PhD = real doctor?

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Hi All,

I thought I'd share a recent argument I had.

Basically I was having a conversation with a few postgrad friends and I made a comment like "My friends a doctor, well I mean a real doctor, not like a PhD doctor", which kicked off quite a heated argument.


I didn't mean any offense by it, I just meant that if someone shouted "Is there a Doctor in the house" they're not exactly looking for someone which a PhD in history are they! :p

So in your opinion are the two equal, should PhD's give you a different title? :confused:


Cheers

David
 
We should just follow the yanks, call doctors MD instead. Saves all the hassle then.

And yes, PhD is a doctor, a doctor in his field. When someone shouts "is there a doctor here?" If you have a PhD in snails, I wouldn't stand up, because you know got damn well that is not what they mean. If you did then may be considering returning that PhD.
 
They seem to be comparing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and a Doctor of Medicine (MD).

They can both be referred to as Doctor, but obviously only an MD can treat patients. I don't really understand your question "Are they both equal"
 
Just get people to shout "is there a nurse in the room" - they pretty much do all the work anyway.


I have another question on this subject also. If you have a PhD, you can use it as a title, like <your name> PhD, correct?
Can this be done with any other titles?
Like <your name> BSc or
<your name> BA
 
DAVEM said:
I didn't mean any offense by it, I just meant that if someone shouted "Is there a Doctor in the house" they're not exactly looking for someone which a PhD in history are they! :p
Isn't that somewhat of a misnomer? The correct query would be "Is there a physician in the house?"

The word "Doctor" is simply latin for "teacher," which one would assume has its roots in the world of academia more so than medicine (until the two cross paths, that is).
 
touch said:
Just get people to shout "is there a nurse in the room" - they pretty much do all the work anyway.


I have another question on this subject also. If you have a PhD, you can use it as a title, like <your name> PhD, correct?
Can this be done with any other titles?
Like <your name> BSc or
<your name> BA

Well, you'll be call Dr Smith rather than John Smith PhD. I am not going to start signing Raymond Lin BA anytime soon anyway.
 
starscream said:
They seem to be comparing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and a Doctor of Medicine (MD).

They can both be referred to as Doctor, but obviously only an MD can treat patients. I don't really understand your question "Are they both equal"


I know what a PhD is, what I was getting as it do people see them as the same, of equal standing if you like. I'm studying towards my PhD so I'm certainly not slagging of PhD's but I must admit it would be interesting to see if people view them the same.

EDIT: Thought people might find this interesting, MD's who are accepted to the college of surgeons have to give up Dr and go back to using Mr, aparently it goes back to the days when it was the college of surgeons and barbers (lol)!

Thanks

David
 
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What i find funny is that in this country, once you becomes a consultant or a specialist in an area of medicine you go back to being a Mr again. I know its something to do with the history of Surgeons institute being older than doctors or something.
 
Hellsmk2 said:
Phd is a real doctor. Simple as that.

Anyone who tries to argue otherwise is a bit of a simpleton really.

Exactly.

What people think of when they hear Doctor is simply a Doctor of Medicine. If I choose to do a PhD I will be a Doctor of Neuroscience. We are both Doctors. Simple.

Rather than use the term Doctor loosely to describe a physician/GP, consider them all doctors of chosen fields. It's simple.
 
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Raymond Lin said:
or a specialist in an area of medicine you go back to being a Mr again. I know its something to do with the history of Surgeons institute being older than doctors or something.
I read somewhere that in Britain the title Mister is used for specialists like surgeons due to the very old conception that this was a slightly less honorable field. Back in the day it was extremely difficult to obtain cadavers for study so many wishing to study the innards of the human body had to resort to less than socially acceptable means to obtain these, such as buying cadavers from grave robbers. the physicians who studied the function of the body, not its inner construction were granted the Doctor title others while the slightly unsavory characters were restricted to Mister.

In the US this distinction does not exist because the historical precursors were not in existence here when the field was forming.

I don't know how accurate the source was but it does seem to make sense.
 
I'm doing a PhD, my best mate is doing an MD, we often inter-jest... however, I'm right, and I will be the "Doctor".

A medical doctor has Dr. prefix short for the suffix MB BS, MB BCh, MB ChB, BM BCh or MB BChir, depending on the University granting the award. A real doctor (:p) has Dr. prefix short for the suffix Philosophiæ Doctor (PhD) or Doctor philosophiæ (Dphil).

FYI, they aren't "Doctors of Medicine", they are "Doctors in Medicine"... the of requires a postgrad degree (PhD in other words..)


EDIT- (wiki) From the nineteenth century onward, "doctor" has been commonly used as a synonym for "physician" in Anglophone and many other countries; this term is commonly used as a title of address for physicians, whether or not they hold a doctorate
 
Raymond Lin said:
We should just follow the yanks, call doctors MD instead. Saves all the hassle then.

And yes, PhD is a doctor, a doctor in his field. When someone shouts "is there a doctor here?" If you have a PhD in snails, I wouldn't stand up, because you know got damn well that is not what they mean. If you did then may be considering returning that PhD.

Exactly. Just because their specialist field isn't medicine doesn't mean they aren't a doctor.
 
The biggest distinction between a Doctor in the colloquial sense of the word is that an MD's qualification in based upon clinical experience and taught hours whereas a PhD is research based. Less commonly known (and perhaps less commonly recognised) doctorates have non-medical clinical or experiential components, although these aren't described as PhDs, they are often known as 'professional doctorates'.
 
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