# "Doctor" of physical therapy? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2017, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168 "2017-07-26T15:30:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/21 "2017-07-27T13:44:15Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > It seems as though the current trend is to “blur the line” between traditional “doctors”, and other providers … Um, “traditional doctors”? A medical doctor is not a traditional doctor in the long historical view. That’s a relatively recent concept, which clearly has blurred things. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/22 "2017-07-27T13:55:18Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > A DPT is now the entry level degree for physical therapists, and it is indeed a doctorate. I know several DPTs, though, and none of them would ever refer to themselves as a doctor. This^. My wife is a PT, but graduated before the DPT degree was a thing. None of her staff or colleagues who graduated with the DPT degree call themselves “Doctor”. Sounds like the texting of an overly proud mom to me. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/23 "2017-07-27T14:03:00Z")
Too late for edit: DPT is a clinical degree, not a philosophy degree. Most PhD courses require 2 years of class work and 2 years on a dissertation. DPT is 3 years of coursework and clinical rotation (after achieving a bachelors, so 7 years of school) with no dissertation. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/24 "2017-07-27T14:12:56Z")
I also have a nephew who is a PT. His degree says “Doctor of Physical Therapy”, and the sign out front indicates that the PTs who work there are “Dr. Brad Jones and Dr. Mike Smith”. He certainly doesn’t insist that anyone, including his patients, call him “Dr. Smith”, but the family does occasionally joke about “Dr. Brad”. From my understanding, physical therapists used to get their degree in two years (after a bachelors), but now it takes three and is called a doctorate. There is obviously a sliding scale of which professions “deserve” to be called Doctor. MDs, for sure, and probably most PhDs. I admit that I find the “Doctor of Education” (EdD), as so many school administrators are, to be somewhat of a joke. At school events, they always introduce the principal as “Dr. Brown”, which I find absurd. And then you have chiropractors, who go by Dr. And it is the norm around here for dentists to go by Dr., as well. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/25 "2017-07-27T14:26:51Z")
This is his mother referring to him that way. I wouldn’t look at it as reflecting any standard other than parental pride. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/26 "2017-07-27T14:43:41Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > Calling a PT a “doctor in the family” is totally inflating it. Because if that’s a “doctor” than anyone who a Doctorate in any field, Computer Science, Engineering, History, etc. would also be a “doctor in the family” and no one expects that. I’m curious what you think of a licensed clinical psychologist calling himself a doctor. 4-6 years post grad to get the Ph.D., one year of clinical rotations, one year of supervised practice -and postdoc placements of 2-3 years are relatively common. For him, the whole shebang took nine years. Professionally my husband is referred to as ‘‘Dr. Weasel’’ which seems appropriate to me, and we joke about it in-family, but his actual job is the only context in which he refers to himself as a doctor. Like he wouldn’t sign his credit card receipt ‘‘Dr. Weasel’’ or introduce himself that way socially, but he’d sign an accommodation letter to a client’s school that way to make it clear he has the credentials necessary to make that determination. He introduces himself to clients as ‘‘Dr. Weasel’’ but they call him whatever they want (this has a nice effect of reassuring parents but the kids are not generally impressed and just call him by his first name.) To me, that sounds like a good balance. Still, if someone asks me what my husband does, I don’t say, ‘‘He’s a doctor.’’ I say, ‘‘He’s a behavioral psychologist.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/27 "2017-07-27T14:46:34Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > And then you have chiropractors, who go by Dr. And it is the norm around here for dentists to go by Dr., as well. I think of dentists as medical doctors with a specialization, like I would think of a gastroenterologist or something, so it would never occur to me not to consider a dentist a doctor. Is that not the case? Do they not have some kind of applied training for dealing with tooth-related medical issues? What would they be other than a doctor? ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/28 "2017-07-27T14:51:47Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I think of dentists as medical doctors with a specialization, like I would think of a gastroenterologist or something, so it would never occur to me not to consider a dentist a doctor. Is that not the case? Do they not have some kind of applied training for dealing with tooth-related medical issues? What would they be other than a doctor? I don’t disagree. It seems appropriate for dentists. I was referencing other posts where people mentioned that dentists are not called doctors. Chiropractors, not so much, but they, too, are titled as doctors. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/29 "2017-07-27T15:03:44Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I have a mate who’s a dentist and dentists in the U.K. are indeed called Doctor, but only while they’re practising. When he retires he’ll no longer be allowed to call himself Doctor. Everyone who is called “doctor” should only be “doctor” while they are practicing. If you are in my lab, I’m “Doctor Fiveyearlurker” (but I will subsequently tell you to call me by my first name). If you are a medical doctor at a party, and insist on the “doctor” moniker socially, then you are an “asshole”. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/30 "2017-07-27T15:05:32Z")
> [@Orwell](#): > > Chiropractors, not so much, but they, too, are titled as doctors. This reminds me of Randy Pausch’s ‘‘Last Lecture’’ (which despite the glurgy marketing, is a great book.) Prior to his death, he was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon. His mother once introduced him thusly: ‘‘This is my son. He’s a doctor… But not the kind who helps people.’’ ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/31 "2017-07-27T15:54:28Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Everyone who is called “doctor” should only be “doctor” while they are practicing. I suggest that it would be more appropriate to wait to call them doctor until they’ve got it down! 😃 Full disclosure: I’m a judge. An administrative law judge, actually. Around work, it is pretty standard for all non-ALJs to refer to the judges as “Sir” or “Your honor”… Took a while to get used to. At first I thought I wouldn’t expect my clerks and staff to use anything other than my first name, but it pretty soon seemed clear that it was a useful convention. I think I was listed as “Hon.” on my daughter’s wedding invite, but can’t think of a single other instance outside of work that anyone called me by an honorific - outside of my asshole golf buddies who call me “judgy wudgy” or say, “It’s your honor, your honor.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/32 "2017-07-27T17:48:30Z")
My wife has a PhD and while they tease her at work as Dr. Digger the only time she uses it is when she needs to impress upon someone in writing that she really does know what she’s talking about. I think the mom in questions was wildly overstating he son as a doctor. Based on the description of the degree I would associate a PT Doc as equivalent to someone with an M. Eng who had passed their PE. Of course, I get the urge to brag a bit about family, I tried to get my wife and I introduced as Dr. & Mr. Digger at our wedding reception and she was having none of it. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/33 "2017-07-27T17:57:16Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I’m curious what you think of a licensed clinical psychologist calling himself a doctor. 4-6 years post grad to get the Ph.D., one year of clinical rotations, one year of supervised practice -and postdoc placements of 2-3 years are relatively common. For him, the whole shebang took nine years. Professionally my husband is referred to as ‘‘Dr. Weasel’’ which seems appropriate to me, and we joke about it in-family, but his actual job is the only context in which he refers to himself as a doctor. Like he wouldn’t sign his credit card receipt ‘‘Dr. Weasel’’ or introduce himself that way socially, but he’d sign an accommodation letter to a client’s school that way to make it clear he has the credentials necessary to make that determination. He introduces himself to clients as ‘‘Dr. Weasel’’ but they call him whatever they want (this has a nice effect of reassuring parents but the kids are not generally impressed and just call him by his first name.) To me, that sounds like a good balance. > > Still, if someone asks me what my husband does, I don’t say, ‘‘He’s a doctor.’’ I say, ‘‘He’s a behavioral psychologist.’’ It doesn’t matter if a licensed clinical psychologist has 20 years of training, if someone yells out “Is there a doctor in the house” in an urgent medical matter, they are expecting an MD, not a psychologist or anything else. We aren’t referring to what someone puts in front or at the end of their name. Simply referring to someone “as a doctor” donates a MD, a physician. It has nothing to do with the amount of training in the field compared to other fields. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/34 "2017-07-27T18:01:36Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > It doesn’t matter if a licensed clinical psychologist has 20 years of training, if someone yells out “Is there a doctor in the house” in an urgent medical matter, they are expecting an MD, not a psychologist or anything else. We aren’t referring to what someone puts in front or at the end of their name. Simply referring to someone “as a doctor” donates a MD, a physician. It has nothing to do with the amount of training in the field compared to other fields. Still, I can forgive Mom in this instance. She’s Mom. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/35 "2017-07-27T18:36:14Z")
A little off topic, but my father worked with a guy who had a _honorary_ doctorate and insisted on being called Doctor. Kinda BS. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/36 "2017-07-27T19:37:43Z")
I will call almost anyone who’s treating me “Doctor,” if only as a courtesy. In the abstract, however, my rough personal rule is that “a doctor” is someone who can prescribe drugs. I’m sure there are exceptions to that rule that I’m not thinking of, though. ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/37 "2017-07-27T23:03:27Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > my rough personal rule is that “a doctor” is someone who can prescribe drugs. I’m sure there are exceptions to that rule that I’m not thinking of, though. PA’s (physician’s assistants) can prescribe drugs, as can Nurse Practitioners. PA’s are master’s level clinicians - not certain what level NP’s are, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/38 "2017-07-27T23:18:57Z")
Physical therapists are pretty much the only way to fix many, many problems people have. They rehabilitate you after surgery, and help you out so you may not need surgery. I do not agree with anyone who thinks what they do isn’t important. I have no problem with a parent saying they have a doctor in the family for any doctorate. No, I wouldn’t go around calling them “Dr. So-and-so,” but surely a mother of all people can represent the title. Just like, if they were throwing a party afterwards, I would expect them to be called Dr. So-and-so by the attendees. That this guy is also working in the medical field makes it even better. And this isn’t woo like chiropractic, but actual medical science. Better to call them doctors than to let the Chiropractors take that title instead. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/39 "2017-07-27T23:47:20Z")
> [@tuesdayweld](#): > > PA’s (physician’s assistants) can prescribe drugs Not in Wisconsin. I have to co-sign all my PA’s orders for prescription meds. You are correct that NPs can prescribe meds independently. They do have to maintain a ‘collaborative’ relationship with a physician, however. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2017, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168/40 "2017-07-27T23:51:30Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Physical therapists are pretty much the only way to fix many, many problems people have. They rehabilitate you after surgery, and help you out so you may not need surgery. I do not agree with anyone who thinks what they do isn’t important. Some of what they do is very important, and cannot be done better by anyone else. My impression (based on nothing more than personal experience following a couple of injuries/surgeries, and reviewing medical and PT records daily in my job) is that an increasing number of them are running mills, simply providing a service that insurance companies are willing to pay for. Insurance will pay for 16 PT visits? Well guess what you need! And a lot of folk with miserable habits act as though going to a PT and having someone pay attention to them will do anything more than if they got up off their asses and did their home exercises. After my hand surgery, the OTs measured my deficits and progress, designed specific exercises, and modified splints - which I couldn’t have done myself. After my knee surgery, I didn’t need anyone to watch me pedal a frigging exercise bike, no matter how desperate they were for my copay. And not everything chiros do is complete woo. Hell, a glorified massage will provide some relief for some conditions. It is the grotesque overreach by many that I find troublesome. So yeah, I’d say we disagree somewhat. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-of-physical-therapy/792168.md?page=3)