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

You're a 'proper' doctor! Well done you.

My DF never uses his precisely because of the aeroplane scenario

I've just passed my PhD, I wouldn't use Dr in the context of my gps or anything else along those lines, it's a bit cringe! Even in work my email signature has only changed to PhD after my name not Dr as I work with a lot of people medically trained who use Dr. Anyone with a PhD just puts PhD after their name (I don't work in academia though).

I probably just don't want the shame of admitting I'm not a real doctor when asked 😆, all I can ever think about is Ross off friends "I am a real doctor!!" 😂😂

Well done! Of course your title is Dr, the fact that you aren't a doctor of medicine is irrelevant! If I got a PhD I bloody use Dr everywhere I could!

You earned the title, congratulation! Use it and don’t feel remotely embarrassed. Medical doctors are well aware of the other type of “Dr” and would not remotely think it was inappropriate for you to use the title. You were asked to give a title, it’s not as if you are going round asking people to call you “Dr” instead of your first name.

I know is you cannot out yourself by being too specific, but can you give us a clue of your field? (Just interested!)

By the way, I don’t really buy all this “OMG it’s so embarrassing if you’re on a plane and the staff assume you are a medical doctor”. Do you think cabin crew are so stupid that they don’t realise people can be non-medical doctors? They just use the manifest to identify who to ask, you say “sorry I’m not a medical doctor” and they move on. The only thought the staff would be having at that time is for the poor person needing medical attention.

I fancy using Rev. Or Fr.

I also had a PhD and am yet to use Dr! My DM insisted I put it on the dog license which is the only new form I’ve had to fill out recently 😂😂 If you’re happy to use it use away!!!

It’s fine! And congratulations!

I learnt from MN that it’s actually PhDs (who are allowed to use Dr for everything whereas Medical Doctors should reallt only use it at work, as it’s describing their job. Or so I hear.

As someone with neither, both groups have done amazingly!

Bloody hell woman- be proud of your Doctorate! Yanbu apart from worrying about being unreasonable.

Embrace your brilliance!
Well done!

Thank you so much everyone for all the congratulations!
I feel much less silly about it now

i think in other european countries it is quite the norm to use it socially, but not here in uk.
except in academic / professional circles it is thought pretentious and irrelevant.

@topcat2014

My DF never uses his precisely because of the aeroplane scenario

Honestly, there's really no issue if you're using a UK passport. 'Dr' wouldn't appear with your name, it'd be tucked away as an observation, and only if you asked for it to be included. You could use it for every single other thing you do, bank cards etc., and not include it on your passport. If you did include it on your passport, the chances that anyone would have memorised the observations section of every passenger's passport and noticed who was Dr is absolutely tiny.

It's really common for people to claim their friend/spouse/etc had this experience, or that they were on a plane when it happened.

I can't say they're all lying, but ...

I did get letters addressed to Brigadier MyName at one point. I think I’d forgotten to put a title and it defaulted to the first name on the list! I’m in no way a Brigadier but I did rather like it.

My husband is a doctor and he just uses whatever titles patients ask him to. He said other medical doctors usually let you know their status verbally when you are treating them because it means you can speak at a medical level, so I don't think any of them will think you are "pretending" just by checking the correct box on the form lol.

As an aside, surgeons are all “Mr/Ms/Miss/Mrs”. So when they go on planes the cabin crew would have no way of telling from the manifest that they were medically trained. They would of course respond to a call out for a doctor. Also, nurses are often very helpful in medical first aid situations. So crew are very used to calling out for medical professionals rather than using the manifest to find them.

alexdgr8 I think in some European countries other professions get titles too!

I am a doctor of medicine and also hold a PhD. I use my title(s). When I registered with my current GP practice, every time I put in my title the bloody receptionist REMOVED it again. I think she believed that the only doctors in existence were the ones she worked for! In the end it took the GP telling to stop mucking around with patient records!

You worked hard for this so use the title. For no other reason than it is very interesting to note how often women are stripped of the title even when they use it in a way that men never are. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jun/18/should-female-doctors-hide-their-title-why-immodestwomen-say-no

@vanillandhoney

But you are a Dr! What is there to be embarrassed about?

Congratulations!

Exactly! I'd be wearing the biggest badge I could find!

So. You’re a Doctor of Philosophy. Own it. You’ve worked hard for it.
I doubt the posters on Dadsnet would be discouraging a poster from using their new qualification on any subsequent forms or correspondence.
I value academic qualifications of any discipline because it proves the recipient has worked hard to achieve them.
Qualifications ,once ratified, are some of the few things people can take away.

It's really common for people to claim their friend/spouse/etc had this experience, or that they were on a plane when it happened.

Yup. I don't think this happens lol.

When you're on a plane and there is a medical emergency they ask over the speaker if there is a doctor on board. It happened to my DH once when a man became very ill on a flight we were on, and he went and helped him. He told me that the crew will always just ask the question, and then the GMC will often later check if anyone registered with them was onboard that flight, and if they were and they didn't volunteer help then they can be brought before the council and possibly be struck off, if they can't give a very good reason for not helping. They have been known to do the same thing for car accidents!

@Winterwoollies

I have ‘countess’ on my Tesco delivery account.

Use Dr. Unlike me, you earned it!

Surely, by definition, anyone who has the title countess has not earned it?

@SarahAndQuack

the chances that anyone would have memorised the observations section of every passenger's passport and noticed who was Dr is absolutely tiny.

Titles are on the manifest (passenger list), it’s nothing to do with memorising passports. The title is the one given when buying the ticket (you know how your ticket will say something like Jones S/Ms)

I’ve said above that I don’t think that cabin crew rely solely on the manifest. However they do approach people on that basis- it happened to my friend, who IS a medical doctor, but she is an ophthalmology specialist and felt very under-prepared to help in an acute trauma situation.