PhD -- do you use the title Dr?

[Mango7100]

I have my Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. I go my Dr. in professional settings. I don’t ask other vets or staff to call me Dr unless we are with a client. I have worked with some people who insisted on being called Dr. all the time, even by fellow doctors in a personal setting. That’s not my style. Now I do love it when we get mail at our house and it’s addressed Dr. and Mr.

 

[gillep]

What about any of the scientists who might have their PhD who created a vaccine for us?

Or those who have developed and are now running our COVID testing? I know PhDs who have been doing both of those things since the pandemic began and the efforts they are putting in are not as visible but absolutely essential right now.

I work with mostly PhDs in an academic/laboratory setting. We all use first names with one another but for anything more formal we use their well earned titles.

 

[godisney14]

I think it all depends on the situation that people are in.

In the biotech-biopharm, almost all coworkers have had a PhD and/or MD. But, still, I don’t ever recall hearing anyone calling each other “doctor _____”. Everyone just went by their first name, even those in upper management with more than just a MD or PhD. And some of these coworkers even taught at distinguished universities such as Stanford and UCSF. Heck, there was a Nobel prize winner who had a MD/PhD and no one ever called him “doctor” either. But, these people will be addressed as doctors in a setting with clients, students, media, conference attendees, etc.

In the tech industry, a lot of coworkers also have PhD’s in computer science, electrical engineering, etc., and I don’t recall anyone being called “doctor _____” either.

Never called any of my family or friends with MD/PhDs by doctor either, except for laughs.

But, I will address my medical doctor, dentist, pharmacist, and optometrist as”doctor” because it’s in a clinical setting.

 

[Kestryl]

I think most titles should be reserved for professional environments. I think it's weird to call people by their titles outside of a professional situation. Like, my husband is a Lieutenant Colonel in the military. He ONLY uses that title at work. No one outside of the military ever refers to him as "Colonel." He is Mr. T.

Similarly, I feel like PhDs should go by Mr or Mrs or Ms rather than "Doctor" in general interactions. They can be referred to as Doctor in academic or professional situations.

Now, medical doctors are a little different, IMO. Since they are basically always "on duty" in terms of their ability to be helpful in a medical emergency situation, I feel like calling them "Doctor" outside of work is useful and conveys their status as a potential helper.

I know this post is in response to "Dr. Jill." My opinion on this one is that if she is speaking with authority on the subject where she holds her degree, absolutely refer to her as Doctor. Otherwise, probably not necessary. Although, as First Lady (elect), she does have a bit more riding on people knowing her qualifications, especially if she plans to use her position to push an educational initiative as her pet project.

Why would someone ever need to use Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. or Mx. or any other title in a non-formal setting?

If we’re trying to designate “Dr.” as a way for people to know this person could handle a medical emergency, shouldn’t we use something similar for nurses, EMTs, etc?

 

[JimMIA]

I have an MBA, so I am known as "Master Jim."

This whole conversation started because some political zealot searched for something to criticize President-elect Biden's wife for. Stupid.

 

[DLgal]

Why would someone ever need to use Mr. or Ms. or Mrs. or Mx. or any other title in a non-formal setting?

Huh? Basic respect? When you aren't close/familiar with people, you don't just use first names.

 

[Kestryl]

Huh? Basic respect? When you aren't close/familiar with people, you don't just use first names.

If “basic respect” is required And everyone else is using titles, then my title is Dr. Knowing my title is Dr. and using anything else would be a sign of disrespect.

 

[mousefan73]

A lot of medical “doctors” don’t even have a doctorate or a MD. Titles should be used by anyone who has earned it regardless of profession or degree.

 

[unrequited23]

The only time I struggled using Dr. for a non-medical Dr. was in college. My professor was Dr. Quinn and it was so hard not to add "medicine woman" when speaking about her.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Or those who have developed and are now running our COVID testing? I know PhDs who have been doing both of those things since the pandemic began and the efforts they are putting in are not as visible but absolutely essential right now.

I work with mostly PhDs in an academic/laboratory setting. We all use first names with one another but for anything more formal we use their well earned titles.

But a lot of people have "well earned titles" that aren't used. People with bachelor's and master's degrees are also well earned.

 

[Pink Partridge]

I do know a few professors who explicitly request their students and others call them Dr. __

Me too. I think it's a weird flex.

 

[Ellie008]

Huh? Basic respect? When you aren't close/familiar with people, you don't just use first names.

True. But then I wouldn't say that is an informal setting either. If it is informal then you should know them well enough to use first names. If it is formal enough for Mr/Ms to be required then Dr is absolutely appropriate for anyone who has earned that title.

 

[tzolkin]

Now, medical doctors are a little different, IMO. Since they are basically always "on duty" in terms of their ability to be helpful in a medical emergency situation, I feel like calling them "Doctor" outside of work is useful and conveys their status as a potential helper.

I don't think all medical doctors would agree. MDs do not have a duty to act in an emergency situation that happens outside of work and many would prefer not to intervene for various reasons (fear of a lawsuit, because they do not have experience with the issue at hand, or because they don't perform well under pressure/stressful situations). I think sometimes doctors may be pressured into helping in an emergency that they don't feel comfortable with because everyone knows they are a doctor and expects them to swoop in and save the day.

If we’re trying to designate “Dr.” as a way for people to know this person could handle a medical emergency, shouldn’t we use something similar for nurses, EMTs, etc?

Absolutely. If I had a medical emergency, I would much rather have a CRNA/NP/RN/etc with years of experience in that particular field helping me than an MD who maybe covered that topic a few decades ago in med school.

I certainly don't mean that to discount all doctors; just that simply being an MD does not make you an expert in every aspect of medicine. And sometimes even if it's your own field, it doesn't mean you're more experienced or skilled than someone else at a particular thing. I have a friend who is an anesthesiologist (MD) who has been called into a room several times to put in an epidural because the laboring mom or a family member wanted a "real doctor" and not a nurse anesthetist to do it. Every time she tells them she's happy to, but that she just wants them to be aware that she does them maybe once a month while the CRNA has been doing 10+ per day for the last however many years.

 

[donaldbuzz&minnie]

I think it's up to the person with the degree, but I think that anyone who has a PhD is certainly entitled to use "Dr." when they want to.

There was a terrific column in the Washington Post recently responding to some columnist in the Wall Street Journal who took Dr. Jill Biden to task for using her title when her husband takes office. (She's going to continue to teach at a local community college and he thought that she should be happy enough with the title "First Lady." He called her "kiddo" as he called her out.) Sigh.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...3883a4-3d45-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html

 

[Pink Partridge]

I think it's up to the person with the degree, but I think that anyone who has a PhD is certainly entitled to use "Dr." when they want to.

There was a terrific column in the Washington Post recently responding to some columnist in the Wall Street Journal who took Dr. Jill Biden to task for using her title when her husband takes office. (She's going to continue to teach at a local community college and he thought that she should be happy enough with the title "First Lady." He called her "kiddo" as he called her out.) Sigh.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...3883a4-3d45-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html

The "kiddo" part was a jab at Jill's husband, since he has also called educated women "kiddo" in the past.

So I believe that was written to prove a point.

Which was really not fair to Jill. She can't control what her husband calls others.

 

[amcnj]

I have worked with and run into all sorts of people. Those that are very hung up on titles, and others that never use them. I say let the individual decide what they prefer.

But the funniest story was when my daughter was in high school there was an assistant principal who insisted on being called Dr. In fact one day my daughter passed him in the hall and accidentally said “hi Mr. ...” and he called her out on the spot. Well a few years later he got a job in another state and apparently they did more thorough background checks and discovered he did not really even have a doctorate and fired him!

 

[AustinTink]

This whole conversation started because some political zealot searched for something to criticize President-elect Biden's wife for. Stupid.

Yep. And when that was the only thing he could think of, he went for it with both guns blaring. He's a misogynistic moron.

 

[nkereina]

I just finished my PhD this past summer. I think it's fine for people with a PhD to refer to themselves as Doctor if they want to, but in my field it was stressed that this is typically done only in academic environments. If I'm presenting at a conference, I'm introduced as Dr. 1GoldenSun. When I'm teaching, my students address me likewise. But in my day-to-day life I don't use it. My kids' friends either call me by my first name or Mrs. 1GoldenSun and I don't correct them.

I agree with this approach, and this is always how I've understood the "Dr" designation to be used for PhD's. Since this thread originated based on the Twitter controversy of the future First Lady, I would agree she should certainly be called Dr. Biden at the university she works at and by her students and colleagues. But I don't know that its necessarily warranted or appropriate when she's not acting in an academic capacity. Similar to what I said up-thread, I liken that to when a lawyer uses the "Esq." designation after their name when not working in a legal capacity - its generally frowned upon.

I actually don't. All of my professors were referred to as Dr. I didn't confuse them with medical doctors. The MD is what distinguishes that.

I would consider "Dr." to be a title, where MD or PhD would be a designation. MD or PhD would be added to the end of a name in written form rather than spoken or as a way to address the person. If you're at a school that has medical degrees (for example), I think it could be easily misconstrued who is a Doctor of Philosophy compared to a Medical Doctor without seeing their names written out with the designation. Two very different things.

I have an MBA, so I am known as "Master Jim."

I have an MBA too. We certainly don't have a title with that degree, but I have seen a lot of people add the MBA designation to the end of their name (i.e. Joe Smith, MBA). Its not something I would personally do, but I think the concept is similar to Doctor vs not in this thread.

 

[bdcp]

My father has a PhD in chemistry. He only used it in a professional setting, but never introduced himself that way or "corrected" anyone. Most people he worked with (research) called him by his name unless they were in a meeting or at a conference or something like that. No one knew he had his PhD unless someone else told them. He was the Director of an entire location of an office of a Federal agency and had over 150 people in research working for him. I will say getting a PhD in chemistry is a lot different and requires a lot more than getting one in liberal arts. Scientific research, thesis and proving the theory is involved in scientific PhD's. What bothers me is that people think that it's because Jill Biden is a woman, which is not what it was about. I also think that the constant use of Dr for Jill Biden is over the top. As the President's wife, she will be the first lady, not the first Dr. She can be called Dr all she wants at work. I also have worked with multiple people with technical/scientific PhD's and have only met one or two who demand to be called Dr and most who know them think they are pompous, which they are and not just because they make that demand. It tells you a lot about someone who demands that outside of their professional life.

And the comment made on the news show had nothing to do with my feelings. I always thought it was weird that she was referred to that way all the time.

 

[DopeyDame]

A friend of mine who is a teacher pointed out that not only *can* teachers who have doctorates use their title in the school setting, but that they *should*
Being a teacher (of 1st graders or community college students or MIT grad school students) is partially about modeling what it looks like to be an educated person and to value education. Having students know that their teacher values education enough to receive their terminal degree has power.