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

Some really heavyweight PhD titles here:

WHICH CAN JUMP HIGHER, THE DOG FLEA OR THE CAT FLEA?

WET UNDERWEAR: NOT COMFORTABLE

THE RECTAL ROUTE TO CURING HICCUPS

Granted the last one may be a tad more medical in nature.

Disclaimer:
I haven’t read it. Not do I intend to!

@Janegrey333 What is your beef with people with PHDs? Is it actually the people with PHDs or the education system? Why are you in particularly so bothered?

The world would be a pretty boring place if we didn't have people who had a passion for the arts

But people with a passion for the arts don’t need a PhD or the title of Dr. They can study and enjoy the arts and many are talented performers. Many excellent actors, musicians, artists and writers don’t have PhDs or doctorates.

Studying the arts to PhD level tends to be a hobby these days, not a path to a career (unless you plan to be a college/uni lecturer).

But people with a passion for the arts don’t need a PhD or the title of Dr. They can study and enjoy the arts and many are talented performers. Many excellent actors, musicians, artists and writers don’t have PhDs or doctorates.

But the people who teach them do.

Studying the arts to PhD level tends to be a hobby these days, not a path to a career (unless you plan to be a college/uni lecturer).

And what is wrong with learning as a hobby anyway? There are benefits to having an educated society.
Not all qualifications need to link directly to a career. Studying develops a number of transferable skills which are valued by employers.

You can get a PhD in almost anything now, from Performing Arts to Creative Writing, if you pay the fees and study for long enough. There’s a lot of corruption and loopholes in academia as well, as oppose to medical school which is very regimented and hard to pass.

I don't understand the focus on medical school as the holy grail of Dr status. Have you ever done a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology? Harder than med school to gain a place, far more competitive, very structured and regimented, and a great, great deal of hard work required to pass!

Do you even understand what PhDs are? Of course you can get a PhD in any number of subjects - that’s the whole point of them.

And medical doctors don’t stop training when they qualify as doctors

Neither do clinical psychologists.

they sit exam after exam and study for years

So do clinical psychologists.

Some people on this thread are talking absolute bollocks about things they clearly don’t even begin to understand.

I was a very frequent traveller when I was younger and no one ever asked me to help out in a medical emergency based on the fact that I used Dr. as a title. I would simply have put them right.

Having done a doctorate shows that you have the ability to plan and complete a long term project which is a genuine contribution to the research literature on your subject. Thats 3 years in the UK and often longer. That demonstrates hard work, sustained effort and deferment of gratification. Many doctoral candidates also have family commitments to take care of in addition to their studies, So they have to be able to balance competing personal and professional needs. These are all qualities which employers value in their workforce.

But the people who teach them do

Not necessarily. Many teachers of the arts haven’t spent years researching arts or doing PhDs. They often have talent and skills from a young age and have a career as a performer before they go into teaching.

And there’s nothing wrong with a hobby of course, entertainment is important too. But I don’t think you can compare an Arts based PhD to a science based PhD in terms of how useful the research is. Scientists, engineers, psychologists etc bring a lot of valuable research and advances to different professions. They contribute to professions like medicine, neuroscience, coding, national security, psychiatry etc.

We’re in the midst of a pandemic so science research is bound to be more useful than the arts at the moment.

psychologists etc bring a lot of valuable research and advances to different professions.

Nice to feel valued.

Makes a nice change to being a "twat", anyhow.

@RattleOfBars, I just read your post where you say

I remember a cousin of mine announcing she was ‘marrying a doctor’ and we all said ‘ooh congratulations, which field is he in?’ (we have a lot of medics in the family). She looked a bit uncomfortable and replied ‘he’s a doctor of English Literature’. There was an awkward silence then her younger sister burst out laughing and said ‘stop telling people he’s a doctor, just say he’s a lecturer. You can mention the PhD thing later.’

The problem with that is it's quite possible she felt uncomfortable because you were asking her to pretend he had a job status he didn't yet have. Lots of people are Dr Smith, PhD in English Lit, without having yet got a lectureship.

I have often had people tell me I ought to refer to myself as 'just a lecturer' or 'just a professor' and it makes me feel really awkward, because I am a lowly postdoc academic and I would be lying if I claimed I was already a lecturer, let alone a prof!

@Janegrey333

Granted the last one may be a tad more medical in nature.

Disclaimer:
I haven’t read it. Not do I intend to!

Correction:

Nor...

You worked really hard to achieve your doctorate, you have every entitlement to use the title that you worked so hard to earn!

Not necessarily. Many teachers of the arts haven’t spent years researching arts or doing PhDs. They often have talent and skills from a young age and have a career as a performer before they go into teaching.
To teach formally you have to have some qualifications- they can range from the professional to the academic and even be a mixture. If you work at a university quite often the expectation will be that you complete a doctorate. It's in every academics contract at my university. Research helps subjects develop and evolve - that goes for ALL subjects not just the science based ones.

And there’s nothing wrong with a hobby of course, entertainment is important too. But I don’t think you can compare an Arts based PhD to a science based PhD in terms of how useful the research is. Scientists, engineers, psychologists etc bring a lot of valuable research and advances to different professions. They contribute to professions like medicine, neuroscience, coding, national security, psychiatry etc.

I read once that for every person in a scientific role there twenty humanity based jobs supporting that person/work/research.... there absolutely is truth in that statement.

We’re in the midst of a pandemic so science research is bound to be more useful than the arts at the moment.

Of course science is important - pandemic or no pandemic and at no point has anyone said that. It is not an either/or situation.
I don't know about you though, but the thought of a world without art, literature, music etc makes me feel very sad. Especially at the moment.

[quote NerrSnerr]@Janegrey333 What is your beef with people with PHDs? Is it actually the people with PHDs or the education system? Why are you in particularly so bothered? [/quote]
PhD is the abbreviation.

*said that it isn't

@Janegrey333 that's fine but you know what I was asking. Why are you so bothered about this?

If you work at a university quite often the expectation will be that you complete a doctorate. It's in every academics contract at my university. Research helps subjects develop and evolve - that goes for ALL subjects not just the science based ones.

Well yes. Obviously. My husband has one. This is the case at all universities, surely.

Well yes. Obviously. My husband has one. This is the case at all universities, surely.

No it's not. Some have it as essential but for others it's just a desirable criteria.
A number of years ago my university took the decision to make all academic staff complete a doctorate ( and paid for it). Refusal resulted in disciplinary action. New staff need to already have one or be willing to start one immediately.

On the other hand my DHs university has just decided to stop funding them.

We’re in the midst of a pandemic so science research is bound to be more useful than the arts at the moment.

Sorry, are we now arguing that the entitlement to use the title “Dr” is on a sliding scale depending on how “useful” the doctorate is? Good luck with that.

I read once that for every person in a scientific role there twenty humanity based jobs supporting that person/work/research.... there absolutely is truth in that statement.

But for every humanity based job how many engineers are there making their lives possible.... and how many scientists underpinning those.....

Ooh wow this thread is still going strong! I really enjoyed your summary of it @NerrSnerr

Crikey, just recalled the funding award that made my stomach churn. Impact of Dance on post genocidal Rwanda! How many dinners might that have provided?