Jump to comment:
- Page navigation anchor for RE: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?RE: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?
Doctors of Philosophy Asfour and Winter presented only part of the history of the use of the title "Doctor". Institutions of higher learning have been granted the privilege to confer the title "Doctor" on students that successfully completed a prescribed course of studies. Thus my brother hold a DPhil in engineering from Oxford, and a nephew holds a PhD in biochemistry from Wageningen. I, on the other hand, hold the degree of Medical Doctor from the University of Western Ontario. As to teaching I do so every day, mostly to patients, but also colleagues and medical students, and, of course, research.
Competing Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for RE: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?RE: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?
I write in response to the Letter to the Editor, May 28 2018 by Drs. Asfour and Winter. I enjoyed this letter and its short history of the use of the title doctor.
I take issue however with some sections of this letter.
Drs. Abdul-Fattah A. Asfour and Dr. James P. Winter describe themselves as “... the social and physical scientists who conduct and evaluate published research.” I can refer the two professors to this very journal as a minimum to see the high level of conducting and evaluating published research done by MDs. Thousands of other medical journals will substantiate this facet of medical doctor research scientists.
Drs. Asfour and Winter make reference to obtaining a PhD “... normally obtained after six to eight years of hard work past the bachelor’s degree.” I would like to point out that every physician in Canada puts in a minimum of six post bachelor’s degree years just to qualify to practice as a family physician. Many family physicians add on an extra year or two to acquire extra training in anaesthesia or obstetrics for example, and it is common for specialists to add an additional minimum of four to twelve years of study after graduation from medical school.
Drs. Asfour and Winter when referring to themselves as doctors, describe themselves as the “ ... the real one. We are the ones who teach the others.” Medical doctors have a thousands of years history of teaching – dating back to the times of Hippocrates (460 – c. 370 BC). Th...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for A teaching counterpoint in response to “Whom should we really call a ‘doctor’?”A teaching counterpoint in response to “Whom should we really call a ‘doctor’?”
A teaching counterpoint in response to “Whom should we really call a ‘doctor’?”
A number of interesting points were made by the authors of the letter. Although the latin root of the word doctor does indeed have the meaning of teacher, the same root is used to refer to a person who is learned or skilled1. It cannot be realistically stated that a physician would not meet this definition. The authors correctly point out that medical school is considered undergraduate education, however no physician can practice solely with this degree. The physician’s offices that they enter and so blithely remark that only they are “the real” doctors in, are operated by persons who have completed a residency, which is always a post-graduate degree requiring additional years of study and practice.
Ironically, one of the authors appears to hold a PhD in Engineering, which a recent study2 showed is the academic field where PhDs are least likely to become professors. It would seem strange to try and take sole ownership for a term describing a teacher when the majority of individuals in some fields with that designation do not actually have teaching as a part of their professional practice.
In contrast, the CanMEDS framework3, which “identifies and describes the abilities physicians require to effectively meet the health care needs of the people they serve” has a key role of “Scholar.” This is defined as “a lifelong commitment to excellence in practice through continuous lear...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for re: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?re: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?
The authors bring up the interesting question “who is a doctor?”
Descriptively, the answer depends on jurisdiction. In several European nations such as Germany and Poland a doctor is a holder of an academic doctorate. Graduates of undergraduate medical education are called “physicians”―in case of latter only after full registration having passed an examination and completed an internship―and not “doctors”. Many do complete a doctorate in medicine or medical sciences and for this reason alongside historic association of medical practitioners with these degrees recently graduated physicians may be addressed as doctors however are discouraged from addressing themselves as such by legislation.
But keeping the above in mind the answer to the question “who is a physician?” also depends on jurisdiction. Given the historical difference between practitioners of medicine, there are those where a “physician” is a specialist in medicine or at least one who is a member of a college of physicians; this is meant to make clear the distinction between such persons as opposed to surgeons, psychiatrists, general practitioners or junior medical practitioners working in any field including junior medical trainees who have not gained admission to a college of physicians. All of these are known simply as “doctors”. In other systems they are all physicians, as despite history all medical practitioners including surgeons study medicine.
Interestingly, even the question of “who...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for Who should be careful about calling themselves “doctors”?Who should be careful about calling themselves “doctors”?
I agree that PhD graduates are entitled to use the title "doctors."<1> When I studied pharmacy at a Canadian university, I addressed many of the faculty members as "doctors," unless they told me not to. That is a gesture to recognize their PharmD and PhD titles. It is legal to use the title "doctor" as long as you are not impersonating a physician.<2>
Several British medical schools schedule the students’ final exams prior to their final year clerkship. When my schoolmates have passed their final exams, many are happily declaring themselves as "doctors" on the social media. It is almost like they are unaware that the medical school and regulatory bodies also evaluate their other attributes, such as professional ethics, before granting them the doctor titles.
Similarly, I have seen Canadian medical students self-proclaiming as "doctors" as soon as they find out their residency match results or pass their LMCC part 1 exams. I understand most of these self-proclaimed doctors eventually received their doctor titles. It is fine to celebrate, but not fine to disregard the legal regulations. It is like a hockey team self-declaring as the champion after leading 1-0 in a best-of-seven series.
When we are scorning non-medical professionals for misusing the title "doctors," please remember that many of our colleagues are living in glass houses.
References:
Show More
1. Asfour AA, Winter JP...Competing Interests: I have been paid for working as a physician and pharmacist, but not for writing this letter. - Page navigation anchor for RE: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?RE: Whom should we really call a "doctor"?
My thanks to R Collier and AA Abdul-Fattah & JP Winter for this engaging discussion. It seems to me that there are three separate issues that have been inappropriately conflated: one is about appropriate labels for academic attainment, one is about the trust society can put in those with the title "Doctor", and the third is about the social perquisites that accrue to the license to use the title.
Show More
I think only those who have acquired a PhD outside of a faculty of medicine and an MD are in a position to comment on which is more academically rigorous. I suspect anyone who has done so would say, "You really think this is a useful discussion?"
On the point about public confidence, I think more important than what you have achieved in the past is your current bona fides. I am always happy to see the annual registration/public health compliance certificate of a restaurant proudly displayed in a frame: I will make my own decision about the quality of the food. Perhaps we (if physicians) should be displaying our yearly College registration as well as our CME statistics. Our patients can be reassured that we're conscientiously dotting i's and crossing t's, and they can decide themselves on how they like the care we provide.
The third issue, of social perqs, is a far more thorny one. Those who respond to "Ms Jones' with an "Actually, it's Dr Jones" need, in my opinion, some very pointed reality therapy....Competing Interests: None declared.