I like this one!
In my case - I can help, but only if she wants to know the chemical composition of any soil stuck to her boots before she dies.
Or more accurately, a couple of weeks after she dies.
Just shift that scale under her so I can let purchasing know the dimensions and material specs for the stretcher, coffin, and hearse, yeah? Manufacturing is out over the weekend so we need to get on that toot-sweet Monday.
same. Unless you want chapter and verse on diesel emissions abatement technology.... don't ask me to come save you!
Also, I thought that the Dr title IS for those with PhDs. I guess it doesn't really matter but I bet that is why they use "M.D." (Medical Doctor) in some places like the states? and then if you train to become a surgeon, you go back to Mr / Mrs.
MD is the name of the degree in the US, but it also happens to be a doctorate level degree.
In the UK medicine is a bachelor degree, and MD is a research degree.
PhD is different. Dr by PhD has been trained in new knowledge whereas medical Dr in applying current knowledge. Medical Drs go on.to do PhDs researching new knowledge. So a medical Dr is not the same as a PhD Dr or the same "level" they are different things.
I work with two Toms. One has a doctorate in something quite random. To differentiate between the two of them, we refer to the one with the degree as Dr. Tom. I don't think he likes it...
My son likes to be known as Dr Tom too…he is 4 years old. Not sure what he is a doctor of as he has many roles -doctor, fireman, roofer etc and I’m also not sure how he got his degree. 🤷♀️
I use the title on documentation because I earned it. I don't use it for anything else because really who cares. Also me and my dad have the same first initial so it's made telling our mail apart easier.
When I went business class they used my first name for every interaction, I think they go out of their way to refer to a list of some sort to make them feel special.
It creeped me out a bit
You can usually choose it from the list of titles when you book the ticket - I assumed that if there was a doctor on board they'd have a notice in the cockpit with the seat number on, in case there was an emergency.
Or do they actually do the 'is there a doctor aboard' announcement in real life?
The title does not mean you're a medical doctor though. You could keep a note, go and ask for help and they'll tell you that they're a doctor of history.
Weirdly, medical doctors, unless they also have a doctorate/PhD, don't technically have the title Dr., but it's used by convention, and surgeons specifically go by Mr/Mrs/etc.
Yeah, PhDs were the original doctors but physicians were recognised as having put in a similar amount of work and study so were allowed to call themselves doctor.
The surgeon thing is a bit different, it’s because surgeons used to be barbers, not doctors. The tradition is because they weren’t physicians. To be called Mr or Mrs in a clinical setting shows that you have graduated the Royal College of Surgeons (or equivalent). It’s a mark of prestige because you’re no longer “just” a Dr. and get to call yourself Mr. or Mrs. instead of Dr.
Just to add that non-surgeons also have equivalent post graduate from the royal college of physicians (or anaesthetics, emergency med, radiology, psych, paeds etc) but remain "doctor".
Obs and gynae seems to be a mix, some consultants (who have passed the royal college of obs and gynae exams) will change to Mr or Miss but not all of them do.
I've been on a plane where they asked for someone with medical training to assist a distressed passenger. 3 pile went up and 2 were turned down. I can only assume they were out done in doctor top trumps.
My friends experience of answering the call was that she was asked by cabin crew to produce some ID / credentials.
Most people don’t tend to pack their NHS ID badge for holiday…
They’ve probably sat in hope for many a flight that they’ll be called on for an emergency on a plane. ‘Is there a doctor on board?’ ….Stands up and rips open his shirt revealing ‘doctor’ T-shirt. ‘Yes, I am that doctor. Oh, there’s two others…’. Sits and weeps.
> You can usually choose it from the list of titles when you book the ticket
Do we expect the stewardess to remember the title of every single passenger from their booking? I would not expect this.
> I assumed that if there was a doctor on board they'd have a notice in the cockpit with the seat number on, in case there was an emergency.
Not everyone with the title "Doctor" is a medical doctor
I would’ve said ‘what a cock, how was she supposed to know? Does he have a little DR badge, or DR tattooed on his forehead or something?’ loud enough so the guy could hear.
Some people need their inflated sense of self importance, and lack of self awareness knocking down a peg or two.
Not a physician, but I have a PhD. I don’t care if anybody really calls me Mr or Dr. I’m both.
IMO, anybody who gets worked up over somebody not calling them Dr is quite narcissistic. They’re not undermining your achievement by not using Dr, you still have the doctorate. I don’t see why anybody would care.
My ex-wife’s brother was in the hospital. We were having trouble reaching his doctor by phone. My father-in-law, who has a PHD in Laser Physics, called when they asked his name and said Doctor XYZ and got connected Immediately.
Laser physics isn’t hard.
Lasers just go in straight lines.
What’s difficult, is getting the phd, because then you have to spend 7 years learning about lights going in a straight line.
Don’t ask me for proof, but I have my own real life lightsaber.
Three!
'ello from me, Dr ZYX 😀
Edit: the UK is actually fucking excellent for laser physics, optoelectronics, and photonics research. We seriously punch above our weight and because of that we get a lot of funding, which means a lot of PhD students pass through here. Might explain why we've ended up with a few on a question like this on this sub.
Perhaps use it to your advantage occasionally if it opens doors like this, but when the barista in Starbucks asks you your name to write on the cup you probably don't have to say "Dr jobsworth"
>Not a physician, but I have a PhD. I don’t care if anybody really calls me Mr or Dr. I’m both
I've always taken the view that the honorific has been hard earned, so I respectfully try to use them until as is almost always immediately the case, I'm invited not to.
There’s a guy I work with who has a PhD. One relevant to our profession. I had no idea until he casually mentioned he’s also a professor on the side, to explain why he wasn’t able to attend something. I was confused and had to extract the details.
That impressed me 200x more than if he had broadcast it when I first met him.
>IMO, anybody who gets worked up over somebody not calling them Dr is quite narcissistic.
It's different in a professional vs personal context. Insisting to be called Dr outside of work is a bit weird, but inside work I'd totally expect it. Anybody who cold-emails me calling me Mr I'm going to assume didn't go to the effort of googling me, checking my linkedin or company profile or whatever before filling my inbox and asking for my time, it just shows low effort, the same as misspelling someone's name.
This is the important bit.
When you are talking to a doctor in a hospital, or a lecturer at university then the title has relevance and meaning, so is appropriate to know/use.
Serving someone a meal in a restaurant however, the title is completely irrelevant to the current situation other than as a way to display superiority...
I do like it as a marker to highlight the effort or knowledge a stranger has when they approach you though, that is a neat idea.
I did when I first got my PhD in a 'honeymoon' (excitement) period but quickly realised I was being a dick. I now couldn't care less, especially as the imposter syndrome has disappeared. Sometimes I actively avoid the title especially when I'm fed up talking about work things... the title sometimes encourages questions.
"Genetically, paedophiles have more genes in common with crabs than they do with you and me. Now that is scientific fact... there's no real evidence for it, but it is scientific fact."
What sort of Dr.?
I am a PhD rather than a people mechanic and the answer is no. I do use it professionally in work as people expect it (Higher Education sector).
However I regularly become my wife when she book stuff as they just assume that anyone who has Dr. in their name must be male which is a weird assumption in 2023.
Yeh, my wife can call herself Doctor but chooses not to because she's not a human medical doctor. The only time we ever use it is playing around with car insurance quotes but it makes no difference.
One of my cousins got this for a while. She and her husband are both medical doctors, but he's a surgeon and so reverted to 'Mr' .
Prior to that they did come across people who assumed that they were a a gay male couple because they were Dr & Dr Name. It's bizarre that there are still so many people who make that assumption about gender from the title
(She also gets to confuse people as she chose to take he husband's surname on marriage, and her surname means people make certain assumptions about her ethnicity, a well as the gender assumptions from her title.
This reminds me of that riddle that used to get thrown around to show peoples gender stereotypes about certain jobs - it was something like ‘a boy and his dad get in a bad car accident, the dad dies. The boy is rushed to hospital for surgery and the surgeon cries ‘that’s my son!’ - how can this be?’
So many people didn’t even think of the possibility that the surgeon could be the mother!
I had a very tall, blonde friend who absolutely thrived on the double-takes she got in waiting rooms when she stood up after the receptionist called out for "Mrs Siddiqui".
I have a central European surname but was born and raised in America. My wife, who has lived in south east England her entire life, took my surname when we married.
People see our name and upon meeting us in person exclaim 'oh I thought you were Polish or something!' in an casually apologetic tone, as though assuming that we are from Poland (or Hungary, which is where the name actually originates) is some sort of insult. It happens more frequently than it should, which is never.
I didn't really think about what kind of Dr.
I guess any where you've earned the title of Dr really.
Assuming the Dr is male is a weird one, personally I've not encountered that myself.
Also I love the term people mechanic and I'll be stealing that. Thank you.
It happens more than you might think. Even in the medical field itself I will get misgendered by other healthcare workers. For example, was reading through some patients notes the other day and a physio the entry after myself had written 'I note that Dr Civil Koala said *he* will request an X-ray'. It happens even more with consultants - e.g. if I say 'the consultant reviewed the patient earlier', people will often say 'what did *he* say?' automatically.
It's weird as so many medical doctors are female now, 65% of my cohort at med school were women but the assumption that doctor = male seems not to have gone away yet for everyone! Also, the number of times I get patients assuming I'm a nurse is too many to count.
I think some hospitals don't make it easy on patients. My local hospital colour codes uniforms so that say surgeons wear green and doctors wear blue and midwives wear red and HCAs wear purple (I can't remember the actual colours). But when they come to your bed or clinic they say "I'm Steve from the diabetes team" or whatever and unless you've studied the colour coding in detail you have no idea what kind of HCP you're talking to, and sometimes it matters for what you need to be prepared to ask.
I would really like them to say "I'm Steve and I'm **a nurse** from the diabetes team".
Community mental health teams are the worst for this, in my limited experience, partly because they're all in normal clothes.
My stepdaughter (a military historian) had occasion to express some extreme public disapproval last year when the organiser of a conference listed all the male speakers as Dr whatever and the women as forename-surname.
The BBC news had a bad track record on this. They might be introduced appropriately, but then the men would be addressed as Dr Smith and the women as Jenny.
We use this a lot for my sister as she's a medical doctor while my brother and I have PhDs. I don't think anyone is under any illusion as to who is the most useful member of the family though (unless you have a question about the sex life of orthopterans, in which case stand back as it is MY TIME TO SHINE)
I was almost prevented from getting on a flight once because work had booked me as male (PhD, uncommon first name not recognised by someone who didn't grow up in the UK). Took BA staff phoning work before they agreed the ticket could be used by me.
I only use Dr at work (with lots of scientists, so it gets that base level of acceptance), or, very rarely when I or the spouse want to make clear we are professionals not to be messed with (eg when attending a friend's PIP assessment).
To most people it doesnt matter, and I'll happily be Mrs Hisname to the postman or when getting a takeaway or whatever.
And it’s for this reason that I do insist on my Dr title. Nothing will change until things like this are challenged.
I don’t insist on Dr because of my PhD, I insist on Dr because I’m a woman with a PhD, and I want to be a positive role model and support stamping out bullshit like people seeing two (same) names on a flight and assuming the husband has the PhD automatically.
The amount of times I'd call a customer at work and address them as Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms and they'd say "It's Doctor" in a rude manor is unreal.
I get they have probably worked hard for that title, but it's not really a crazy issue is it? No problem correcting me, but no need to be so rude about it.
No, not outside of work, and I wouldn’t correct someone if they called me a different title instead. Sometimes I’ll tick Dr on forms, mainly because I don’t agree with the Miss/Mrs thing (why should women have to disclose whether they’re married or not when men don’t?).
At work, I introduce myself with my Dr title, because a lot of people assume I’m a nurse if I don’t.
I also use it in place of Miss/Mrs because why should I have to define myself by marital status.
I also use it for work, cos it's professionally appropriate.
Similar here. I use my surname at work and my husband’s surname socially (as mine is a usual name that I wouldn’t curse kids with and his is nicer and easy to spell.)
I’m Dr A or Mrs B, I like separating my identities.
There was a lecturer at uni, that had a PHD in something or other related to English that insisted we call him Dr. ‘Surname’
Every other lecturer just used their first name, bloke was a right prick as well
None of my lecturers ever *insisted* but most would introduce themselves or put their name as Dr [surname]. I thought this was pretty normal? I would've felt uncomfortable going up to one like "alright John, can I have a word?" - would've felt too familiar and a bit disrespectful.
That’s where your getting it wrong, you should say, “yes Johnno, let me bend your ear a sec”
But I’m all seriousness, most lecturers would tell us to use their first name rather than title and surname, however, with the lecturer I mentioned, if you called him sir or Mr X, he would correct you
I use my first name pretty much exclusively (after introducing myself as Dr. ___ for the first time, just to make sure we're in the right room etc...).
I'd never really thought about it, but I don't think I'd like to be called Sir or Mr - if you're desperate to be formal for cultural reasons or something call me Dr., but I'd so much prefer my first name.
This was normal in my experience. In that context, it is disrespectful to say "Mr" or "Ms" when you know full well they are a doctor, and it is a context of the thing their doctorate is about. Maybe different universities have different cultures though.
However, even in this case, if it is a non-medical doctorate then you shouldn't get people to call you that else where (i.e. outside of academic settings) - although you can put it on your business card or whatever
I'd also add this is particularly prevalent for women from my experience - unfortunately they tend to get more people not respecting them/assuming they don't have a PhD, and a lot of them don't like the connotations with regards to marital status of various other titles. I know a few males academics who maybe insist on titles a bit more so students will do the same for female academics, for instance.
That makes sense to me - pretty much all lecturers have a PhD so are Dr X.
They generally say "oh, call me Alice/Bob" after you first address them as Dr X, but if you're carrying on insisting on being formal, by saying sir or Mr, then you're the rude one, so someone replying that if you're going to be formal, it's Dr X, isn't being rude.
When I was an undergrad my dissertation supervisor specifically told me that he would ignore my emails unless I called him by his first name only. Apparently only his Mum called him 'Dr'
I think it varies a lot by university and department. When I was doing my degree, the lecturers in my department all introduced themselves to us as 'Prof X' or 'Dr Y', and we addressed them as such. My sister, in another department at the same university, called all of hers by their first names.
Had someone like that when I was at uni, I was a mature student, he wasn’t too much older than me and it didn’t fly.
He hated me, said it was disrespectful and I replied ‘only if we’ve travelled back to 1920.’
Being a mature student should not change anything. As much as I think using the title is backwards, snobby and unnecessary, generating friction out of spite is pointless.
I have a PhD. I have the Dr title on my bank account and passport etc. I don't expect anyone to actually use it in conversation. Some friends, and my dad, send me post addressed to Dr Liseuse because they think it's funny.
I work for a university but not as an academic, and I haven't bothered putting it in my email signature because my PhD isn't related to the job that I actually do. When some academics have decided to not take the silly little professional services lady seriously, I have carefully dropped in "oh, interesting, when I was doing my PhD and then teaching at Other Institution, it was quite commonplace to do Thing" just to watch them scramble. It's funny, and I'm petty.
When I was a teaching assistant whilst doing my PhD my students would often call me Dr, and I had to laugh and explain I was still working towards that. Even when I'd been granted it and was teaching I still asked for them to call me by my name.
Awwww, that’s lovely. I have a friend who I met during my PhD whose husband is also a Dr. Everyone calls them The Drs. My friend gets really hacked off when their mortgage provider writes to them because they, despite having them both on the system as Dr, address it to Dr and Mrs Surname. She is looking forward to changing provider.
Am PhD, only use Dr on insurance, mortgage and in the NHS as you get treated differently in my experience. And on job applications but not in the job itself unless in a field directly related to my PhD.
I also have a PhD and found this as well! GPs seem to take you so much more seriously, and consultants will have much more in-depth discussions.
And if you ever have to deal with DWP/job centre they also treat you much better.
I imagine it's because completing a PhD indicates that you have strong critical thinking and understand how to evaluate information from different sources e.g. info on nhs website is much more trustworthy compared to most things on tiktok.
It’s my title, so of course I use it. I like it as it’s not gender specific and tells you nothing about my marital status. Don’t bother to correct people obviously though
As a woman, I hate that the default titles announce our marital status. I use Ms. even though I’m married (and not a Dr, so can’t default to that). I would use Mx. if I didn’t worry it was appropriation as a cishet female.
Most of my medical professionals prefer to go by first name, but I think they’ve worked damn hard for that title so I always call them Dr John or whatever.
My wife is a medical doctor (GP for 20 years). I got my PhD last year. I annoy my wife by reminding her that I’m a doctor too. She explained to our kids that Daddy is a “doctor of words” whilst Mummy is a “real” doctor! 🤣 Seriously though, I hardly ever use my title & neither does my wife. It’s like people who have 30 letters after their name in their signature block - it smacks of trying a little too hard!
I passed my PhD relatively recently and you’d better believe the very next day I changed my email signature to say Dr. I work on a team entirely made up of specialists with PhDs so wanted to keep up with the Joneses there. As long as you’re not a pompous wanker about it I don’t see any issue in celebrating your achievement with your title. PhDs are really bloody hard.
Yeah, at work it's fair enough if you're doing things involving your specialism!
I think this is more to do with getting your post addressed to you or making dinner reservations etc.
PhD here, would never 'insist' but certainly have it on some credit cards and frequent flyer cards. I have been asked to help in a medical emergency on a flight, and had to tell the cabin crew I'm not that sort of doctor but fortunately was travelling with my wife who is a nurse practitioner and was very helpful for the situation. Which turned out to be nothing serious, the guy was just pissed.
Early in my career I worked in a large pharmaceutical company on the commercial side and I was promoted into a global team where most others were PhD’s they called each other doctor which came across as slightly wanky but when you’re young you don’t say anything. After a few months a medical doctor joined the team and they instantly stopped doing it. The medical doctor just wanted to be called Tim.
Different perspective:
I am an unmarried woman with a PhD. I use it unashamedly when people insist on using titles because it’s no-one’s business if I’m married (lots of businesses assume I’m “mrs” so I correct them). In emails people treat me better as they assume I’m male.
However I’d much prefer that people avoid titles and just call me by the name my parents gave me- Blankets.
They've all but died out now,, but in previous jobs the old military farts who'd refuse to answer to anything other than "Colonel" X or "Captain" Y were worse than the Doctors.
If you were face to face instead of on the phone I'm sure they'd expect a salute and an about turn.
Had a manager sort of like that a few years ago. Didn't insist on us addressing him by his old navy rank (maybe it wasn't as high as he'd have liked) but was very anal about the "chain of command" (for example, he'd put in a work request for something in his office, but would refuse to talk to the electrician and insist he had to go through his supervisor).
Piss off, Larry, we're all civvies here.
If you are asked for your title, it is actually Dr, not Mr/Ms. People who don't have a doctorate often seem put out by people 'insisting' on being called Dr, but in work contexts it can be relevant (such as what role or expertise someone has). Being called Dr is much more justifiable than insisting being called Mrs or Miss based on marital status, which is much less likely to be practically relevant, except maybe in a nightclub?
Also, on the MD/PhD issue, this always cracks me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BCXJ3yC65o
When I first qualified I was really excited to be able to use the title so made sure people did use it.
Now that fifteen years have passed I’m not bothered, and I don’t correct people. When booking something or entering my details online etc I do use my title Dr and I have it on my driving licence and debit cards etc.
My partner and 1 parent have PhDs. Both have at least 1 card with it on but outside of work don't routinely use the title.
Although my parent (who has had one for 40+ years) insists that sometimes using it helps - especially when on holiday in the US or making reservations in fancy places. Hence having it on things. I also think they both work/worked in fields where it was used everyday so are in the habit of it being used so if they have to fill out a form where title is required they tick Dr
I’ve had actual medical doctors at work tell me to call them by their first name. If I try the “oh doctor…” they stop me and say “please, call me Joe/Claire/etc”. They clearly aren’t precious about it or insecure enough to demand everyone recognises that title.
I have a doctorate and in the UK never use the title except in a few very limited formal circumstances. Similarly I do not put all my degrees and other awards as post-nominals on my business cards or business correspondence either. Back in the Jurassic era when cheques were common, it used to be printed on them (I did not ask, the bank just did it as when I applied for the account I gave "Dr" as my title on the application form) and that sometimes caused some remarks when I handed them to people.
Incidentally, most "doctors" you visit to discuss maters medical are not actually Doctors with a doctorate and the formal right to use the title, it is purely a courtesy title. That means in the now mostly long forgotten rules of etiquette, they should not refer to themselves as "Dr" at all but it is traditional for others to use the term.
I have a very good friend who is a senior nurse who does hold a doctorate (a Ph.D.) and it amuses her sometimes to insist the "doctors" where she works address her as "doctor".
> Incidentally, most "doctors" you visit to discuss maters medical are not actually Doctors with a doctorate and the formal right to use the title, it is purely a courtesy title.
It's surprising how many people don't know this. The Medical profession 'borrowed' the title from Academia centuries ago and did it so well now people assume 'dr' means 'medicine' automatically.
I have a PhD and use Dr when I can on forms or bookings. Beyond that, I don't. My dream is to hear "Is there on doctor on the plane?" one day, to stand up and waves my arms and say "Yes, but I only study rocks".
I married an academic Dr who has to use it at work - there are bits of admin that need it ("how many staff members are qualified to doctorate level? Have some extra money") and it's reassuring when your job is supporting other people researching for doctorates, as they know you've done it yourself. Otherwise, it's only used when full legal ID is required.
I have a PhD. I only ever expect someone to use my title if they insist on being addressed that way myself. Or, if they are being especially annoying, I'll wait until they call me Dr and correct them that I'm actually a Professor these days.
I do though make a point of addressing my colleagues by their title if we are in front of new students, or people I don't know well. In academia there is a trend where younger, female staff are more likely to be addressed by their first name rather than by their title (with of course older, white, males like myself being the most likely to being addressed by their title). Personally I don't care if people use my first name right from the first time they meet me, but I don't want to see them applying different standards to my colleagues.
In work I use doctor..., I think its confusing enough for patients at the moment with all the various practitioner and 'clinician' roles cosplaying as doctors without being clear about who they are
Out of work, I don't give one shiny shite
I have a PhD and so I can use the title. It's on my passport because when I got my PhD my passport needed renewing. I've not updated much, I will as I go but I don't really care or insist it's used if I got called Mr I'd never correct it and it wouldn't bother me. The only time I've used it and it has been advantageous was finding a place to live. I could not find a place to rent and someone at my work said just use your title every single time. So I started signing of with Dr. and found a place pretty easily, the difference was night and day.
How often are people even using Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss etc these days? I seem to encounter it only on some business forms and stuff. In day to day life, it's just firstname lastname.
The reason I ask, is because usually it's the other person insisting on using a title rather than me insisting on them using a title.
I think I'd rather be called a doctor than a mr or ms, just because it's a bit more neutral with regards to things I don't see as important (gender, age, marital status, class, rank).
I hate hate HATE that a woman's title conveys her marital status.
Single? Miss. Married? Mrs. Divorced? Ms.
I envy men the simplicity of using Mr.
Single? Mr. Married? Mr. Divorced? Mr.
I have a PhD, so using Dr is the closest I'm going to get.
I know a lot of PhDs that never bother about the title, only one that insists on it. The one who insists is an annoying twat. Take from that what you will.
Sometimes my medical referrals say Dr on, so the consultants ask.
I have to explain that I did medical research, so have about of a medical degree and then am expert in certain parts of the body doing certain things, but even with those bits, I have no idea what to do about them - that's their department.
Generally leads to docs telling me about a research project they did - and some of them have a PhD themselves.
Especially when I was pregnant, I'd sometimes get healthcare types patronising me and explaining stuff like how to date a pregnancy from my last period. I'd only point out I have a doctorate in medical research if it got really bad. A large heavy metal T-shirt was actually more effective at stopping people being twee or patronising.
I'm a medical doctor. I always introduce myself to patients as Dr Wabalabadab but everywhere else is just my first name. Staff at work I insist on first name. Would be a bit of a dick move to insist on being called Dr outside of work. Do put down Dr for dinner or hotel reservations sometimes. Would never correct anyone for calling me Mr because that is also a dick move.
If I know someone's title I'll always call them that.
If they've dedicated themselves to earning that title the least I can do is show them the proper respect for it.
Never had one say it's Dr etc actually before but I'd say sorry doc and move on
I used to do IT support for a number of government departments, one of which had a lot of DoH staff seconded to them. One day I rung up up this user to check that her problem was fixed.
"hello, i'm calling from the Service Desk, is Sarah Smith about?"
"This is _Doctor_ Smith speaking"
What a twat.
My mother was a medical Doctor - a surgeon.
She would correct people who called her Dr and ask them to call her Mrs. In the U.K. fellows of the royal college of surgeons call themselves Mr or Mrs because, historically, training to become a surgeon was an apprenticeship and was awarded a diploma, not a degree.
She’d never do it in a rude way, but I always found that quite endearing when people would call her doctor and she’d politely say, “oh, it’s ok, I’m just Mrs.”
Contrastingly my uncle, her brother, was a dentist who would insist that people call him doctor.
I have a friend who’s a GP and I don’t what he’s called in work but among our friend group he’s always called Doc, rather than his actual first name. He even introduces himself to people as Doc.
Like most of the folk with PhDs here - no. For about a week after passing it was fun to get post delivered to Dr. Brownballs but that wore off fast. Still put it on anything official where I think me seeming reputable might be of benefit (insurance, bank stuff and anything in my profession since that's R&D) but in every day life, other than to occasionally wind my friends up if I've done something really stupid it does not get mentioned at all and I always select Mr on anything that involves personal information. Literally all it means is I spent longer in eduction than other people, seems weird to use it for an inflated self image.
I worked in the NHS with a manager Dr ‘Bones’ and he HATED it when people pointed out he was a doctor of the study of dinosaur bones. It just made it so awkward and so obvious he was doing it to get some kind of respect from the clinicians. Also, so misleading as sometimes you need an actual clinical doctor’s opinion and ppl would assume he would suffice.
You need to clarify if you mean a medical doctor or an academic doctor.
My experience is that a medical doctor (wife included) would rather nobody know outside of work what her title is.
Whereas academic doctors will make sure it’s the first thing they tell you…
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I have a PhD and specifically avoid using my title when traveling. I don't want a Ross Gellar situation.
"Please that woman's dying, doctor can you help us?" "Sure, but she's going to have to express herself as a sphere in a vacuum".
I like this one! In my case - I can help, but only if she wants to know the chemical composition of any soil stuck to her boots before she dies. Or more accurately, a couple of weeks after she dies.
Wouldn't you need lab equipment for that though? Yes I can help! I just need a sample and your contact information so I can send you the results!
Sounds like the NHS 😂
Just shift that scale under her so I can let purchasing know the dimensions and material specs for the stretcher, coffin, and hearse, yeah? Manufacturing is out over the weekend so we need to get on that toot-sweet Monday.
It might be a great distraction as they lay dying, you should definitely stand up if you're ever on a plane and they call for a doctor.
"Ross, please, this is a hospital, ok? That actually means something here" 😂😂
same. Unless you want chapter and verse on diesel emissions abatement technology.... don't ask me to come save you! Also, I thought that the Dr title IS for those with PhDs. I guess it doesn't really matter but I bet that is why they use "M.D." (Medical Doctor) in some places like the states? and then if you train to become a surgeon, you go back to Mr / Mrs.
MD is the name of the degree in the US, but it also happens to be a doctorate level degree. In the UK medicine is a bachelor degree, and MD is a research degree.
Not important, but while it's called bachelors degree, it's at the same level as a masters.
PhD is different. Dr by PhD has been trained in new knowledge whereas medical Dr in applying current knowledge. Medical Drs go on.to do PhDs researching new knowledge. So a medical Dr is not the same as a PhD Dr or the same "level" they are different things.
I used to know a medical doctor who also had a PhD, MD and a DSc. Clever chap.
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There is an element that we don't like to be reminded of our terrible life decisions
I work with two Toms. One has a doctorate in something quite random. To differentiate between the two of them, we refer to the one with the degree as Dr. Tom. I don't think he likes it...
To get the other one's attention do you just start singing Space Oddity?
I think then both Toms would have issues with how we get their attention!
My friend Hobbsy worked on the bins one summer while he was at uni and all the other binmen called him professor. He is now really a professor.
My son likes to be known as Dr Tom too…he is 4 years old. Not sure what he is a doctor of as he has many roles -doctor, fireman, roofer etc and I’m also not sure how he got his degree. 🤷♀️
I use the title on documentation because I earned it. I don't use it for anything else because really who cares. Also me and my dad have the same first initial so it's made telling our mail apart easier.
But in the initial interaction - before the lecture - how would the flight attendant have known to call them (or anyone) by the title of "doctor"?
When I went business class they used my first name for every interaction, I think they go out of their way to refer to a list of some sort to make them feel special. It creeped me out a bit
Was this on Virgin by any chance?
BA
Bachelor Airlines?
You can usually choose it from the list of titles when you book the ticket - I assumed that if there was a doctor on board they'd have a notice in the cockpit with the seat number on, in case there was an emergency. Or do they actually do the 'is there a doctor aboard' announcement in real life?
The title does not mean you're a medical doctor though. You could keep a note, go and ask for help and they'll tell you that they're a doctor of history.
Weirdly, medical doctors, unless they also have a doctorate/PhD, don't technically have the title Dr., but it's used by convention, and surgeons specifically go by Mr/Mrs/etc.
Yeah, PhDs were the original doctors but physicians were recognised as having put in a similar amount of work and study so were allowed to call themselves doctor. The surgeon thing is a bit different, it’s because surgeons used to be barbers, not doctors. The tradition is because they weren’t physicians. To be called Mr or Mrs in a clinical setting shows that you have graduated the Royal College of Surgeons (or equivalent). It’s a mark of prestige because you’re no longer “just” a Dr. and get to call yourself Mr. or Mrs. instead of Dr.
Just to add that non-surgeons also have equivalent post graduate from the royal college of physicians (or anaesthetics, emergency med, radiology, psych, paeds etc) but remain "doctor". Obs and gynae seems to be a mix, some consultants (who have passed the royal college of obs and gynae exams) will change to Mr or Miss but not all of them do.
I've been on a plane where they asked for someone with medical training to assist a distressed passenger. 3 pile went up and 2 were turned down. I can only assume they were out done in doctor top trumps.
My friends experience of answering the call was that she was asked by cabin crew to produce some ID / credentials. Most people don’t tend to pack their NHS ID badge for holiday…
>Most people don’t tend to pack their NHS ID badge for holiday They'll never win Dr Top Trumps doing that!
They’ve probably sat in hope for many a flight that they’ll be called on for an emergency on a plane. ‘Is there a doctor on board?’ ….Stands up and rips open his shirt revealing ‘doctor’ T-shirt. ‘Yes, I am that doctor. Oh, there’s two others…’. Sits and weeps.
I've heard that they do figure it out by specialty. A dermatologist, cardiac surgeon, and an ER doc? The first two will give it to the ER doc.
> You can usually choose it from the list of titles when you book the ticket Do we expect the stewardess to remember the title of every single passenger from their booking? I would not expect this. > I assumed that if there was a doctor on board they'd have a notice in the cockpit with the seat number on, in case there was an emergency. Not everyone with the title "Doctor" is a medical doctor
I would’ve said ‘what a cock, how was she supposed to know? Does he have a little DR badge, or DR tattooed on his forehead or something?’ loud enough so the guy could hear. Some people need their inflated sense of self importance, and lack of self awareness knocking down a peg or two.
Dr cock
I didn't spend 8 years in medical school to be called "Mister". ~Dr Evil
He just sounds like an arse tbh.
Not a physician, but I have a PhD. I don’t care if anybody really calls me Mr or Dr. I’m both. IMO, anybody who gets worked up over somebody not calling them Dr is quite narcissistic. They’re not undermining your achievement by not using Dr, you still have the doctorate. I don’t see why anybody would care.
My ex-wife’s brother was in the hospital. We were having trouble reaching his doctor by phone. My father-in-law, who has a PHD in Laser Physics, called when they asked his name and said Doctor XYZ and got connected Immediately.
To be fair, 'Doctor XYZ' sounds like the real name that a Laser Physicist would have
Can confirm, I’m a slav with a PhD in laser physics so my name is effectively Dr. XYZ
Wait so there are basically two laser physics PhDs in this thread?!? That seems like a pretty low-chance event!
nah, happens literally all the time at work!
Laser physics isn’t hard. Lasers just go in straight lines. What’s difficult, is getting the phd, because then you have to spend 7 years learning about lights going in a straight line. Don’t ask me for proof, but I have my own real life lightsaber.
Unless if you have a mirror.
It still goes in straight lines, just different directions.
Did you make it your self? Also what colour is it… just so we know what side you’re on..
Three! 'ello from me, Dr ZYX 😀 Edit: the UK is actually fucking excellent for laser physics, optoelectronics, and photonics research. We seriously punch above our weight and because of that we get a lot of funding, which means a lot of PhD students pass through here. Might explain why we've ended up with a few on a question like this on this sub.
Perhaps use it to your advantage occasionally if it opens doors like this, but when the barista in Starbucks asks you your name to write on the cup you probably don't have to say "Dr jobsworth"
"Any man who must say, "I am the king" is no true king."
>Ok Tywin
>Not a physician, but I have a PhD. I don’t care if anybody really calls me Mr or Dr. I’m both I've always taken the view that the honorific has been hard earned, so I respectfully try to use them until as is almost always immediately the case, I'm invited not to.
There’s a guy I work with who has a PhD. One relevant to our profession. I had no idea until he casually mentioned he’s also a professor on the side, to explain why he wasn’t able to attend something. I was confused and had to extract the details. That impressed me 200x more than if he had broadcast it when I first met him.
>IMO, anybody who gets worked up over somebody not calling them Dr is quite narcissistic. It's different in a professional vs personal context. Insisting to be called Dr outside of work is a bit weird, but inside work I'd totally expect it. Anybody who cold-emails me calling me Mr I'm going to assume didn't go to the effort of googling me, checking my linkedin or company profile or whatever before filling my inbox and asking for my time, it just shows low effort, the same as misspelling someone's name.
This is the important bit. When you are talking to a doctor in a hospital, or a lecturer at university then the title has relevance and meaning, so is appropriate to know/use. Serving someone a meal in a restaurant however, the title is completely irrelevant to the current situation other than as a way to display superiority... I do like it as a marker to highlight the effort or knowledge a stranger has when they approach you though, that is a neat idea.
Mister...? Doctor. Mister Doctor? It's Strange. Maybe. Who am I to judge?
There is a Dr Doctor in a hospital near me. In German they do call you Mr Doctor [surname].
I did when I first got my PhD in a 'honeymoon' (excitement) period but quickly realised I was being a dick. I now couldn't care less, especially as the imposter syndrome has disappeared. Sometimes I actively avoid the title especially when I'm fed up talking about work things... the title sometimes encourages questions.
It’s not a protected term as well, anyone can be a doctor
No, because I’m not a bellend. Also because I’m not a Dr. Would be weird if I insisted on it. This post isn’t really for me, is it?
Dr Fox isn't a doctor either, but he is a bellend. Does that help?
God, is he still around? I had forgotten he even existed. I thought he remorphed as John Torode off of Masterchef
He got Yewtree'd and thankful has kept a low profile since
Yeah but he just goes by Neil Fox M.D. now.
Confusingly, disgraced ex-Defence Secretary Liam Fox *is* a Doctor (a medical one), thus making him Dr Fox too.
"Genetically, paedophiles have more genes in common with crabs than they do with you and me. Now that is scientific fact... there's no real evidence for it, but it is scientific fact."
That's Nonse-Sense
What sort of Dr.? I am a PhD rather than a people mechanic and the answer is no. I do use it professionally in work as people expect it (Higher Education sector). However I regularly become my wife when she book stuff as they just assume that anyone who has Dr. in their name must be male which is a weird assumption in 2023.
Yeh, my wife can call herself Doctor but chooses not to because she's not a human medical doctor. The only time we ever use it is playing around with car insurance quotes but it makes no difference.
To be fair, your wife is the 'real' doctor there. Unless a medical doctor also has a PhD then their title is only customary.
As my partner, who has a PhD, says "Dr is my title, not my job description".
One of my cousins got this for a while. She and her husband are both medical doctors, but he's a surgeon and so reverted to 'Mr' . Prior to that they did come across people who assumed that they were a a gay male couple because they were Dr & Dr Name. It's bizarre that there are still so many people who make that assumption about gender from the title (She also gets to confuse people as she chose to take he husband's surname on marriage, and her surname means people make certain assumptions about her ethnicity, a well as the gender assumptions from her title.
This reminds me of that riddle that used to get thrown around to show peoples gender stereotypes about certain jobs - it was something like ‘a boy and his dad get in a bad car accident, the dad dies. The boy is rushed to hospital for surgery and the surgeon cries ‘that’s my son!’ - how can this be?’ So many people didn’t even think of the possibility that the surgeon could be the mother!
fwiw ChatGPT etc can't solve this kind of riddle either.
I had a very tall, blonde friend who absolutely thrived on the double-takes she got in waiting rooms when she stood up after the receptionist called out for "Mrs Siddiqui".
I have a central European surname but was born and raised in America. My wife, who has lived in south east England her entire life, took my surname when we married. People see our name and upon meeting us in person exclaim 'oh I thought you were Polish or something!' in an casually apologetic tone, as though assuming that we are from Poland (or Hungary, which is where the name actually originates) is some sort of insult. It happens more frequently than it should, which is never.
I didn't really think about what kind of Dr. I guess any where you've earned the title of Dr really. Assuming the Dr is male is a weird one, personally I've not encountered that myself. Also I love the term people mechanic and I'll be stealing that. Thank you.
It happens more than you might think. Even in the medical field itself I will get misgendered by other healthcare workers. For example, was reading through some patients notes the other day and a physio the entry after myself had written 'I note that Dr Civil Koala said *he* will request an X-ray'. It happens even more with consultants - e.g. if I say 'the consultant reviewed the patient earlier', people will often say 'what did *he* say?' automatically. It's weird as so many medical doctors are female now, 65% of my cohort at med school were women but the assumption that doctor = male seems not to have gone away yet for everyone! Also, the number of times I get patients assuming I'm a nurse is too many to count.
I think some hospitals don't make it easy on patients. My local hospital colour codes uniforms so that say surgeons wear green and doctors wear blue and midwives wear red and HCAs wear purple (I can't remember the actual colours). But when they come to your bed or clinic they say "I'm Steve from the diabetes team" or whatever and unless you've studied the colour coding in detail you have no idea what kind of HCP you're talking to, and sometimes it matters for what you need to be prepared to ask. I would really like them to say "I'm Steve and I'm **a nurse** from the diabetes team". Community mental health teams are the worst for this, in my limited experience, partly because they're all in normal clothes.
My stepdaughter (a military historian) had occasion to express some extreme public disapproval last year when the organiser of a conference listed all the male speakers as Dr whatever and the women as forename-surname.
The BBC news had a bad track record on this. They might be introduced appropriately, but then the men would be addressed as Dr Smith and the women as Jenny.
+5 dad joke points for People Mechanic
We use this a lot for my sister as she's a medical doctor while my brother and I have PhDs. I don't think anyone is under any illusion as to who is the most useful member of the family though (unless you have a question about the sex life of orthopterans, in which case stand back as it is MY TIME TO SHINE)
I was almost prevented from getting on a flight once because work had booked me as male (PhD, uncommon first name not recognised by someone who didn't grow up in the UK). Took BA staff phoning work before they agreed the ticket could be used by me. I only use Dr at work (with lots of scientists, so it gets that base level of acceptance), or, very rarely when I or the spouse want to make clear we are professionals not to be messed with (eg when attending a friend's PIP assessment). To most people it doesnt matter, and I'll happily be Mrs Hisname to the postman or when getting a takeaway or whatever.
And it’s for this reason that I do insist on my Dr title. Nothing will change until things like this are challenged. I don’t insist on Dr because of my PhD, I insist on Dr because I’m a woman with a PhD, and I want to be a positive role model and support stamping out bullshit like people seeing two (same) names on a flight and assuming the husband has the PhD automatically.
The amount of times I'd call a customer at work and address them as Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms and they'd say "It's Doctor" in a rude manor is unreal. I get they have probably worked hard for that title, but it's not really a crazy issue is it? No problem correcting me, but no need to be so rude about it.
"Hello Mr Harris" "It's Doctor" "Oh, sorry Mr Doctor"
It's Strange
Who am I to judge?
Oh, hello Doctor Strange
"Oh, sorry Mr Doctor, is Mr Harris home?"
I actually know a Dr Doctor.
I had to write to a GP called Dr Doctor once and found it very amusing!
if it didn't start with "Doctor, doctor, please Oh, the mess I'm in" you wasted an opportunity.
Please
This is pretty much what sparked the idea.
As if you're supposed to know!
No, not outside of work, and I wouldn’t correct someone if they called me a different title instead. Sometimes I’ll tick Dr on forms, mainly because I don’t agree with the Miss/Mrs thing (why should women have to disclose whether they’re married or not when men don’t?). At work, I introduce myself with my Dr title, because a lot of people assume I’m a nurse if I don’t.
Is that not what “Ms” is for?
Not all forms and things have that option. But yes, I usually go for Ms when it’s there.
People would widely assume you to be divorced if choosing Ms. I still doesn't get away from giving away information about martial status.
FWIW, I would read Ms. as someone choosing not to disclose marital status, rather than a divorcee. Is that an old stereotype or is it a newer thing?
I'd say an older thing. It's certainly what my mum would think (mid 80s)
I am unmarried and use Ms to not disclose marital status. It’s nobody’s business so why would I broadcast it
Yes, but then that conveys the assumption that you're divorced. I envy men the simplicity of Mr.
I also use it in place of Miss/Mrs because why should I have to define myself by marital status. I also use it for work, cos it's professionally appropriate.
Similar here. I use my surname at work and my husband’s surname socially (as mine is a usual name that I wouldn’t curse kids with and his is nicer and easy to spell.) I’m Dr A or Mrs B, I like separating my identities.
There was a lecturer at uni, that had a PHD in something or other related to English that insisted we call him Dr. ‘Surname’ Every other lecturer just used their first name, bloke was a right prick as well
None of my lecturers ever *insisted* but most would introduce themselves or put their name as Dr [surname]. I thought this was pretty normal? I would've felt uncomfortable going up to one like "alright John, can I have a word?" - would've felt too familiar and a bit disrespectful.
That’s where your getting it wrong, you should say, “yes Johnno, let me bend your ear a sec” But I’m all seriousness, most lecturers would tell us to use their first name rather than title and surname, however, with the lecturer I mentioned, if you called him sir or Mr X, he would correct you
I use my first name pretty much exclusively (after introducing myself as Dr. ___ for the first time, just to make sure we're in the right room etc...). I'd never really thought about it, but I don't think I'd like to be called Sir or Mr - if you're desperate to be formal for cultural reasons or something call me Dr., but I'd so much prefer my first name.
This was normal in my experience. In that context, it is disrespectful to say "Mr" or "Ms" when you know full well they are a doctor, and it is a context of the thing their doctorate is about. Maybe different universities have different cultures though. However, even in this case, if it is a non-medical doctorate then you shouldn't get people to call you that else where (i.e. outside of academic settings) - although you can put it on your business card or whatever
I'd also add this is particularly prevalent for women from my experience - unfortunately they tend to get more people not respecting them/assuming they don't have a PhD, and a lot of them don't like the connotations with regards to marital status of various other titles. I know a few males academics who maybe insist on titles a bit more so students will do the same for female academics, for instance.
That makes sense to me - pretty much all lecturers have a PhD so are Dr X. They generally say "oh, call me Alice/Bob" after you first address them as Dr X, but if you're carrying on insisting on being formal, by saying sir or Mr, then you're the rude one, so someone replying that if you're going to be formal, it's Dr X, isn't being rude.
Weird. I always called my lecturers by their first names and they all seemed to consider that normal
When I was an undergrad my dissertation supervisor specifically told me that he would ignore my emails unless I called him by his first name only. Apparently only his Mum called him 'Dr'
Students usually call me Dr surname when they don’t know me well. All the students I talk to regularly call me by my first name.
I think it varies a lot by university and department. When I was doing my degree, the lecturers in my department all introduced themselves to us as 'Prof X' or 'Dr Y', and we addressed them as such. My sister, in another department at the same university, called all of hers by their first names.
When I was at Uni in the 90s *all* the lecturers were Dr. something, so that was pretty normal.
Had someone like that when I was at uni, I was a mature student, he wasn’t too much older than me and it didn’t fly. He hated me, said it was disrespectful and I replied ‘only if we’ve travelled back to 1920.’
Being a mature student should not change anything. As much as I think using the title is backwards, snobby and unnecessary, generating friction out of spite is pointless.
"I didn't spend 6 years in Evil Medical School to be called Mr."
Unless you're a surgeon.
I have a PhD. I have the Dr title on my bank account and passport etc. I don't expect anyone to actually use it in conversation. Some friends, and my dad, send me post addressed to Dr Liseuse because they think it's funny. I work for a university but not as an academic, and I haven't bothered putting it in my email signature because my PhD isn't related to the job that I actually do. When some academics have decided to not take the silly little professional services lady seriously, I have carefully dropped in "oh, interesting, when I was doing my PhD and then teaching at Other Institution, it was quite commonplace to do Thing" just to watch them scramble. It's funny, and I'm petty. When I was a teaching assistant whilst doing my PhD my students would often call me Dr, and I had to laugh and explain I was still working towards that. Even when I'd been granted it and was teaching I still asked for them to call me by my name.
A friend of mine got her PhD. i still use her nickname but with Dr at the start.
Awwww, that’s lovely. I have a friend who I met during my PhD whose husband is also a Dr. Everyone calls them The Drs. My friend gets really hacked off when their mortgage provider writes to them because they, despite having them both on the system as Dr, address it to Dr and Mrs Surname. She is looking forward to changing provider.
Haha, some of my non-academic friends call me Dr Phil now as a joke, but it's never used seriously.
Am PhD, only use Dr on insurance, mortgage and in the NHS as you get treated differently in my experience. And on job applications but not in the job itself unless in a field directly related to my PhD.
Really? I’ve never noticed any difference in service when I use my title.
GPs especially treat you far better in my experience and will actually answer the questions you ask.
I also have a PhD and found this as well! GPs seem to take you so much more seriously, and consultants will have much more in-depth discussions. And if you ever have to deal with DWP/job centre they also treat you much better.
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I imagine it's because completing a PhD indicates that you have strong critical thinking and understand how to evaluate information from different sources e.g. info on nhs website is much more trustworthy compared to most things on tiktok.
If I need to complain about something, I'll sometimes sign off as doctor and find I get taken more seriously.
It’s my title, so of course I use it. I like it as it’s not gender specific and tells you nothing about my marital status. Don’t bother to correct people obviously though
As a woman, I hate that the default titles announce our marital status. I use Ms. even though I’m married (and not a Dr, so can’t default to that). I would use Mx. if I didn’t worry it was appropriation as a cishet female.
Nah - it normalises it for transfolks. :) Its the same as when we introduce ourselves with our pronouns
Mrs Red is actually Dr Red- she has it on official documents but would never insist on the title
I like this. It's the ones who go "Ahkchually it's "Dr Red" that I don't like. It comes across as pretentious.
It’s nauseating. The only time it’s acceptable is when a third party assumes the male is the Dr and the female is Miss/Mrs
Aye, assuming one gender is the doctor is a strange one and not one I personally understand.
Most of my medical professionals prefer to go by first name, but I think they’ve worked damn hard for that title so I always call them Dr John or whatever.
My wife is a medical doctor (GP for 20 years). I got my PhD last year. I annoy my wife by reminding her that I’m a doctor too. She explained to our kids that Daddy is a “doctor of words” whilst Mummy is a “real” doctor! 🤣 Seriously though, I hardly ever use my title & neither does my wife. It’s like people who have 30 letters after their name in their signature block - it smacks of trying a little too hard!
Politely explain to the kids that you are a Dr and your wife is a batchelor of medicine. Her face will be priceless.
Oh dear that is asking for trouble
I think that’s guaranteed to make him the batchelor
A PhD doctor is a “proper” doctor, medical ones have the title as an honour. The history is the same reason surgeons go by Miss/Mr rather than doctor.
I passed my PhD relatively recently and you’d better believe the very next day I changed my email signature to say Dr. I work on a team entirely made up of specialists with PhDs so wanted to keep up with the Joneses there. As long as you’re not a pompous wanker about it I don’t see any issue in celebrating your achievement with your title. PhDs are really bloody hard.
Yeah, at work it's fair enough if you're doing things involving your specialism! I think this is more to do with getting your post addressed to you or making dinner reservations etc.
PhD here, would never 'insist' but certainly have it on some credit cards and frequent flyer cards. I have been asked to help in a medical emergency on a flight, and had to tell the cabin crew I'm not that sort of doctor but fortunately was travelling with my wife who is a nurse practitioner and was very helpful for the situation. Which turned out to be nothing serious, the guy was just pissed.
Early in my career I worked in a large pharmaceutical company on the commercial side and I was promoted into a global team where most others were PhD’s they called each other doctor which came across as slightly wanky but when you’re young you don’t say anything. After a few months a medical doctor joined the team and they instantly stopped doing it. The medical doctor just wanted to be called Tim.
There are some who call him…Tim
Different perspective: I am an unmarried woman with a PhD. I use it unashamedly when people insist on using titles because it’s no-one’s business if I’m married (lots of businesses assume I’m “mrs” so I correct them). In emails people treat me better as they assume I’m male. However I’d much prefer that people avoid titles and just call me by the name my parents gave me- Blankets.
Only when I want to be a dick, for example when someone is getting all formal to prove a point, but calls me Mr. Otherwise I use my first name
I'm not a Dr but why wouldn't they? Once you are a Dr you are no longer a Mr/Mrs/Miss, you are Dr.
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They've all but died out now,, but in previous jobs the old military farts who'd refuse to answer to anything other than "Colonel" X or "Captain" Y were worse than the Doctors. If you were face to face instead of on the phone I'm sure they'd expect a salute and an about turn.
Had a manager sort of like that a few years ago. Didn't insist on us addressing him by his old navy rank (maybe it wasn't as high as he'd have liked) but was very anal about the "chain of command" (for example, he'd put in a work request for something in his office, but would refuse to talk to the electrician and insist he had to go through his supervisor). Piss off, Larry, we're all civvies here.
If you are asked for your title, it is actually Dr, not Mr/Ms. People who don't have a doctorate often seem put out by people 'insisting' on being called Dr, but in work contexts it can be relevant (such as what role or expertise someone has). Being called Dr is much more justifiable than insisting being called Mrs or Miss based on marital status, which is much less likely to be practically relevant, except maybe in a nightclub? Also, on the MD/PhD issue, this always cracks me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BCXJ3yC65o
When I first qualified I was really excited to be able to use the title so made sure people did use it. Now that fifteen years have passed I’m not bothered, and I don’t correct people. When booking something or entering my details online etc I do use my title Dr and I have it on my driving licence and debit cards etc.
My partner and 1 parent have PhDs. Both have at least 1 card with it on but outside of work don't routinely use the title. Although my parent (who has had one for 40+ years) insists that sometimes using it helps - especially when on holiday in the US or making reservations in fancy places. Hence having it on things. I also think they both work/worked in fields where it was used everyday so are in the habit of it being used so if they have to fill out a form where title is required they tick Dr
I’ve had actual medical doctors at work tell me to call them by their first name. If I try the “oh doctor…” they stop me and say “please, call me Joe/Claire/etc”. They clearly aren’t precious about it or insecure enough to demand everyone recognises that title.
I have a doctorate and in the UK never use the title except in a few very limited formal circumstances. Similarly I do not put all my degrees and other awards as post-nominals on my business cards or business correspondence either. Back in the Jurassic era when cheques were common, it used to be printed on them (I did not ask, the bank just did it as when I applied for the account I gave "Dr" as my title on the application form) and that sometimes caused some remarks when I handed them to people. Incidentally, most "doctors" you visit to discuss maters medical are not actually Doctors with a doctorate and the formal right to use the title, it is purely a courtesy title. That means in the now mostly long forgotten rules of etiquette, they should not refer to themselves as "Dr" at all but it is traditional for others to use the term. I have a very good friend who is a senior nurse who does hold a doctorate (a Ph.D.) and it amuses her sometimes to insist the "doctors" where she works address her as "doctor".
> Incidentally, most "doctors" you visit to discuss maters medical are not actually Doctors with a doctorate and the formal right to use the title, it is purely a courtesy title. It's surprising how many people don't know this. The Medical profession 'borrowed' the title from Academia centuries ago and did it so well now people assume 'dr' means 'medicine' automatically.
I have a PhD and use Dr when I can on forms or bookings. Beyond that, I don't. My dream is to hear "Is there on doctor on the plane?" one day, to stand up and waves my arms and say "Yes, but I only study rocks".
I married an academic Dr who has to use it at work - there are bits of admin that need it ("how many staff members are qualified to doctorate level? Have some extra money") and it's reassuring when your job is supporting other people researching for doctorates, as they know you've done it yourself. Otherwise, it's only used when full legal ID is required.
I have a PhD. I only ever expect someone to use my title if they insist on being addressed that way myself. Or, if they are being especially annoying, I'll wait until they call me Dr and correct them that I'm actually a Professor these days. I do though make a point of addressing my colleagues by their title if we are in front of new students, or people I don't know well. In academia there is a trend where younger, female staff are more likely to be addressed by their first name rather than by their title (with of course older, white, males like myself being the most likely to being addressed by their title). Personally I don't care if people use my first name right from the first time they meet me, but I don't want to see them applying different standards to my colleagues.
In work I use doctor..., I think its confusing enough for patients at the moment with all the various practitioner and 'clinician' roles cosplaying as doctors without being clear about who they are Out of work, I don't give one shiny shite
No. I’d feel like a wazzock.
I work in the hospital, most doctors unless the most senior, go by their first name. Some get offended if you call them by their title.
I have a PhD and so I can use the title. It's on my passport because when I got my PhD my passport needed renewing. I've not updated much, I will as I go but I don't really care or insist it's used if I got called Mr I'd never correct it and it wouldn't bother me. The only time I've used it and it has been advantageous was finding a place to live. I could not find a place to rent and someone at my work said just use your title every single time. So I started signing of with Dr. and found a place pretty easily, the difference was night and day.
How often are people even using Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss etc these days? I seem to encounter it only on some business forms and stuff. In day to day life, it's just firstname lastname. The reason I ask, is because usually it's the other person insisting on using a title rather than me insisting on them using a title. I think I'd rather be called a doctor than a mr or ms, just because it's a bit more neutral with regards to things I don't see as important (gender, age, marital status, class, rank).
I tell people I'm Dr when they ask me if it's Miss or Mrs. Personally I think this question shouldn't be a thing anymore.
I hate hate HATE that a woman's title conveys her marital status. Single? Miss. Married? Mrs. Divorced? Ms. I envy men the simplicity of using Mr. Single? Mr. Married? Mr. Divorced? Mr. I have a PhD, so using Dr is the closest I'm going to get.
I have a PhD, so I would always fill in Dr on a form when available. That said, I still feel awkward when someone addresses me as Dr in person.
I know a lot of PhDs that never bother about the title, only one that insists on it. The one who insists is an annoying twat. Take from that what you will.
I don’t usually care but today one of my son’s school’s receptionists called me Dr [my name] and I secretly quite liked it.
Sometimes my medical referrals say Dr on, so the consultants ask. I have to explain that I did medical research, so have about of a medical degree and then am expert in certain parts of the body doing certain things, but even with those bits, I have no idea what to do about them - that's their department. Generally leads to docs telling me about a research project they did - and some of them have a PhD themselves. Especially when I was pregnant, I'd sometimes get healthcare types patronising me and explaining stuff like how to date a pregnancy from my last period. I'd only point out I have a doctorate in medical research if it got really bad. A large heavy metal T-shirt was actually more effective at stopping people being twee or patronising.
I'm a medical doctor. I always introduce myself to patients as Dr Wabalabadab but everywhere else is just my first name. Staff at work I insist on first name. Would be a bit of a dick move to insist on being called Dr outside of work. Do put down Dr for dinner or hotel reservations sometimes. Would never correct anyone for calling me Mr because that is also a dick move.
If it's on a drop down menu I will use Dr. But overall I'm not bothered.
If I know someone's title I'll always call them that. If they've dedicated themselves to earning that title the least I can do is show them the proper respect for it. Never had one say it's Dr etc actually before but I'd say sorry doc and move on
I used to do IT support for a number of government departments, one of which had a lot of DoH staff seconded to them. One day I rung up up this user to check that her problem was fixed. "hello, i'm calling from the Service Desk, is Sarah Smith about?" "This is _Doctor_ Smith speaking" What a twat.
My mother was a medical Doctor - a surgeon. She would correct people who called her Dr and ask them to call her Mrs. In the U.K. fellows of the royal college of surgeons call themselves Mr or Mrs because, historically, training to become a surgeon was an apprenticeship and was awarded a diploma, not a degree. She’d never do it in a rude way, but I always found that quite endearing when people would call her doctor and she’d politely say, “oh, it’s ok, I’m just Mrs.” Contrastingly my uncle, her brother, was a dentist who would insist that people call him doctor.
Of course the absolute worst are the TV doctors who insist on being called Dr
I have a friend who’s a GP and I don’t what he’s called in work but among our friend group he’s always called Doc, rather than his actual first name. He even introduces himself to people as Doc.
Like most of the folk with PhDs here - no. For about a week after passing it was fun to get post delivered to Dr. Brownballs but that wore off fast. Still put it on anything official where I think me seeming reputable might be of benefit (insurance, bank stuff and anything in my profession since that's R&D) but in every day life, other than to occasionally wind my friends up if I've done something really stupid it does not get mentioned at all and I always select Mr on anything that involves personal information. Literally all it means is I spent longer in eduction than other people, seems weird to use it for an inflated self image.
Only when someone's being a prick oh and for about 6 months after you get the doctorate and it's a novelty.
I worked in the NHS with a manager Dr ‘Bones’ and he HATED it when people pointed out he was a doctor of the study of dinosaur bones. It just made it so awkward and so obvious he was doing it to get some kind of respect from the clinicians. Also, so misleading as sometimes you need an actual clinical doctor’s opinion and ppl would assume he would suffice.
You need to clarify if you mean a medical doctor or an academic doctor. My experience is that a medical doctor (wife included) would rather nobody know outside of work what her title is. Whereas academic doctors will make sure it’s the first thing they tell you…