To sign up at the surgery as ‘Dr’

[Chocolatebutton43]

I got my PhD two months ago, moved to a new place and signed up to a new doctor’s surgery and dental practice.

Filling in the forms, I got a bit carried away with my new title and ticked the ‘dr’ box! I’ve been doing it a lot lately for silly little things partly ‘cause I’m just happy to have finished and passed my degree and also because I relish that I am no longer defined by my marital status.

But, I now need to visit the surgery and I feel like an idiot. The form also had occupation so the doctor will know I’m not a medical doctor. Is he/she going to think I am a total prat for using Dr outside my work and at the doctor’s surgery of all places? Cringe

@OhTheRoses

You are legitimately entitled to call yourself Dr. You have earned it.

For many years my GP thought my title or name was "mum"!

What's the worst that can happen? "Where do you practice". "Oh I'm a Dr of, not a medical Dr - gosh is your title honorary or do you have a PhD?"

Christ please don't say that last bit. That IS cringey.

Those who become medical doctors are drawn from the brightest and the best pupil at school and go on to become the students who have the longest and most challenging course at university.

Medicine degree is 5 years (unless you intercalate). PHD is undergraduate, masters and PHD so 6 years at least.

Fucking use it proudly.
I would!!

And well done.

Those who become medical doctors are drawn from the brightest and the best pupils at school

If you had ever taught medical students, you would realise this isn't always the case

The undergrad courses for medicine and vet sci are the same length SarahAndQuack. Five years or 6 years if you intercalate and take a separate BSc.

When I was an early teenager I was at my friends house and noticed a letter addressed to her dad called him Dr. I thought at the time their was only the medical type of doctor and said 'I didn't know your dad was a doctor' and she said 'yeah he did his PhD on the acoustics of a trombone and he doesn't even play'

@Janegrey333
Hmm interesting take, not
Yes drs are quite bright but that's not exclusive to them as a profession, lots draw from very intelligent student pool and my course (not medic) was longer than my DHs (medical dr)
It's a quirk of the job and society nothing more.
Funnily enough my job title is protected by law (so you have to be qualified, registered and insured to use it) whereas DHs job function is protected but not his title.

Ah, ok, thanks @orangenasturtium. I was basing it on a medic friend who took 5 years and a vet who took 6, but that's clearly because they did the two different systems you mention.

@NerrSnerr

Those who become medical doctors are drawn from the brightest and the best pupil at school and go on to become the students who have the longest and most challenging course at university.

Medicine degree is 5 years (unless you intercalate). PHD is undergraduate, masters and PHD so 6 years at least.

The degree length is 6 years here.

@MinnieJackson

When I was an early teenager I was at my friends house and noticed a letter addressed to her dad called him Dr. I thought at the time their was only the medical type of doctor and said 'I didn't know your dad was a doctor' and she said 'yeah he did his PhD on the acoustics of a trombone and he doesn't even play'

The degree length is 6 years here.

No longer than a PHD then.

Congratulations and enjoy using your well deserved title.

At my GP surgery, they never use titles and just opt for first and surname.

Those who become medical doctors are drawn from the brightest and the best pupil at school and go on to become the students who have the longest and most challenging course at university.

Whereas those who do PhDs can barely string a sentence together and can get their doctorate through a week long correspondence course?! This has to be one of the most ill-informed comments I've ever seen on here.

@Janegrey333 no I didn't get better treatment because they thought I was a 'real' doctor. My experience has been that using my Dr title - when they knew I was a PhD not a medical doctor - meant I was assumed to be smart and therefore wasn't questioned about wanting a referral or whether I'd followed instructions on medication properly etc. I know this because medical doctors have explicitly told me this is what they were thinking!

@NerrSnerr

The degree length is 6 years here.

No longer than a PHD then.

A medical degree is generally continuous and not attempted in “bits”.

I would get everyone including my children to address me as doctor Audreyseyebrows if I had a PHD.

Own it! Congratulations!

I honestly don't follow what the argument is about degree length/how bright the people doing it are.

You do not have to be spectacularly bright to be a medic or an academic; you have to be ordinarily intelligent and very hard working, during your training.

There are lots of jobs where you need an equal level of intelligence.

I don't think 'Dr' means 'wow you're clever' and I don't think raw intelligence is something that it's a great idea to celebrate.

It's funny to me that this debate is totally removed from other titles like 'reverend'. My vicar is 'Rev Smith' and it's just his title. He earned it by going through a difficult and soul-searching process; it's his vocation and he worked hard to get there.

No one seems to think he's arrogant to use the title, or that he really should use 'Mr' unless he's inside the four walls of a church.

You don't get people introducing themselves as 'Plumber Jones', 'Teacher Smith', or 'Shop Assistant Bloggs'.

This made me laugh. On a serious note, I have noticed that the usual way that doctors now introduce themselves in hospital is “hello, I am Jane [Smith], one of the doctors” or “I’m Bob Jones, the oncology consultant”.
My experience has not been so much the traditional “I’m Doctor Brown” type thing, but then again I would not call a Doctor “Doctor” as in “So, Doctor, what treatment do you recommend?” (I wouldn’t say Bob either, I’d just avoid names)

If I recall correctly, the move towards doctors stating their names and job description rather than title plus surname was a campaign by a junior doctor who very sadly got terminal cancer and realised as a patient how impersonal it all was- I think it was called “My name is....” and they produced name badges as well.

@letsmaketea

Those who become medical doctors are drawn from the brightest and the best pupils at school

If you had ever taught medical students, you would realise this isn't always the case

Well, I haven’t. Thankfully. I was talking generally - and from my personal knowledge of how difficult it can be to gain entry to a good university in order to study Medicine or Dentistry, actually. You can have a fistful of As, attended an interview, passed your UCAT but STILL not be successful.

The above is an indication of the rigorousness applied.

*But I took it too far with my DH when I put 'Mr' instead of 'Dr' on our wedding invitations - he thought I'd done it on purpose as he knows how I feel about people using 'Dr' outside of work unless they are medical doctors, but I really hadn't! Felt terrible when he pointed it out (after they'd all been sent!).+

@notalwaysalondoner I’m intrigued. How did your husband not see the invitations before they were sent? And I get that you Disney write “Mr” in order to make a point, but you must have remembered at the time that he was entitled to be called Dr and still decided to write “Mr”. It sounds like you barely knew or talked to each other

@CheetasOnFajitas

*But I took it too far with my DH when I put 'Mr' instead of 'Dr' on our wedding invitations - he thought I'd done it on purpose as he knows how I feel about people using 'Dr' outside of work unless they are medical doctors, but I really hadn't! Felt terrible when he pointed it out (after they'd all been sent!).+

@notalwaysalondoner I’m intrigued. How did your husband not see the invitations before they were sent? And I get that you Disney write “Mr” in order to make a point, but you must have remembered at the time that he was entitled to be called Dr and still decided to write “Mr”. It sounds like you barely knew or talked to each other

Argh should have previewed. First bit should be in bold quoting @notalwaysalondoner and “Disney” should be “Didn’t”..

**My husband is an academic. So?

Those who become medical doctors are drawn from the brightest and the best pupil at school and go on to become the students who have the longest and most challenging course at university.
The public places then in high regard, generally, because it is acknowledged that they are worthy of their status**

@Janegrey333

This this and this more. IMO a medical doctor is the epitome of the crem de la crem. Only the brightest students can go in to study medicine.

It’s the hardest degree in terms of the A-levels needed to even apply for medicine. Chemistry, Biology, Physics/maths. You couldn’t get 4 harder A-levels.

You then have to get A grades in the hardest subjects. Most people wouldn’t be able to do this.

Then 5 years as uni on an extremely difficult course. That’s why they are honorary Doctors, because it acknowledges they are at the top academically. They have to be to get there in the first place.

Then they save lives!! Very important job!

A PhD is a big deal in each field but some fields are harder than others. I know people that have gone on to do a PhD on the back of their average ‘soft’ A-levels such as Sociology, General studies etc... of course they’ve upped their game to get their PhD. They’ve got an interest in their field and worked their socks off but they wouldn’t have been able to study medicine.

That’s the only reason to use the title Dr, to inform the uninformed that they do in fact have a PhD. In real life no one really cares.

Why put titles on your wedding invitations at all. Mine said ‘Unconvincing and Tom’ on them. And, since we invited people we know, they were addressed to things like ‘Sarah, Mike and family’.

I just don’t see why you’d need to start complicating things with the pointlessness if titles. Imagine sitting there saying, ‘do you think Jane goes by Ms or Mrs?’ as you try to write an invitation to her.

I love that a few A Levels and an undergraduate admissions interview is being used as evidence of the greater rigour of a medical degree. Those starting PhDs have a 1st/2,1 u/g degree, usually a masters and will be interviewed for admission onto the PhD course. Medical degrees are very demanding, but in no way do they select exclusively for the most intelligent individuals. The same is, of course, true to some extent with PhDs, as it is a much a measure of resilience and work ethic as it is intelligence.

I should add, I say this as someone who studied veterinary medicine and has a PhD subsequent to that degree. I know exactly what's involved in getting into competitive undergrad courses...

@DiseasesOfTheSheep

I love that a few A Levels and an undergraduate admissions interview is being used as evidence of the greater rigour of a medical degree. Those starting PhDs have a 1st/2,1 u/g degree, usually a masters and will be interviewed for admission onto the PhD course. Medical degrees are very demanding, but in no way do they select exclusively for the most intelligent individuals. The same is, of course, true to some extent with PhDs, as it is a much a measure of resilience and work ethic as it is intelligence.

I should add, I say this as someone who studied veterinary medicine and has a PhD subsequent to that degree. I know exactly what's involved in getting into competitive undergrad courses...

I’m loving that too.