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

Doesn’t change the reality.

As for medics not being proper Drs, thats just semantics really. If you say to someone that you are Dr, the assumption is you are a medic. I just say to people im Dr, but not a useful Dr!

Apparently Dr is an honorary title for medics, i know this because i was soooooo bored on graduation day listening to everyones name being called, i read it on the brochure for the graduation ceremony

My PhD and degree are in biochemistry, i would mever have managed a humanities or art degree. My brain just isnt wired that way. To me, those are the "hard" subjects. Facts are easy to learn

@saraclara

Well I never knew there was so much spikeyness and resentment from PhD holders about medical doctors being called Doctor!

To be honest this sort of 'they're really not all that you know, compared to me' posting is making me think less of academics.

I find it really odd that this is what you have taken away from this thread @saraclara. Has a single person with a PhD actually said that medical doctors are not their equals and do not deserve the title “Doctor”? A few medical doctors have commented that their title is actually only honorary and they sometimes say to PhD doctor patients that they are the “real” doctors. The odd non-medical person has made that observation but only in a sort of “it’s an interesting fact” way, not a real protest at use of the term by medical doctors.

I haven’t seen any sneering at medical doctors at all. What I HAVE seen is a quite shocking amount of people who think that those with PhDs should not use the title they have earned because it is boastful, and they have non business deluding the public into thinking they might be medics. The poster who said that to use an academic Dr title might be “misleading” was an absolute cracker...

@TheoriginalLEM - I also have a biochemistry PhD and have been trying to expand my mind in recent years with art evening classes and it's bloody hard! Taxes my brain in all sorts of different ways to what I'm used it. Enjoyable, though.

@TableFlowerss, you don't have to have done A Level biology to study medicine at university.

And just to be clear, I am not saying that to do down doctors, biologies, universities, or people who write admissions entry forms.

I just say to people im Dr, but not a useful Dr!

Not a useful Dr? Surely anyone with a PhD is useful in their field?

I am registered as Dr because I used my Universities medical school GP while I was a student/staff, so my medical records match my University ones.

We need to make using PhD titles the norm so it isn’t automatically assumed you’re medical. I didn’t know PhD’s existed until uni, I thought all Dr’s were medical. Wtf I thought a medical Dr was doing teaching high school physics I have no idea 😂

@Fluffycloudland77

If I’d earned a phd I’d make dh address me as dr.

Me too!

It’s a title you’ve worked hard to earn, there are many types of Doctor.
Congratulations!

@SueEllenMishke

The same argument could be said from a medical doctors perspective. There’s a one a few posts up. I've never said that a medical doctor doesn't deserve the title Dr or hasn't earned it.

Are you suggesting that all degrees are all equal.... of course they’re not.

Art, Drama and the like aren’t considered as hard as maths, chemistry....

You can't compare different subjects directly. They require very different skill sets.

Art and Drama degrees are still subject to the same validation and quality assurance processes as Maths and Science degrees. Students are still expected to perform to degree/masters/PhD level. It's insulting to suggest otherwise.

It’s not insulting to say that some subjects are considered academically more demanding. It’s a fact.

That’s not to say that people find art for example easy. I’d never in a million years get an A in A-level art. I know that. I don’t think I’d pass a GCSE so a PhD in a creative subject would be so far out of my reach it would be impossible.

tableflowerss do you work in higher education?

If I’d earned a phd I’d make dh address me as dr.

Me too! You earned it, be proud of it.

Hahaha, stop stressing.

My GP changed mine to Dr for me - she was the first person I saw after my viva (minus my supervisor) - I had had a really shit year medically and she was beyond delighted.

The only problem is, hospital doctors do tend to assume you are one of them, and weirdly my PhD is a medical field applied to another field, so it can be quite funny at times.

I’m a medical Dr and I think it’s fine. I’m sure I went through a similar phase when I first qualified. Now I use Mrs because Dr is my profession and my title at work it’s nothing to do with my personal life. I’m sure your GP won’t care. Congratulations on your PhD.

@CheetasOnFajitas

I’d love to know what qualifications *@TableFlowerss and @Janegrey333* have. All this talk about how “hard” exams and PhDs are- you both sound about 14!

😂 oh please as do the people on here that are crying because we don’t all think/feel the same as them. Going in a huff and using childish insults because our views differ 🥱

Critical thinking - it’s something often used in further education! 😉

I’ve got a BSc degree in a subject that isn’t considered soft, but isn’t considered as academic as the sciences/maths. I don’t have a PhD, I don’t have a masters. I wouldn’t have the inclination to do either.

I think someone hit the nail on the head previously - years ago only the truly academic went to university. Having a degree was a big deal because they didn’t give them out like toffee apples. These days pretty much everyone I know has a degree, many not worth the tuition fees.

If the government had put more effort in to creating apprenticeships/vocational skills that would create a more rounded workforce, we wouldn’t have tens of thousands of graduates in debt up to their eyeballs with degrees that are almost useless!

So having a BSc, MSc a PhD or the like is impressive and someone has obviously worked hard to get it, but it’s neither here nor there in the real word to the average person.

@Pandamanium I've found being married to a hospital dr enough for other hospital drs to assume I'm a dr too. So many drs are married to drs they assume - I'm an architect so not even close.
When I had my rather complicated last pregnancy, I asked to be transferred to the hospital where DH works for care so he could be involved but also as it was a regional centre. This meant they all knew and recognised my DH (he's also a union rep and sits on the board) I had to stop the obstetrician and get them to rewind a bit as they went in all technical as they assumed I was also a dr and would understand everything.
DHaid he was glad I got them to explain a bit more as he didn't completely understand as it's not his specialty and it was a bit complicated but he was a bit embarrassed to ask.

[quote SarahAndQuack]@TableFlowerss, you don't have to have done A Level biology to study medicine at university.[/quote]
😳 ok Sarah.... ok. If that’s what you take from that article.... ok. Let’s leave it there!

@SueEllenMishke

tableflowerss do you work in higher education?

No, no I don’t work in higher education....

Not at all! That ‘Dr’ moniker was hard earned. And let’s face it - anything which makes the medical professional take you more seriously has to be good!

Go for it - put it on everything!

Critical thinking - it’s something often used in further education! 😉

And higher education too.....
I think someone hit the nail on the head previously - years ago only the truly academic went to university.
Only rich people went to university.....should we return to an elite system which only benefits elite members of society?

Having a degree was a big deal because they didn’t give them out like toffee apples.
Disgusting and insulting comment.

These days pretty much everyone I know has a degree
It was only this last year that we hit the figure of 50% of school leavers going to university so not everyone has a degree.

many not worth the tuition fees.
Can you prove this?

If the government had put more effort in to creating apprenticeships/vocational skills that would create a more rounded workforce, we wouldn’t have tens of thousands of graduates in debt up to their eyeballs with degrees that are almost useless!

Again, can you prove this?

@SueEllenMishke

Critical thinking - it’s something often used in further education! 😉

And higher education too.....
I think someone hit the nail on the head previously - years ago only the truly academic went to university.
Only rich people went to university.....should we return to an elite system which only benefits elite members of society?

Having a degree was a big deal because they didn’t give them out like toffee apples.
Disgusting and insulting comment.

These days pretty much everyone I know has a degree
It was only this last year that we hit the figure of 50% of school leavers going to university so not everyone has a degree.

many not worth the tuition fees.
Can you prove this?

If the government had put more effort in to creating apprenticeships/vocational skills that would create a more rounded workforce, we wouldn’t have tens of thousands of graduates in debt up to their eyeballs with degrees that are almost useless!

Again, can you prove this?

1- Not necessarily as there were more grammar schools back then! Heard if the 11+?

2- Giver over being over dramatic

3- I didn’t say everyone has a degree, I said almost everyone I know has a degree. 50% of people having a degree means they don’t hold as much weight as they once did.

4- Prove what? That there are far far more graduates than there are graduate positions? Do you think they’ll take all the ones with 2:2 degrees and 3rd class degrees?

5- 🙄

In the 1980s I taught at a school where several members of staff had PhDs, including the Head of History and a member of her department (a man). The Headmistress repeatedly referred to the Head of History as "Mrs" whilst using "Dr" for the member of her department - when challenged she claimed the students would find it "intimidating" to call the HoD Dr instead of Mrs. And this was in one of the most well-known, academic girls' schools in London

I’m embarrassed for you @TableFlowerss if you think your last post is an example of academic “critical thinking”.

@CheetasOnFajitas

I’m embarrassed for you *@TableFlowerss* if you think your last post is an example of academic “critical thinking”.

Oh you don’t need to be embarrassed for me hen. Perhaps you should look closer to home with your sentiments. Insults and passive aggressive comments don’t paint you in the greatest light. Some would argue you’re embarrassing yourself!