PhD and MD

All MDs have the same first name -- Doctor. They have turned an academic title into an occupational one.
 
Heh.

When my wife was a kid and her mom was in the hospital (breast cancer), her dad had to take care of three girls, a task for which he was singularly unprepared. One evening, after a day of work, he was taking the girls to see their mom in the hospital, and (being a man of limited patience as it is) he became frustrated at the paucity of parking spaces in the hospital other than those labeled, "Doctors Only."

He finally said, "well he'll, I'm a Doctor of Jurisprudence!" And parked in one.
 
JeffDG said:
Never understood that. Most other countries treat a law degree as a bachelor's...
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The professional degree to be a physician in sizeable parts of the world is the MBBS, also a bachelors. In other places it is just 'physician', to call yourself MD you have to write and defend a thesis. The only countries that bestow 'MD' upon graduation of medical school are austria, the US and Canada.
 
weilke said:
The professional degree to be a physician in sizeable parts of the world is the MBBS, also a bachelors. In other places it is just 'physician', to call yourself MD you have to write and defend a thesis. The only countries that bestow 'MD' upon graduation of medical school are austria, the US and Canada.
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Do they have to go to school as long as US, Canadian and Australian physicians?
 
JeffDG said:
Never understood that. Most other countries treat a law degree as a bachelor's...
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I was talking about the fact that doctors tend to go into defensive mode when they have a lawyer patient.

Many other countries (and used to even this country) treat a law degree as a bachelors because they a law degree was an undergraduate degree. You developed your actual legal skills through an apprenticeship (clerkship) that went on for 5-7 years after you graduated. There are still vestiges of this in the US legal system, but in the 1900s the legal education changed to legal education being a post-bachelors training of a doctoral level.
 
dewi8095 said:
All MDs have the same first name -- Doctor. They have turned an academic title into an occupational one.
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What do you call a guy who finished last in his class at medical school: Doctor.
What do you call a guy who finished last in his class at law school: Your Honor.
 
weilke said:
The professional degree to be a physician in sizeable parts of the world is the MBBS, also a bachelors. In other places it is just 'physician', to call yourself MD you have to write and defend a thesis. The only countries that bestow 'MD' upon graduation of medical school are austria, the US and Canada.
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You forgot about the Caribbean. If I had to do it all over again I would study at one of those medical schools. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_Caribbean

nddons said:
Do they have to go to school as long as US, Canadian and Australian physicians?
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In many countries medical school begins after high school so they get to skip the undergrad premed requirement we have in the US.
 
flyingron said:
What do you call a guy who finished last in his class at medical school: Doctor.
What do you call a guy who finished last in his class at law school: Your Honor.
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What do you call a guy who failed medical school? A dentist. :lol:

We heard that a lot going through dental school.
 
maybe if I get "Doc" at the beginning of my license plate, I'll get fewer tickets?
 
Matthew said:
Did it work from Kramer from Seinfeld when he got plates that said "ASSMAN"?
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no, he had to resort to the "I always wanted to be a banker" excuse to get out of his speeding ticket.


nevermind, that was for Newman to get out of his ticket. :lol:
 
Gary F said:
You forgot about the Caribbean. If I had to do it all over again I would study at one of those medical schools. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_schools_in_the_Caribbean
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Well, I have worked with many physicians who have gone that route and they certainly had a hard time securing good residency positions. Very difficult to get into the surgical specialties or the good IM programs that open doors to cardiology, nephrology or GI. If the only goal is to be a physician, they can be a great option. One of my co-interns made no bones about it. He wanted to be a doctor and sought the quickest way to get there without having to abandon his real estate business. Now runs a pediatric office/real estate agency in new jersey.

In many countries medical school begins after high school so they get to skip the undergrad premed requirement we have in the US.
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Otoh, a high-school graduate is expected to be college ready. University doesn't provide child-rearing services like the US college system either. The first year of my medical school education covered the courses that fall into the 'pre-med' curriculum at a US college (general chem, organic chem, physics, biology, biochemistry, genetics). Total length of the course of study was 6 years 3 months.
Some US universities offer combined 6 and 7 year tracks. So its about the same.
 
Badger said:
maybe if I get "Doc" at the beginning of my license plate, I'll get fewer tickets?
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Not sure if it has changed. NY used to issue 'MD' plates. The only formal benefit of them was that they allowed you to park in 'doctors only' streetside parking in front of hospitals. There was also a mechanism to get tickets dismissed if you were 'travelling to attend to a patient' or parking in a no-parking zone 'to attend to a patient'.
The downside was that you got overcharged on repairs.
 
spiderweb said:
Just a funny little post.

Whenever I visit a physician, I just state my name.

Recently, I insisted on Dr. before my name. Result? I get better treatment.

I ain't a physician, but I sure put a helluva lot of years into my doctorate!

:goofy:
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I try to hide the fact that I'm an MD. everywhere I go. I want to be treated like a normal person, I want to be treated genuinely, don't want to be thought of as de facto "rich" , don't want people to be asking me about free medical advice or free treatment everywhere I go. If I travel overseas, especially in a tour group, I don't want to be woken up at 3 AM to advice on the treatment of Mr. or Mrs. so and so that has diarrhea, back pain, headaches etc. In my office everybody gets treated with dignity and respect. If you are a Dr. (MD) patient , it just makes it easier to explain a medical problem but that is just it,nothing else. I find it a bit pedantic to ask people to call me Dr. outside my official work environment.

Cheers
 
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ralarcon said:
I try to hide the fact that I'm an MD. everywhere I go. I want to be treated like a normal person, I want to be treated genuinely, don't want to be thought of as de facto "rich" , don't want people to be asking me about free medical advice or free treatment everywhere I go. If I travel overseas, especially in a tour group, I don't want to be woken up at 3 AM to advice on the treatment of Mr. or Mrs. so and so that has diarrhea, back pain, headaches etc. In my office everybody gets treated with dignity and respect. If you are a Dr. (MD) patient , it just makes it easier to explain a medical problem but that is just it,nothing else. I find it a bit pedantic to ask people to call me Dr. outside my official work environment.

Cheers
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Do people ever not call you Dr in your office environment? My doc is a female probably 20 years younger than me, and we started with her shortly after she started in practice. If I wanted to get familiar and just use her first name, I'm sure she would have no problem with it. However I hold her in high regard, she earned her doctorate, and so I call her Doctor.
 
nddons said:
Do people ever not call you Dr in your office environment? My doc is a female probably 20 years younger than me, and we started with her shortly after she started in practice. If I wanted to get familiar and just use her first name, I'm sure she would have no problem with it. However I hold her in high regard, she earned her doctorate, and so I call her Doctor.
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You will not be surprised, but some of my patients address me by my first name , or call me Mr. (last name). I usually don't correct them but I don't address them by their first name either. Doc. is fine in the office or if someone insists on calling me that ,outside the office, I don't have a problem with it. It is better, in general, to be professional when dealing with medical matters in an office, or hospital setting.

Cheers
 
rbridges said:
What do you call a guy who failed medical school? A dentist. :lol:

We heard that a lot going through dental school.
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Last time I checked it was harder to get accepted to dental or vet school than medical school.
 
weilke said:
Well, I have worked with many physicians who have gone that route and they certainly had a hard time securing good residency positions. Very difficult to get into the surgical specialties or the good IM programs that open doors to cardiology, nephrology or GI. If the only goal is to be a physician, they can be a great option. One of my co-interns made no bones about it. He wanted to be a doctor and sought the quickest way to get there without having to abandon his real estate business. Now runs a pediatric office/real estate agency in new jersey.
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My Caribbean fantasy has nothing to do with the quality of education, only the weather which is turning sour here in a hurry. One of our Family Medicine residents who recently graduated from this program got her MD degree at one of those schools (Saint Lucia?) and seemed comparable to US grads.
 
ralarcon said:
I try to hide the fact that I'm an MD. everywhere I go. I want to be treated like a normal person, I want to be treated genuinely, don't want to be thought of as de facto "rich" , don't want people to be asking me about free medical advice or free treatment everywhere I go. If I travel overseas, especially in a tour group, I don't want to be woken up at 3 AM to advice on the treatment of Mr. or Mrs. so and so that has diarrhea, back pain, headaches etc. In my office everybody gets treated with dignity and respect. If you are a Dr. (MD) patient , it just makes it easier to explain a medical problem but that is just it,nothing else. I find it a bit pedantic to ask people to call me Dr. outside my official work environment.

Cheers
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Hey doc, it hurts when I do this.....
 
Outside of a physician's office, if somebody introduces himself to me as Dr. so-and-so, I figure he's a chiropractor.
 
Gary F said:
Last time I checked it was harder to get accepted to dental or vet school than medical school.
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Once when I broke my arm in a hockey game, the doctor at the hospital informed me that he'd flunked out of vet school before transitioning.
 
JeffDG said:
Once when I broke my arm in a hockey game, the doctor at the hospital informed me that he'd flunked out of vet school before transitioning.
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Veterinarian's patients can't tell the doc what hurts. They have to figure it out for themselves.
 
Gary F said:
Last time I checked it was harder to get accepted to dental or vet school than medical school.
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It certainly was when my dad was head of the admissions committee for the veterinary school at Washington State University.

Norman said:
Veterinarian's patients can't tell the doc what hurts. They have to figure it out for themselves.
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JeffDG said:
Plus, MD's need to learn the anatomy of one species. DVMs somewhat more.
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The T-shirt the vet students at WSU had in the past said something to the effect that a veterinarian is a doctor who treats multiple species. :D

I've been participating in a few international symposia for my engineering specialty and name cards at tables keep saying "Dr. Pettit". I comment to my friends that my dad isn't there and I don't have a "Piled Higher and Deeper". Oh well, I guess they are afraid of insulting someone who has the degree and rather than not put it on the card they err on the side of caution. That, or they can't understand how someone without the PhD got to be President of a professional society. :D
 
Norman said:
Veterinarian's patients can't tell the doc what hurts. They have to figure it out for themselves.
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They also dont have patients seeking disability payments or drugs.
 
ralarcon said:
I try to hide the fact that I'm an MD. everywhere I go. I want to be treated like a normal person, I want to be treated genuinely, don't want to be thought of as de facto "rich" , don't want people to be asking me about free medical advice or free treatment everywhere I go. If I travel overseas, especially in a tour group, I don't want to be woken up at 3 AM to advice on the treatment of Mr. or Mrs. so and so that has diarrhea, back pain, headaches etc. In my office everybody gets treated with dignity and respect. If you are a Dr. (MD) patient , it just makes it easier to explain a medical problem but that is just it,nothing else. I find it a bit pedantic to ask people to call me Dr. outside my official work environment.

Cheers
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Uh, am I the only person who sees the irony in your username and this post?
 
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