# Are you a Doctor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 13, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552 "2006-08-13T15:24:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/21 "2006-08-13T22:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] I third the congrats. Doctorate in Folklore & Mythology here. I often find it amusing that Ph.D.s get so much flak for using “doctor.” It’s just the Latin word for “teacher,” our job description; we had it first, long before the medics (“doctor” in Latin is _medicus_) started the M.D. I don’t mind sharing the title, but I don’t see why physicians should be the only ones who use it. But I might just be bitter because people are not inclined to take my degree very seriously. [/QUOTE] I just found a poster to add to the “Posters you would like to meet” thread. I read Edith Hamilton’s **Mythology** many, many years ago and have been fascinated by mythology and folklore ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/22 "2006-08-13T22:33:20Z")
Yep. Doctorate in computer science. It’s as much an award for being insanely persistant as anything else (which is as good a credential as any, I guess). Only time I get called “Doctor”, though, is on wedding invitations and the occasional holiday card from the extremely punctilious. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/23 "2006-08-13T22:52:16Z")
They call me Doctor Love. I am a doctor of love. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/24 "2006-08-13T23:04:12Z")
PhD in Physics. This means my wife doesn’t [post=7617192]baby talk to me[/post]. (I hope that’s not the only reason she doesn’t baby talk to me!) I’m no longer in Physics - my career got washed away in the recession of the early 90s. No more experimental condensed matter physics for me. ☹ I’m a computer programmer now. Feeding my family, and keeping steady employment 🙂 , but not doing what I thought I’d be doing. Sometimes I realize all my degree is good for is intimidating the easily impressed ("Oh, you’re **Doctor** TypoKnig? Gosh. What’s you’re degree in? … :eek: "). Little do they know I just hung around Chapel Hill until my advisor held out his [hand with a pebble in it](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068823/quotes). **Mama Zapa** points out that this is at least using my degree for ```auto something ``` ! And she does not baby talk at me! ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/25 "2006-08-13T23:08:24Z")
I’m still an undergrad, although I plan to earn a doctorate in my field. I do, however, have a funny story about a friend of mine who’s just graduated with a Ph.D in Philosophy of Religion from Boston University. Her thesis was on the historical evolution of the idea of evil in Judeo-Christian texts and tradition. TUnder her concentration, she lists “evil”. In theory, she is now a Doctor of Evil. …I CANNOT be the only person who thinks that it’s almost worth going through a doctorate program JUST so you can introduce yourself as “Yes, Dr. Lord. Doctor…OF EVIL!” ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/26 "2006-08-13T23:24:46Z")
Doctorate in Educational Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation. I could introduce myself as a Doctor of Eval… A friend of mine described the dissertation process as like looking for a life partner. First you look around at what’s available. Then you narrow it down to what’s possible. Then if everything goes well, it all ends with a proposal. ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/27 "2006-08-14T00:05:50Z")
[QUOTE=BluePitbull] I am going into my 4th year of vet school. Not sure if I want to open a private practice though [/QUOTE] Not all us practice clinically, so don’t feel like you have to. Public health has its perks. ::makes a P and H with her fingers like a gang sign:: ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/28 "2006-08-14T01:15:54Z")
[QUOTE=you with the face] Doctorate in veterinary medicine, representin’. _makes a V with fingers like a gang sign_ [/QUOTE] Hey! Maybe you spayed my dog last week! (We live in Baltimore County) [QUOTE=Dr. Drake] Doctorate in Folklore & Mythology here. **But I might just be bitter because people are not inclined to take my degree very seriously**. [/QUOTE] (Bolding mine) TO HELL WITH THEM. I think it sounds really damned cool. What better thing to study than something you love? [QUOTE=Tracy Lord] In theory, she is now a Doctor of Evil. …I CANNOT be the only person who thinks that it’s almost worth going through a doctorate program JUST so you can introduce yourself as “Yes, Dr. Lord. Doctor…OF EVIL!” [/QUOTE] You are certainly not. That is awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/29 "2006-08-14T01:19:35Z")
JTHUNDER – > [@](#): > > BTW, is it really proper to refer to a J.D. as a “doctor”? Please understand that I mean no offense. I don’t wish to demean or insult any attorneys on this board, but my understanding is that it’s not strictly proper for a J.D. holder to describe himself as a doctor. I’ll admit that I’d have a hard time referring to it as a doctorate degree, given its scope and customary length of study. (An attorney friend of mine concurs in this regard.) I find this interesting, and I wonder if, as a PhD, you use the title “doctor” yourself? Your post implies that a person holding a Phd is somehow more entitled to the appellation “doctor” than a JD is. (This from reading between the lines of you, as a PhD, having a “hard time” thinking of a JD as a “doctorate”, because the “scope and customary length of study” is shorter.) You realize that this is precisely the attitude that many MDs would take regarding you: That they have a hard time thinking of you as a doctor due to the scope and customary length of study of your program. I’m not offended by your question and mean no offense in turn, I just find it a good example of the thinking that _we_ are entitled to some particular appellation but _you guys over there_ are not." That said, I don’t believe there is any unwritten rule that it is inappropriate for a lawyer to use the title “doctor,” to which he or she is hyper-technically entitled. It’s more that there is simply a wide-spread awareness that we are _not_ doctors, and to use a title that implies that we are would be hugely and humorously pretentious as well as misleading. Most of us would not want to be taken for doctors anyway. But it must also be said that for the same reasons – that, historically, lawyers have tended to consider use of the title "doctor"by anyone other than medical doctors either pretentious or misleading or both – most lawyers don’t consider PhDs to be “doctors” either. Again, no offense meant and to those of you who have succeeded in obtaining your doctorates, you have my admiration. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/30 "2006-08-14T01:21:08Z")
Not a doctor and have no plans to be, but in approximately 2 years you may call me “Master.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/31 "2006-08-14T01:22:08Z")
Misnomer, does that mean that until that time I should call you Bachelor? ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/32 "2006-08-14T01:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=JThunder] BTW, is it really proper to refer to a J.D. as a “doctor”? Please understand that I mean no offense. I don’t wish to demean or insult any attorneys on this board, but my understanding is that it’s not strictly proper for a J.D. holder to describe himself as a doctor. I’ll admit that I’d have a hard time referring to it as a doctorate degree, given its scope and customary length of study. (An attorney friend of mine concurs in this regard.) [/QUOTE] Not that I have a dog in this fight, but it’s interesting to note that there are law degrees beyond the J.D. For instance, here are [all the degrees offered by my alma mater’s law school](http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/academics/degreeprograms.htm). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/33 "2006-08-14T01:29:17Z")
Yes, PhD in astronomy. Took me long enough to get it, and still not sure what to do with it… ---
**Author:** ![gabriela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@gabriela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gabriela)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/34 "2006-08-14T01:30:42Z")
I once went with a date to a party full of PhD’s. He introduced me as, “This is Gabriela. She’s not a real doctor.” (Only an MD.) I think he’d been waiting ten years to say that line. Considering how little I recall about live-people problems, maybe he’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/35 "2006-08-14T01:50:07Z")
[QUOTE=GingerOfTheNorth] Misnomer, does that mean that until that time I should call you Bachelor? [/QUOTE] Note the difference between “may” and “should.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/36 "2006-08-14T02:00:04Z")
[QUOTE=Tracy Lord] I’m still an undergrad, although I plan to earn a doctorate in my field. I do, however, have a funny story about a friend of mine who’s just graduated with a Ph.D in Philosophy of Religion from Boston University. Her thesis was on the historical evolution of the idea of evil in Judeo-Christian texts and tradition. TUnder her concentration, she lists “evil”. In theory, she is now a Doctor of Evil. …I CANNOT be the only person who thinks that it’s almost worth going through a doctorate program JUST so you can introduce yourself as “Yes, Dr. Lord. Doctor…OF EVIL!” [/QUOTE] To put a damper on your charming tale, I’m not so sure that any level of specificity close to that would be applicable. I’ve TOLD people who ask, at various times, that I hold a Ph. D. in English, in Writing (because that was my specialization), in Modern American Literature (since that was the area I took my oral exams in), and in several other things, but I think (I think) that none of those are accurate. I’ve got a doctor of philosophy degree, notwithstanding that I understand philosophy a little bit less well than I understand the estrous cycle of the orangutan. Am I being picky to say that all Ph. D.s are doctors of philosophy with varying specializations? ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/37 "2006-08-14T03:35:22Z")
Why do all the google ads mention growing your own mushrooms? Anywho, I’m a doctor-by-osmosis. My wife is a PhD in Biochemistry, and most of my friends are MDs or hold doctorates. I also get to drink free beer with Nobel Prize winners (okay, I just hang out in the same bar , but still…). I always get introduced as “the token non-scientist.” ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/38 "2006-08-14T03:42:26Z")
I have a Ph.D. in psychology. Congratulations, **Sattua** , and welcome to the club. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/39 "2006-08-14T03:51:58Z")
thanks. will somebody point me in the direction of the golf course? ---
**Author:** ![Della](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c68b51/32.png) [@Della](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Della)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2006, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552/40 "2006-08-14T04:00:31Z")
I’m close. Collecting dissertation data as we speak (type? whatever). Give me another year and I’ll be Della, Doctor of developmental neuroscience. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-doctor/368552.md?page=3)