None of whom in Britain.
In fact, anyone neither a medico nor PhD would be frowned on for calling themselves ‘Doctor’.
Plus use is frowned upon of PhDs to pass themselves as medical doctors: a nutritionist with a legitimate American PhD, Dr. Gillian McKeith, has been criticised for the implication her views have medical value *.
Paralleling the late Lord Bannside, whose American Doctorate was in Divinity from Bob Jones University, for his best-beloved title of Dr. Paisley.
In 1994, she claims to have obtained an MA and, in 1997, a PhD, both in holistic nutrition, via a distance-learning program from the non-accredited American Holistic College of Nutrition, later the Clayton College of Natural Health in Birmingham, Alabama (but since closed). She is a member of the American Association of Nutritional Consultants, but this association runs no checks on the qualifications of its certified members, permitting Ben Goldacre to register his dead cat for the same qualification as McKeith.
As your footnote says, Gillian McKeith does not hold a legitimate American PhD.
Sometimes dentists and the like are referred to as Dr. So are other PhD holders. Not all dentists hold the equivalent of a doctorate, but those who do can use Dr if they want. They don’t usually but they can if they want to. My more specialised dentists at the dental hospital do use Dr in their title, but my dentist at my local practice does not.
Strictly speaking it should have been Major Watson, military officer rank are to be used in preference to professional qualifications, even after retirement. And Watson was a surgeon in Afghanistan.
Homeopathy is certainly nonsense, but there are people with legitimate medical doctorates who believe in it, and prescribe homeopathic remedies as part of their medical practice. I dare say the same is true of some chiropractors. It seems that years of medical study aren’t sufficient to inoculate against woo.
My understanding, correct me if I’m wrong, is that the field of chiropractic medicine is all fakey. Many chiropractors I’ve heard of (on the internet, don’t know any in real life) recognize that, however, and never claim to do anything more than therapeutic touch and spine cracking. After you’ve sunk $150k into your education, it’s hard to just drop it all and leave for another profession. Rational chiropractors who know better basically just consider themselves glorified masseuses. So there are chiropractors who admit that what they do isn’t medicine, but they know that there is a market for their services, and they’d rather take someone’s business than let them go to another chiro who claims aligning their spine will cure cancer or something.
Did Dr. Watson retire though? I don’t know the specifics of British military retirement in the 1880s, but I thought Watson did a few years in Afghanistan and that’s it. He wasn’t a career officer.
Its possible that I mistaken as to his rank in the Conan Doyle novels, I do recall it being Major, but maybe this was in some other media. By convention, military rank is supposed to be employed in preference to other titles (except those of nobility) on active service and at all times for ranks of major and above; Churchill was sometimes referred to as Col Churchill in the interwar period, and Attlee was called Major Attlee until he became OM.
In the Conan Doyle novels, he was in the Army Medical Department, the predecessor of the RAMC today. It was around the 1870’s that doctors began to be commissioned officers,as opposed to civilians engaged.
Doctors had to pass examinations in many disciplines including surgery.
Of course if the question is why does Holmes introduce him as “Dr. Watson”, we can pretty easily guess that Holmes is intentionally letting his clients know that here is a person trained in hearing intimate details, sympathizing, trying to help, and keeping confidentiality.
I mean, introducing “Dr. Watson” is much better than
“Good-morning, madam,” said Holmes cheerily. “My name is Sherlock Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Mr. Watson, a reporter for the National Inquirer, before whom you can speak as freely as before myself…"
He was invalided out of the Army because of the wound in his shoulder (or leg). During his early association with Holmes, he lived primarily on his Army pension, although he later bought a practice and resumed his work.
He sold his practice late in the canon so he could resume full-time adventuring with Holmes. His medical qualifications were never in doubt, though, because in His Last Bow, which takes place on the eve of World War I, Holmes mentions that Watson is re-joining the service as a doctor. Watson was probably in his late 50s or early 60s at that point.
“And now, Dr. James Mortimer—”
“Mister, sir, Mister—a humble M.R.C.S.” [Member, Royal College of Surgeons]
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At time, “surgeon” was a title for a lower degree of medical education. “Physician” denoted advanced training. It’s analogous to a Master’s versus a Ph.D.
It should be noted that, despite Moritmer’s (single) protest, he is invariably referred to as “Dr Mortimer” throughout the novel (both in narration and to his face in dialogue), to the point that it makes me wonder about the actual practice of the time. Seeing as how Doyle himself was a medical doctor, I assume he’d know.
I suppose it should also be noted that Dr Mortimer appears to work as a “country doctor,” doing the job of a GP despite whatever degrees he holds.
Sometimes even in the hospital. I recently had eye problems and was being treated by an ophthalmologist listed as Doctor K. On a later visit she was listed as Mrs K, so I congratulated her on her promotion, only for her to tell me that she’d long been a surgeon.