “Doctor.” BTW, when speaking of physicians, I do not label them “doctor;” they are labelled “physician.” When speaking to them, I pay them the respect they have earned by addressing them as “Doctor,” just as I expect and demand the respect and title in return.

11. So, will Medical Justice defend DNPs?

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