Title of Dr. for MD vs. Phd (or other doctorate degrees)

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 3/3/2009 3:10:04 PM
Author: allycat0303
ilovethiswebsite: I don''t think it''s a matter of being strong, it''s that when I applied in medicine, I REALLY had no idea. It pretty much ended and started with ''I''m going to be a doctor'' I didn''t know about conditions, on call, or even the PREMS (the laws that say where we can practice) I don''t only found out in my 3rd year. I didn''t know you were born in Montreal! That''s cool. Some of the hospitals here are so gross. Really. Just the physical place is gross. I guess when we visit Toronto it seems so much cleaner and newer that we believe it must all be better! I applied in Cardiac Surgery and in internal medicine at University of Montreal. So there is VERY high chance I won''t get into anything, and have to wait to see what is leftover. We''ll see how it goes on monday

Good luck with your applications!

 

[musey]

Date: 3/2/2009 3:53:56 PM
Author: neatfreak

Date: 3/2/2009 3:13:43 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 3/2/2009 7:26:18 AM
No offense to any Ph.Ds here, but I think it''s silly to call Ph.D.s ''Doctor'' in day to day life. I don''t have an objection to the title, I just think it''s silly.

While I agree it''s silly- why is it more silly than calling an MD ''doctor'' in daily life?

I think it''s mostly to do with it being a job title. I would call a doctor "doctor so and so" because that''s what their professional function is, not because that''s the level of education they''ve received. Someone may have a Ph.D in Business, but I would never think to call them Dr. CEO Man.

Honestly, I think that''s probably where the distinction developed.


For what it''s worth, both my husband''s and my dad''s are Dr.''s (one an MD and the other a Ph.D) and we referred to both of them as "Dr." (neither as "Doctor") on our invitation.

 

[bootsiekin]

Ha! Well how about that..Emily Post came through for me after all!

ilovethiswebsite</b. - I also want to echo was was already said.. my father was a PhD clinical psychologist and well known and well loved by everyone! He was very much respected in our community. He actually started a DUI counseling program that has since been named after him and continues to function after his passing. I know you can do great things with your degree - although I know its frustrating that a PhD can take so long! (I am in my 5th year) You''ll make it!

 

[bootsiekin]

Date: 3/3/2009 11:22:14 PM
Author: bootsiekin
Ha! Well how about that..Emily Post came through for me after all!

ilovethiswebsite

Sorry this part didnt show up before!

ilovethiswebsite - I also want to echo was was already said.. my father was a PhD clinical psychologist and well known and well loved by everyone! He was very much respected in our community. He actually started a DUI counseling program that has since been named after him and continues to function after his passing. I know you can do great things with your degree - although I know its frustrating that a PhD can take so long! (I am in my 5th year) You''ll make it!

 

[RLG]

Date: 3/3/2009 10:12:03 AM
Author: Haven

Date: 3/3/2009 1:20:18 AM
Author: LtlFirecracker

Date: 3/3/2009 1:07:35 AM
Author: lovesparklies
This is a really interesting topic. I haven''t earned a doctorate of any sort (although I have my master''s -- can I be called Master??

) but my mom is an MD and my dad is a professor and has a PhD. There was nothing I could do to convince my mom to use Drs. So and So on my wedding invitations even though I thought hey, they worked hard for those degrees and should use them! I even know about the etiquette rules for the use of Dr. for MDs and PhDs but I still thought they should both be addressed as doctor. My mom just prefers to use Dr. in professional situations and Mrs. in social situations. What I think is weird is that they addressed all the invitations to their friends (who are 90% medical doctors and professors) using Dr. and not Mr. or Mrs. The only time I''ve heard my mom upset about not being addressed as Dr. was when of my friends - a newly minted medical doctor - sent my mom a thank you note for a wedding gift and called my mom Mrs. X and signed it Dr. Z.

Interesting story about your parents. I just looked at the Emily Post website, and she has the same rules for professional titles for both women and men. The whole treating men and women differently annoys me, so I had to look into it. And it looks like it is OK to use Dr. for PhD if I am reading it right. Emily Post

Well, there you have it! I stand corrected. Doctors all around!
The current book edition of Emily Post''s etiquette doesn''t say this, how odd.

bootsiekin--What a wonderful story about your beloved kitty. Thank you for your kind words about my Bootsie.
RLG--Your avatar puppy gets me every time! What a face! What ears!

Thank you Haven. I miss him a bunch he lives at home with my parents.

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 3/3/2009 11:27:45 PM
Author: bootsiekin

Date: 3/3/2009 11:22:14 PM
Author: bootsiekin
Ha! Well how about that..Emily Post came through for me after all!

ilovethiswebsite

Sorry this part didnt show up before!

ilovethiswebsite - I also want to echo was was already said.. my father was a PhD clinical psychologist and well known and well loved by everyone! He was very much respected in our community. He actually started a DUI counseling program that has since been named after him and continues to function after his passing. I know you can do great things with your degree - although I know its frustrating that a PhD can take so long! (I am in my 5th year) You''ll make it!

Are you in Clinical Psychology as well? ahhhhhhhhhhh it never ends!! hehehe

 

[bootsiekin]

Date: 3/4/2009 10:55:25 PM
Author: ilovethiswebsite

Date: 3/3/2009 11:27:45 PM

Author: bootsiekin

Date: 3/3/2009 11:22:14 PM

Author: bootsiekin

Ha! Well how about that..Emily Post came through for me after all!

ilovethiswebsite

Sorry this part didnt show up before!


ilovethiswebsite - I also want to echo was was already said.. my father was a PhD clinical psychologist and well known and well loved by everyone! He was very much respected in our community. He actually started a DUI counseling program that has since been named after him and continues to function after his passing. I know you can do great things with your degree - although I know its frustrating that a PhD can take so long! (I am in my 5th year) You''ll make it!

Are you in Clinical Psychology as well? ahhhhhhhhhhh it never ends!! hehehe

Actually I''m in chemistry..I''m not sure if this happens to you too, but everyone keeps asking me when I am going to be done..and all I can keep saying is, "it depends on how the experiments go!" People don''t always understand its not a 4 year program or anything like college. Oh! and my other pet peeve is when people think I take the summer off! hahahaa I would never graduate!

 

[ilovethiswebsite]

Date: 3/4/2009 11:11:04 PM
Author: bootsiekin

Date: 3/4/2009 10:55:25 PM
Author: ilovethiswebsite

Date: 3/3/2009 11:27:45 PM

Author: bootsiekin

Date: 3/3/2009 11:22:14 PM

Author: bootsiekin

Ha! Well how about that..Emily Post came through for me after all!

ilovethiswebsite

Sorry this part didnt show up before!


ilovethiswebsite - I also want to echo was was already said.. my father was a PhD clinical psychologist and well known and well loved by everyone! He was very much respected in our community. He actually started a DUI counseling program that has since been named after him and continues to function after his passing. I know you can do great things with your degree - although I know its frustrating that a PhD can take so long! (I am in my 5th year) You''ll make it!

Are you in Clinical Psychology as well? ahhhhhhhhhhh it never ends!! hehehe

Actually I''m in chemistry..I''m not sure if this happens to you too, but everyone keeps asking me when I am going to be done..and all I can keep saying is, ''it depends on how the experiments go!'' People don''t always understand its not a 4 year program or anything like college. Oh! and my other pet peeve is when people think I take the summer off! hahahaa I would never graduate!

hahaha yeah. Even my parents keep asking me when the heck I am going to graduate already!

 

[Amanda.Rx]

I think it''s perfectly acceptable (and respectful) to address a PhD as "doctor." However, I don''t think you''ll offend anyone by not using the title "doctor". I think it''s a bit weird to address an invitation as Jane Doe, PhD. It''s an invitation to a social event, not a graduation... but maybe that''s the norm... I don''t know.

And a word on the MD vs PhD debate- my father went through 10 years of school, was a PhD for >30 years and retired his career with the title "professor emiritus". He had tons a great research under his belt and was voted "professor of the year" at least 5 times. I''d be real quick to correct any MD who had just graduated from medical school after 8 years who turned their nose up at calling him doctor. (I''m not undermining doctors, by any means!) I''m just prooving my point that it seems ridiculous to "turn your nose up" at calling a PhD doctor.

 

[stephbolt]

Date: 3/4/2009 11:11:04 PM
Author: bootsiekin

Date: 3/4/2009 10:55:25 PM

Author: ilovethiswebsite

Date: 3/3/2009 11:27:45 PM


Author: bootsiekin

Date: 3/3/2009 11:22:14 PM


Author: bootsiekin


Ha! Well how about that..Emily Post came through for me after all!

ilovethiswebsite

Sorry this part didnt show up before!



ilovethiswebsite - I also want to echo was was already said.. my father was a PhD clinical psychologist and well known and well loved by everyone! He was very much respected in our community. He actually started a DUI counseling program that has since been named after him and continues to function after his passing. I know you can do great things with your degree - although I know its frustrating that a PhD can take so long! (I am in my 5th year) You''ll make it!

Are you in Clinical Psychology as well? ahhhhhhhhhhh it never ends!! hehehe

Actually I''m in chemistry..I''m not sure if this happens to you too, but everyone keeps asking me when I am going to be done..and all I can keep saying is, ''it depends on how the experiments go!'' People don''t always understand its not a 4 year program or anything like college. Oh! and my other pet peeve is when people think I take the summer off! hahahaa I would never graduate!

Just had to leap in as another chemistry grad student who feels the pain of people always asking when I''m gonna graduate! I feel like I''ve been telling them, oh, maybe in a year or so if I''m lucky for the last few years at least!

 

[waterlilly]

I would never ask someone to call me "doctor", and never address myself as Dr. XX in writing. If I had an MD rather than a Ph.D, I would introduce myself as "doctor" XX at work...but requesting that people address you as "doctor" in social settings is a bit odd.

You can get a Ph.D in just about any field, so personally, I don''t feel it is appropriate to put the Dr. in front of my name since I don''t do anything that treats/helps people directly. I feel it is completely pretentious.

At work, or with any professional correspondences, putting a Ph.D after my name is all that is needed.

If you wouldn''t raise your hand when an injured person yells "is anyone here a doctor?!"...I don''t think you should address yourself as one.

Just MY opinion.

 

[vetrik]

My mom got her PhD while I was in high school, and requested that we all start calling her "Dr. Mom" upon graduation.

My suck up husband heard about that when we started dating and keeps it up to this day! Although she takes a lot of pride in achieving that degree and does use the title in her professional life, I don''t believe she expects, or would be insulted, if it were not used in a social setting.

I worked as a vet tech throughout high school and college, so I invited several veterinarians to our wedding, including a married couple who both had their DVM. I addressed them all as "Dr." on my invitations, because it felt correct to me. Although I worked with them closely and called them by their first names, I really knew them and was used to referring to them as Dr. Soandso.

I feel like you can really find an etiquette rule for this to back you up no matter what you decide to do. It seems like the best thing is to do what feels right to you in your own situation. Hopefully, you know the people you are inviting to your wedding well enough to know if they would appeciate the title being used on their invitations.

 

[katamari]

Date: 3/6/2009 2:46:14 PM
Author: waterlilly

You can get a Ph.D in just about any field, so personally, I don''t feel it is appropriate to put the Dr. in front of my name since I don''t do anything that treats/helps people directly. I feel it is completely pretentious.

Plenty of PhDs actually do work that helps people directly, for the record.