Newly graduated DPT wants part time work; and got it

have you discussed health insurance with him? Very few part time jobs cover this.
 
Stuart Fraley said:
It still isn’t clear; is he a physician or a physical therapist? There are PhD physical therapists, but medical school doesn’t go that direction.
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He’s a DPT. Not an MD but still has the title of Doctor.
 
JOhnH said:
He’s a DPT. Not an MD but still has the title of Doctor.
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I see. You can understand the confusion. He has a doctorate but he isn't "a doctor."

I'd bet that part time PT positions would be fairly easy to come by. It's a field full of young people interested in job sharing in order to raise a family.
 
Where I live all the Physical Therapy professionals work part time and you can tell they would be insulted for someone to ask more.
 
Our local PT place (very small town) has 3 people working there. One is on the road most of the time and the other two are very busy. The guy I am seeing is a Dr. of PT and he is great. He works four 10 hour days. I am sure he does paperwork outside of the office too. I would think PT is one area where a part time gig would be possible as the scheduling is pretty regular. Having said that I think as has been said I would go full time for a few years and then look at going part time after that.
 
Stuart Fraley said:
True enough, but it would be unethical for him to introduce himself to patients as “Doctor So-and-so.”
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No, that would be perfectly ethical for him to introduce himself that way. It may be a bit misleading, but it is still ethical. Nowadays more and more "allied" professions are doing that.

A physician anesthesiologist will say: "Hi, I'm Dr. Jones and I'll be your anesthesiologist today." CRNAs (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists), nurses, not physicians, have commonly said to the patient: "Hi, I'm John and I'll be your anesthetist today." That's a perfectly true statement and the vast majority of patients will not make the distinction that a nurse versus a physician will be providing their anesthesia. Most patients will think the CRNA is just being friendly and casual by using their first name.

This has gotten even more confusing recently as CRNA programs now grant all their graduates a doctorate in nursing, so it is now perfectly acceptable for them to say: "Hi, I'm Dr. Jones and I'll be your anesthetist today." That sounds very much like what the physician anesthesiologist says. Very few patients are informed enough to understand the difference. Such is the state of our health care today. Everyone wants cheaper and the way to provide cheaper is to use "providers" with less education.
 
my trash guy introduces himself as a sanitation engineer.
 
Update: I was thankfully wrong.

They kid just got a job at the local hospital seeing hospitalized in-patients 4 days a week, and at a salary that I would covet. More days than he wanted but with his foot in the door, he can now evaluate all other options.
 
Please edit the title to reflect reality. The new grad has a Doctorate in PT and wants to work PT, not FT. Perhaps his curmudgeonly old uncle is confused? You, and your nephew, get off my lawn. :)
 
Lachlan said:
Please edit the title to reflect reality. The new grad has a Doctorate in PT and wants to work PT, not FT. Perhaps his curmudgeonly old uncle is confused? You, and your nephew, get off my lawn. :)
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Are you happy now? I even updated the OP.
 
KLRDMD said:
This has gotten even more confusing recently as CRNA programs now grant all their graduates a doctorate in nursing, so it is now perfectly acceptable for them to say: "Hi, I'm Dr. Jones and I'll be your anesthetist today." That sounds very much like what the physician anesthesiologist says. Very few patients are informed enough to understand the difference.
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JOhnH said:
No it wouldn't.
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Ethical or not, I think it's BS. It's like those charter operators that dress a non-qualified pilot in a pilot uniform and place him/her in the right seat of a single pilot aircraft, such as a King Air. The dude is listed as a passenger on the manifest, but the passengers assume they have two qualified guys up front.

Sure it's legal and done all the time, but you're knowingly misleading someone with no effort made to correct the misconception. I think that sucks.
 
There ARE, unfortunately, all manner of folks calling themselves Doctor these days simply based on some educational program endowing them with same. Do I think “Doctors” of Holistic Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Accupuncture, etc should be called Doctor - no.
 
DPT? I'd be looking at sports medicine.


RJM62 said:
Maybe a small rural community. Doctors around here complain that they don't have enough patients to make a living, and they're probably right. Almost all the ones I know are either semi-retired or work for hospital systems (especially Basset) at their affiliated outpatient clinics. But one who only wants to practice part-time anyway may be able to pull off an old-school private practice while building barns on the side.
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Not making a living is also a problem in larger communities and cities. Around here GPs are able to get ~$50 per visit between copay and insurance reimbursement. Assuming 10 minute per visit, such an MD would gross $576,000 per year *if* they were able to have 100% utilization for 48 weeks of a year. Now start subtracting... office space & staff overhear, nurse, continuing education, malpractice insurance, reference material, supplies, electronic medical records, student loans. Pretty easy to get down to net income between $120K and $130K per year in a major metro area. Software programmers and military contractors make more money. And of course, if you can't book 100%, or you live on medicare reimbursements (which are less), then the income goes way down. Little surprise that concierge care is a thing.

As for what you should do, I might offer suggestions, but not advice. No good deed goes unpunished.
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Likewise
 
PT and OT are some of the better gigs in the hospital. They have some independence and don't have some supervisor breathing down their neck while they work.

Glad to hear that he found a position that leaves him room to develop his other interests.
 
wrbix said:
There ARE, unfortunately, all manner of folks calling themselves Doctor these days simply based on some educational program endowing them with same. Do I think “Doctors” of Holistic Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Accupuncture, etc should be called Doctor - no.
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Add to that the proliferation of white lab coats and people who never see the inside of an OR in scrubs.
 
wrbix said:
There ARE, unfortunately, all manner of folks calling themselves Doctor these days simply based on some educational program endowing them with same. Do I think “Doctors” of Holistic Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Accupuncture, etc should be called Doctor - no.
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Don't forget Chiropractors and Educators.
 
You can even get a doctorate in aviation at some of the fancy pants aviation schools.

Kinda silly.
 
I forgot: Athletic trainers.
 
kayoh190 said:
Ethical or not, I think it's BS. It's like those charter operators that dress a non-qualified pilot in a pilot uniform and place him/her in the right seat of a single pilot aircraft, such as a King Air. The dude is listed as a passenger on the manifest, but the passengers assume they have two qualified guys up front.

Sure it's legal and done all the time, but you're knowingly misleading someone with no effort made to correct the misconception. I think that sucks.
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I am a doctor and a sergeant. Not that kind of either. But those titles were bestowed on me just as legitimately as any university bestows an MD on anyone. And FWIW, there are many MDs who are not licensed to practice medicine. Is it unethical for them to use the honorific?
 
Real question time: Anyone ever hear of a JD requiring they be addressed as Doctor?
 
Lindberg said:
I am a doctor and a sergeant. Not that kind of either. But those titles were bestowed on me just as legitimately as any university bestows an MD on anyone. And FWIW, there are many MDs who are not licensed to practice medicine. Is it unethical for them to use the honorific?
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The title isn't what bothers me. If you have a PhD, by all means call yourself "Dr. Lindberg". My issue is when it's used in medical situations where the term "Doctor" has a very specific meaning to lay folks like me. And that's not to say that a nurse with a PhD shouldn't be allowed to use the title - certainly he/she earned it - but there should be an effort to make sure the patient is aware of whom they're talking to. As I understand it, that doesn't always happen.
 
Physicians should start calling themselves just that, physicians. Not doctors. There are way too many people that legitimately can be called doctor. I'm not sure how or why physicians started calling themselves doctor as doctor means teacher.
 
Not only is it unethical, it's downright fraudulent. In a medical context, "doctor" means "physician." If someone who isn't a physician introduces himself as "Doctor" without clarifying, he has said something that, while arguably true, is deliberately misleading.

If a 747 captain is on a ship and he walks onto the bridge and says, "I'm Captain Smith," he isn't telling the truth, even though what he says is kind of true. So it is with PhD physical therapists and nurses.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
Not only is it unethical, it's downright fraudulent. In a medical context, "doctor" means "physician." If someone who isn't a physician introduces himself as "Doctor" without clarifying, he has said something that, while arguably true, is deliberately misleading.

If a 747 captain is on a ship and he walks onto the bridge and says, "I'm Captain Smith," he isn't telling the truth, even though what he says is kind of true. So it is with PhD physical therapists and nurses.
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Baloney.

The public is already accustomed to medical professionals other than physicians using “doctor.” My dentist is Dr. xxxx, my optometrist is Dr. yyyy, my pharmacist is Dr. zzzz, etc. No one expects any of these to be physicians and we know there are doctorates besides MD in the medical field.

Physicians do not have exclusive use of the title “doctor.” Years ago they chose to use an academic title rather than a professional title. If they have created a false expectation in the mind of the public (which I doubt) it’s their own damn fault and up to them to fix it. They are certainly free to refer to themselves as “Physician Jones” or similar.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
I guess that is dependent upon the denomination. My wife is a pastor and she is not a Doctor.
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It seems to be a thing with evangelical black churches. Everyone is 'reverend doctor something'.

I find the folks who are most insistent of being addressed as 'doctor' are music teachers. I do understand that getting your doctorate in music indicates a substantial amount of work, still its funny that someone whom you knew as 'Mary' for many years is now 'Dr Carpenter'.

I am a physian yet I am not a doctor. Where I did my medical training, even the 'M.D.' requires you to publish a thesis and defend it in front of a committee. While I had peer reviewed publications that were part of a thesis project, I moved to the US for residency before I got around to do the other steps required for the title.
 
Every medical person is part time here in Gallup, except for a very few dedicated folks. Even my barber is part time.
 
I remember just a few months ago, half the country being apoplectic about a certain phd professor not constantly being referred to as 'Dr.'
 
People are entitled to their titles. But if I’m receiving medical care and someone introduces him/herself as “Doctor X,” that person is either a physician or a fraud.
 
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