PhD -- do you use the title Dr?

[tex1989]

What field was your PhD in?

Uh... who are your friends? If your friends are getting PhDs in 2-3 years, then that is a total outlier. The average in my program was 5-6 years. A handful were done in 4. The “record” was 3.5 years. We were considered a shorter program as well, because we were well-funded. I regularly met people outside of my program that were in year 8. If people were leaving in 2 years, they were not leaving with a PhD.

(This is in the US. I know programs are very different elsewhere- maybe your friends did their degrees in Europe, where I hear they tend to skew closer to three years.)

What field was your PhD in?

 

[Kestryl]

What field was your PhD in?



What field was your PhD in?

Chemistry. Though more physics than chemistry, which is why we skewed shorter. I didn’t have any bench chem to do.

 

[EMom]

I know quite a few Ed.D. and none of them took anywhere near 12 years. Most were less than 4.

I think the Ed D is about a 60 hour program. A J.D. is 90 hours. I don’t consider the Ed.D to be anywhere near as difficult as a Ph.D or even a J.D., assuming we are only talking about accredited programs. You definitely cannot put a Ph.D and Ed.D in the same category.

 

[tex1989]

Chemistry. Though more physics than chemistry, which is why we skewed shorter. I didn’t have any bench chem to do.

Stated courses for a PhD in education are three years and a dissertation which can be done during classes

 

[Kestryl]

Stated courses for a PhD in education are three years and a dissertation which can be done during classes

EdD and PhD In Education are two different things.

We had a Chem Education program that was sponsored by both the Chem and Ed departments. They advertised the length as four years and their funding level was the same as everyone else in chem (though, perhaps obviously, they were required to teach more courses).

I don’t know how long the EdD programs were. (Maybe they were shorter, but that doesn’t necessarily make them “easy” or degrade the degree at the end.)

I originally pointed out length of PhD programs because of your friends that only had to take two to three years of their lives to get PhDs. That’s incredibly fast in the US. Though maybe this was one of those MS/PhD combos where you earn the MS on the way to your PhD and basically double dip on your dissertation project. You wouldn’t retake any classes, and if you’re lucky you’d have 2-3 years after getting the MS to finish your research and get your PhD.

 

[elphaba91]

Interestingly, in Australia (and some other countries - e.g. my GP is from the UK), a lot of medical doctors don't actually have a doctorate degree. I see three doctors and all of them have a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, plus various other post-grad qualifications (one even has a Master of Arts and Master of Laws, which as someone with Bachelors degrees in both of those fields, makes me feel very inadequate!). I think some universities are now changing their degrees to a Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine so that graduates can use MD.

I haven't personally done a doctorate (my Bachelor of Laws is an equivalent qualification to a Juris Doctorate, although I haven't heard of anyone with a JD refer to themselves as 'Dr'), but if I had or do go on to do my PhD, then I think I would use it in professional settings.

 

[bushdianee]

I was at a school where we went from having a principal who was on a first name basis with her staff (away from the kids of course) to one who had her Phd and insisted that everyone call her Dr at all times.

 

[low-key]

I go by Dr Feelgood

 

[Minnie1222]

I have other friends with PhD's in other fields and they had to dedicate two to three years of their lives to achieve it.

I think your friends may have glossed over some other facts. There isn't a school in the U.S. where you can obtain a real Ph.D in 2-3 years.

 

[leebee]

DH took 3 years to earn a master's in physics, then changed schools and spent 5 years earning his PhD in biophysics... followed by a 4 year post-doc that he cut short because he had a job offer near our home states, I was pregnant, and we decided we wanted to be near our families to raise our daughter. He worked long, hard hours (we are talking 60 hour work-weeks easily) to earn that degree, and I'll call him Dr. for the rest of his days!

 

[disykat]

I'm chiming in again. I stand by my opinion that once you've earned a doctorate you have the right to use that title. It really doesn't matter how prestigious your university, how rigorous your course of study, etc. It it was earned by an accredited school, it stands.

I don't think if I had gotten a doctorate in education that I would have chosen to use it outside of my professional life UNLESS, like Jill Biden, I had the opportunity to set an example for young children about the possibilities of education. Dr. Biden is in a unique situation and can be a spotlight for the positive things in her life. Education has been her passion and of course she would want to champion where it can take you. First ladies have always tried to be role models in ways they felt were important. By simply being the first lady, she is in a professional role 24/7 in the public eye. She has many reasons to use it, why wouldn't she?

We could question anyone's education (high school, college, post graduate) based on our own opinions of their validity. No school/course of study is equal. That doesn't mean those educations are invalidated.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

Re: the Dr. Biden issue
I just find it interesting to think that if we ever elect a woman President, and her husband happens to have "Dr." in front of his name, people will be falling all over themselves to make sure to call him Dr. ___________, so that he has more supposed prestige than just being the "First Gentleman." Whether or not he should use the title would probably never even come up.