# Doctors in the military **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992 "2004-07-14T00:48:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/1 "2004-07-14T00:48:39Z")
For a story I’m writing: There’s a doctor in the Navy. How’s s/he gonna be addressed? By rank, regardless of being an MD? By just ‘Dr. X’? Some combination thereof? ---
**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/2 "2004-07-14T01:11:50Z")
“Doc”, or “Doctor” would be fine. Rank may be used for official things, but in conversation, it is usually less formal with the medicos. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/3 "2004-07-14T01:21:30Z")
Yeah…“Sir” never got me in trouble either though. “Dr. Feelgood” will have either a good or bad outcome. Few military doctors will straddle the fence on that one. “Almost a doctor” is a REALLY bad idea, especially if he’s gonna be working on you. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/4 "2004-07-14T01:33:21Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Yeah…“Sir” never got me in trouble either though. > > “Dr. Feelgood” will have either a good or bad outcome. Few military doctors will straddle the fence on that one. > > “Almost a doctor” is a REALLY bad idea, especially if he’s gonna be working on you. Heh. If someone’s giving you drugs or major surgery, be nice to them. Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/5 "2004-07-14T03:19:43Z")
My medical care as a kid was through the Air Force, and they were all Doctor to me. I never knew their ranks. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/6 "2004-07-14T15:34:37Z")
In my experience in the Navy, all of the M.D.'s (and D.O.'s and D.D.S.'s) were addressed as “Doctor,” unless their position was entirely administrative. For example the commanding officer of the Naval Hospital was referred to as “Captain [Name].” All other medical personnel (nurses, Medical Service Corps personnel, corpsmen, etc.) were referred to by rank, with one exception. Independent Duty Corpsmen assigned to ships/submarines were universally referred to as “Doc.” ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/7 "2004-07-14T17:11:42Z")
If your story is going to take place witin the Navy or with a lot of military characters, I’d suggest getting in touch with the public affairs officer of a Navy base to try to get some of the details right - particularly rank, social interaction, some lingo…the little things that lend authenticity to the story. If there’s a Naval base near you the Public Affairs office will be listed in the phone book, otherwise you might try a little research on www.navy.mil - the results might be well worth the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctors-in-the-military/254992/8 "2004-07-14T17:40:37Z")
> [@robby](#): > > In my experience in the Navy, all of the M.D.'s (and D.O.'s and D.D.S.'s) were addressed as “Doctor,” unless their position was entirely administrative. For example the commanding officer of the Naval Hospital was referred to as “Captain [Name].” > > All other medical personnel (nurses, Medical Service Corps personnel, corpsmen, etc.) were referred to by rank, with one exception. Independent Duty Corpsmen assigned to ships/submarines were universally referred to as “Doc.” Dead on. If the ship is large enough to have subordinate corpsmen working for the IDC, they can pick up nicknames of their own. A complimentary one is “Baby Doc”. “Dicksmith”, “pecker-checker”, and “penis machinist” are less complimentary ones.