# A \[I\]real\[/I\] doctor?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-i-real-i-doctor/167830>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [April 10, 2003, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-i-real-i-doctor/167830 "2003-04-10T17:46:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-i-real-i-doctor/167830/21 "2003-04-22T23:20:48Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by smaszk \*  
> \*\*If you don’t have a ‘PhD’ you are not a Doctor. Just because you use a word incorrectly does not make it fact. To hold the title Doctor you must have a Doctorate degree. Anyone without an official, not Honorary, ‘PhD’ can not be called a Doctor. Anyone that has an Official ‘PhD’ is a ‘Doctor’ regardless of profession. Language use is not an excuse for using a title incorrectly. Don’t give me any comment on your Medical ‘Doctor’ theory. You are just using the title incorrectly and so is he/she. \*\*

[nitpick mode]  
You know, **smaszk** , if you are going to get snippy, you’d better be sure you have your _own_ facts straight.

Some universities call their doctoral degree a D. Phil., not a Ph.D. Probably the best-known example is the [University of Oxford](http://www.ox.ac.uk), which is not exactly a fly-by-night diploma mill. So, someone with a doctorate from Oxford does **NOT** have a “Ph.D.”, but has as much right to call him/herself a Doctor as anyone who **HAS** a Ph.D.

Also, many non-anglophone countries do not use the Ph.D. title or abbreviation for their doctoral degrees. I suppose, however, that you could claim that a holder of such isn’t a “doctor” but a “docteur”, or “Doktor”, or whatever.  
[/nitpick mode]

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