Ph.D Holder Question

I need to settle a debate I''ve been having with a friend once and for all...\ \ Is it pretentious for a Ph.D holder to use the suffix "Dr." and request others to address him/her as Doctor instead of Mr. or Ms?

• Sometimes. It depends.

• Yes, it is pretentious; however, I strongly believe that someone who has spent the time and money pursuing a doctorate has every right to go by Dr. It would be foolish not to.

• In an academic setting where others are pulling similar rank, no (not pretentious; possibly necessary)\ \ In other settings (like "please address me as Dr. Twit" at a gathering where no one else is being addressed that way) - yes, very pretentious.

• Well, it depends on the circumstances.\ \ I have a colleague with a doctorate in statistics. She wants her coworkers to address her as "Dr. Marianne". I can''t believe it. We all laugh at her behind her back.\ \ On the other hand, I introduce her to professionals outside our immediate work environment as "Dr. Marianne Faithful" and expect people to call her Dr. Faithful until told otherwise (which is never because she eats that shit up).

  Names have been changed to protect the guilty.

• You mean like Dr. Laura & Dr. Cosby? It''s fine. As long as you make them refer to you by all of your titles.

  Empress Carlotta, Tsarina of Park Slope

• I think it depends on locale and what your doctorate is in. If it is in English or literature, for example, it is pretentious in the Northeast but common down South to be called "doctor." Also, in nursing school, it was common to call teachers "doctor" even if they only had a Master''s (which I always found odd). I am used to saying "Professor" and have been corrected.

• I agree with r3. In a professional/academic environment I think it is perfectly fine to use "Dr." in your title. But if you''re in a casual social setting and keep pushing the Dr. angle then you''re probably bordering on obnoxious.\ \ This is a tricky gray area though...is it pretentious to use "Dr." on your holiday cards?\ \ "Merry Christmas from Dr. Schmoe!"

• OP, you mean prefix, not suffix.

• I''ve never known a Ph.D. who DIDN''T use the Dr. prefix to their name.%0D\ %0D\ However, that doesn''t mean a friend should call them "Dr." in informal settings. I call my Dr. friends by their first names only.

• You don''t use the suffix Dr. you use the suffix Phd. \ \ If you are introduced to someone who uses the title "Dr." then they must also give the reason they are a "Dr." \ \ Eg. This is Dr. Blowhard; he''s teaches economics at Bumfuck U. \ \ Then people call you what ever they will. If you are currently teaching, your students may address you as Professor or Dr.

  Mr. Manners

• In the UK and Europe it seems to be traditional.\ \ In the US it''s ridiculously pretentious and generally seen as a mark of insecurity, especially now that no tenurable professor lacks a PhD. I teach college in the humanities and would want my undergrads to call me "Mr." or at the most "Professor." My reaction to being called "Dr." when it happens feels like a form of reverse snobbery. I remember high school teachers with PhDs in education insisting on the "Dr." thing to separate them from the herd. I''ve definitely noticed the title is more common at lower-ranked colleges and universities. \ \ R2''s argument is just embarrassing.\ \ Obviously I''m talking about the usage in an academic setting. In a social situation it''s grounds for punch-and-delete.

• Despite the doctorate, R11 is just a piece of common trash.

• But if I met my doctor at a social gathering I would still address him as "Dr."

• My BF holds a PhD in economics and does not want to be called "Dr." he works for a well known pharma company. No one does, really, though he is often written up in company correspondance as such. %0D\ %0D\ I''m proud of him, though. My little doctor-man.

• I have a Ph.D. and I''m a woman. I only expect to be called "doctor" in a work setting if it''s appropriate. Aside from that, Ms. works best for me.

• When I went to college, at the beginning of every class the professor would write his or her name on the board. If they were a Ph.D they would write "Dr. So-and-So" and if not just "Prof. So-and-So".\ \ But I don''t recall any of the Ph.Ds forcing the students to address them as Doctor. Only as Professor. It would be rude to call any professor "Mr. So-and-So".

• That''s adorable, R14. You should tell him that one day, if you haven''t already.

• Why am I a common piece of trash, r2/r12?

• r8, my prefix is 273. Geezers still call it CRestview.

  Beverly Hills

• They should be required to write "Dr. Joe Schmoe, Ph.D." We''ll know they''re not only redundant, but not a real doctor.

• I agree it does vary.%0D\ %0D\ In most formal settings, it seems common to use the prefix "Dr.". I certainly never called any of my professors in college by their first names (in grad school it was different).%0D\ %0D\ btw "professor" often is slang for any college teacher, but "Professor" normally connotates academic rank. %0D\ %0D\ A new or inexperienced hire might start out as Assistant or Associate Professor, and not be made a full Professor until later in their career (if ever).%0D\ %0D\ I think it''s a sign of respect to call a Ph.D holder "Dr.", at least at first (or when making introductions). But your friend doesn''t have to be a twat about it "Mom, I TOLD you to call me ''Dr Jonny''".

• As others have said, context is everything in this debate. %0D\ %0D\ Coming to DL to settle something "once and for all" is...priceless.

• I have befriended a colleague who is an MD. It is so hard to not call her Doctor when out in public. I''m just so used to it. She constantly corrects me.

• I have a PhD and use it only professionally, that is to say at work and in professional settings.%0D\ %0D\ I work mostly with physicians as well. Few of them who I also know as friends use their MD titles as Dr. in their private lives.%0D\ %0D

• In situations where I would use Mr. or Mrs. I would use Dr. where applicable. %0D\ %0D\ I don''t go around addressing my friends who aren''t doctors as Mrs. or Mr., so I wouldn''t casually address my doctor friends as DR.%0D\ %0D\ I mean honestly, when do you use Mr. or Mrs. anyway, outside of a professional situation?

• So it''s unclouth for a medical physician to use the title "Dr. Joe Schmoe, MD"?

• As others said, the university where I teach has the social norm of calling any faculty member with a PhD "Doctor". It's not meant as an ego thing, it's just an old tradition. I agree with the differences people mentioned about north and south, and I think we can also note a difference between public universities where people announce rank on a regular basis, and liberal arts colleges that are "learning communities" where everyone, including the faculty, are expected to use first names only. I've seen some full professors who pull rank by asking to be called Professor instead of Dr. but it never sticks. I also know some faculty members who have MAs (for example in the Communication Arts, Media Arts, Fine Arts) who end up being called Professor because they teach but they are not a Dr. The other thing I would be curious about: Displaying diplomas in frames in your office at your universities? I was raised to think it was the height of tacky grandstanding to display any diploma in your office, that that was reserved for the medical MDs and Dentists who had to display their qualifications to patients before services rendered. I have only one or two colleagues who display their diplomas in their office and they are either from Europe or made fun of behind their back by some of the other faculty.

• "I was raised to think it was the height of tacky grandstanding to display any diploma in your office..."%0D\ %0D\ How odd. I don''t think that''s true at all... I think it''s just a personal choice.

• I hope more people will weigh in on the question too, R28. Just out of curiosity, what''s your discipline? I''m in a humanities field, but I know a lot of Business faculty who display their diplomas like crazy. I don''t display diplomas but I do display other things like community service awards.

• R27 I wonder about that too. I''m a licensed therapist and the only thing I tote up is my license, whereas other colleagues have the big framed grad and undergrad diplomas. I''m pretty sure the only document *required* for posting is the license.

• If you are "treating" people, your patients should refer to you as Dr. I actually like calling my friends, on occasion, Dr. They''ve earned it and I respect it.

• It's NEVER appropriate for anyone, Ph.D., D.D.S., or M.D., to ask to be called "Dr." socially anymore. It is fine to address them as such in letters if you want to be formal. Ph. D.s should be addressed as "Dr. XXX" on campus if they are professors and you are on a campus where professors commonly go by the prefix "Dr." and you are seeing them for a professional reason (for example if you are a student visiting a professor in his or her office hours). "Dr." as a term of respect is more often used in the South. In the North and Midwest and West, professors are more commonly addressed as "Professor XXX," and should be addressed as such on campus or in a professional context when you are consulting them for their expertise. At some liberal arts schools, professors go by their first names with their students. If you are not a student (or former student) at their college and are consulting them about a professional matter, you should address them on campus or in a professional context as "Professor XXX." Doctors and dentists should be addressed as "Dr. XXX" in their offices or hospitals. Socially you should address them the same way they address you: if they call you "Bridget" outside of the medical office, you should free to address them outside of it as "Charlie."

  Ph.D. ( and current college professor)

• r26, in correct form say Dr. Joe Schmoe or Joe Schmoe, MD. Not both titles around the name.

  Etta Kitt

• Technically, a Ph.D. as a research degree requiring a published work (usually a dissertation) outranks an M.D., D.D.S., a D.M.D., or D.O. %0D %0D The medical/dental doctorates are not research degrees and rank below them, below even Masters that required a dissertation. Some 'medical' degrees such as D.Sc.D., D.Sc. which require dissertations outrank MDs and DDSs.%0D %0D Protocol is to list your highest degree last. You will often see MDs (especially in Med schools) listed as John Doe, MD, MPh or Jane Doe, DDS, DScD.%0D %0D In the British system our MDs receive BCh degrees -- Bachelor of Surgery and are usually called Mister.%0D %0D So, actually, while a bit out of style, it is proper to call a PhD doctor and in academic settings a PhD is placed above MDs. Even in medical settings (hospitals, med schools) a PhD is addressed as doctor.%0D %0D (I'm a precentor and clinical instructor at an ivy league med school with non-med doctorates [anthropology & theology] and am listed and addressed as doctor. In my dentist's office, not so much ...

  northernsuburbs

• Not all fields have PhDs as the terminal degree. \ \ I was an assistant to the head of a department at Columbia. I remember that people from fellowships like Rhodes, etc would call and ask to speak to Dr. X. I did not have the heart to tell them that she was just Ms. X.\ \ It was odd though because no PhD that I have met call themselves Dr. It is just tacky, unless you give advice on TV or radio.

• so a TV Ph.D can be "Dr". but an a academic at a research institution is jut Mr?

• Calling themselves Dr is how TV PhDs signal that they are charlatans. Unless they are trying to warn off those of us who have common sense, it is just tacky for PhDs to use the title.

• Only if students address me. Outside academia, I would never use it. I''m also slightly uncomfortable if non-academics working at my university use it, e.g. people from administration, HR, etc.

• What R3 said.

• In a social environment, John Smith works for either. No need for pretension. In a formal situation, Ph.D. - Mr. John Smith; M.D. - Dr. John Smith. Ph.D.''s tend to be arrogant assholes that live in their heads and believe they know everything about anything. Academia is their cocoon and mostly have little to no life experiences. I love pissing them off! BTW, I''m a Ph.D.

• I think it is ridiculous to address someone who holds a PhD a "Dr." Regardless of how long their academic pursuits take, a person with a PhD will never be a doctor/dr. as far as I'm concerned. If I'm choking in a restaurant and someone shouts "We need a doctor here!" what person with a PhD would dare step forward? I argue as someone who does not have a PhD. I have a masters degree, and there really is no higher degree in my field, does this mean I should insist that people address me as Master So-and-so? No. That would be ridiculous. It's not much different for someone with a PhD. A doctor is someone who has graduated from an accredited medical school, is someone who has been educated to apply medical learning and diagnoses to to human beings. A PhD holder is someone who has graduated from an accredited institution an a field that is not medicine, is a person who has been educated to work in academia. In most colleges and universities, it is not proper to refer to a PhD holder as Dr., just ask medical students and faculty members. So, regardless of what has emerged as convention, I urge all of you to resist referring to PhD holders as doctors. They are not. Remember this when you have an illness.

  fineCallMeaHater

• Wow, R41, sour grapes?? It''s not my fault there are no PhD degrees in basket weaving or whatever you acquired a "degree" in.

  Eat my PhD bitch!

• "In most colleges and universities, it is not proper to refer to a PhD holder as Dr., just ask medical students and faculty members."%0D %0D You are categorically wrong. I am faculty at a major medical school with a PhD in a health related discipline, and I am adjunct faculty at 2 additional universities in the same city.%0D %0D Until I request that students and faculty peers at the medical school and additional graduate departements address me by my first name they alway address me as Dr. XXX.%0D %0D In all professional settings at the schools and elsewhere I am always introduced as Dr XXX. In my private life I am my first and last name. At home, in my appartment building, among friends etc. In fact only my good friends know I have a PhD.%0D %0D I teach medical students and advise doctoral candidates in our medical university programs. Our PhD programs and degrees are much more rigorous than the MD degree. Dissertaions in good programs are among the most difficult of all endeavors I know of. (This is one of the best medical schools in the nation.) I do research at the medical school collaborating with MDs and many PhD scientists. We are all Drs and all addressed as Dr... in an hour I going to teach a class of senior MDs obtaining translational research masters. They all address me as Dr. XXX until they are comfortable calling me by my first name.%0D %0D Obviously my MD peers know that I am not an MD and will not operate on or write orders for drugs or intervene medically in an emergency. This has absolutely nothing to do with how someone if addressed and identified professionally as well.%0D

  R23

• can''t spit it out, this PhD, how someone addresses and identifies me professionally."%0D\ %0D\ ... and sorry for additional typos above.%0D\ %0D\ Dr. XXX

  R23

• Doctors of anything are pretentious, it comes with being a doctor. A Doctor of Turdology would want to be called Doctor even if he spent is his education studying shit.

• Oy. A PhD isn''t a real doctor.

  Mrs. Dr. Barry Weiss, DDS, Great Neck, Long Island.

• %C3%92h, R46, you''re quite the retarded little one, aren''t you?\ \ Medical doctors are just that - medical doctors. It''s been shortened to doctor in common usage. Ph.D.s are, by definition, doctors.\ \ Anyway, I''m about a year from getting my Ph.D. (second part of my comps start tomorrow!), and the thought of being called Doctor is so ridiculously foreign to me that I can''t begin to imagine it. I even cringe when my students call me "Professor." It doesn''t make me feel professional or respected in the least - just OLD.

• This all is settled, right? \ \ I prefer to be called "Professor," which where I am from means more. But only in the academic environment. Elsewhere Mr. (Herr) is fine. Or my first name with friends. \ \ To expect people in a social setting to refer to you by an educational title is ridiculous. I refuse, for that matter, for any non-clerical title less than Duke. I let the religious have their fripperies.

• In cunt at R41's scenario, what he left out was the unspoken modifier: in the restaurant they are shouting "We need a [medical] doctor here!". %0D %0D As opposed to say, a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D), Doctor of %0D %0D Doctor of Arts (D.A./D. Arts), %0D Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Doctor of Church Music (D.C.M.), %0D Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D./D.C.L.), %0D Doctor of Design (D.Des.), %0D Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), %0D Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng./D.E.Sc./D.E.S.), Doctor of Fine Arts (D.F.A.), %0D Doctor of Health Science (D.H.Sc.), %0D Doctor of Hebrew Letters (D.H.L.), %0D Doctor of Industrial Technology (D.I.T.), Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D./S.J.D.), Doctor of Music (D.M.), %0D Doctor of Musical/Music Arts (D.M.A./A.Mus.D./D.Mus.A.), %0D Doctor of Music Education (D.M.E.), %0D Doctor of Modern Languages (D.M.L.), %0D Doctor of Nursing Science (D.N.Sc.), %0D Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), %0D Doctor of Public Administration (D.P.A.), Doctor of Physical Education (D.P.E.), %0D Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), %0D Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.), %0D Doctor of Science (D.Sc./Sc.D.), %0D Doctor of Social Work (D.S.W.), and %0D Doctor of Theology (Th.D.).%0D %0D So while medical professionals may have adopted the term as a 'first name', it's silly to think they only they can use the title. Like it or not, they are just another kind of Doctor.%0D %0D Most Ph.D's I know (and I work higher education) are known by their first time. I may use their title in formal occasions, or when making introduction, which is only polite and expected.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctorate

• You can buy a PhD from Columbia. And, yes, I have a DSW from the CUSSW and it didn''t require PhD-level research or statistics.

  http://chronicle.com/blogs/tweed/columbia-u-will-convert-your-dsw-to-a-phd-for-600/26703

  DSW and not ashamed in a world of "real" PhDs

• Classically a doctor of medicine should always be addressed as doctor. A phd in nursing, for example, should not be addressed the same way. If placing name cards at a table say, at a wedding, Dr as a prefix can be used for a phd, but it would be considered an insult to write mr or mrs for a doctor of medicine. They should always be addressed that way.

  Anonymous

• It is generally considered pretentious for anyone with a doctorate - J.D., Ph.D, D.D.- who is not a health practitioner to insist on being called Dr. How many lawyers insist on being called doctors?

• This is always an issue. I am a non-PhD scientist, spent many years in school (left a PhD program with a Masters instead) so have many people around me at school and at work who hold PhDs. In school, I always address all professors as doctor and wait for them to correct me - then I call them whatever they ask me to. At work, I do the same thing, although in 20+ years of working I've never once met a PhD who asked to be called doctor. I always address PhD holding colleagues as doctor to outsiders or new employees - and always use the prefix when addressing outside people with email if I know their status, or if they hold a senior scientist position or above. My partner is a professor, his students call him professor, only once in a while someone addresses him as doctor, but he does not hold a doctorate and always corrects them - he does refer to other professors as doctor in front of the students and it seems all the students there address all of their professors as doctor - I guess you should first start using the prefix and wait for them to respond and instruct you - I have several physicians who over the years have become friends and have come to my home for parties and also attend fund raising events that I work on, and even though they have corrected me and asked me to call them by their first names, I can't - not sure why - it's a respect thing for me I guess

• Some of the responses on here explain why medical doctors have such huge egos. Also, does nobody here have experience of a university where students call the lecturers by their first name?

• It's pretentious. And it's earned. If someone insists on being called Dr., assent to his/her wishes, and silently judge their pretense. And, indeed, a Ph.D. outranks an MD, and some of the outrage regarding that seems to reflect our sad economic priorities in this country that privilege making money over education.

• What about Veterinarians? Do we call them Dr. outside of the vet office? To their credit, instead of knowing the human body systems, they usually know 4-5 others (cat, dog, horse, cow, rodent, lizard, bird) pretty well and have doubtless studied many more. I would feel safer with a veterinarian than a PhD in many situations.

  not%20a%20DVM

• Dr Jill Biden teaches ESL at a community college. If she weren't married to the VP, she'd be a bottom feeder in the academic world. A friend of my husband's has a PhD in Physics. Before cellphones were really common, he'd called and left a message on his friend's answering machine giving my mother's phone number and telling him he could be reached there. He specifically said it was my mother's house. When his friend called, we'd gone to 711 to pick up some milk for my mom. We got back and my mother told us that "Dr Mugwump called and left a message for John to call him. Is John sick?" I said, "I dunno..." then I remembered his friend's last name was Mugwump. I mean really. To call your friend at his in-laws house and identify yourself as "doctor" is too low.

• DVMs are much smarter than MDs. People who don't get accepted to veterinary school become medical doctors or lawyers.

• r51 seems to be posting from Birmingham, AL from the year 1952. The world has changed. Wake up. Even medical doctors are never addressed as 'doctor" socially anymore (except by their patients and by mistake).

• I have two. Ph.Ds (in different fields, needless to say). I tell my students they are free to address by my first name, as Professor _____, Mr. ________, or Professor _________ (yes, to anticipate the snark, they also us my last name, not a blank). I simply remind them not to confuse use of first name with an equal power relationship--I still must give them grades. Socially, of course, I wouldn't ask anyone at a gathering to use an honorific--either first name or Mr., depending on level of familiarity. Insisting on being addressed is tacky, and referring to oneself by any form of address ("This is Dr. Smith calling") is gauche.

• r60, "power relationship"!! You're a lot of fun.

  PhD%2C%20DSc.

• Oh, and r50, Columbia "gave" a PhD to a DSW-holder who submitted a completely false CVita. However, her $600 check cleared which, apparently, is the real criterion for the "upgrade."

• It's ridiculous to call Ph.Ds "Doctor" outside an academic atmosphere, and even though you would likely be calling them "Professor." Ph.Ds who demand that people refer to them as doctor or put Dr. so-and-so on their correspondence doubly embarrass themselves because 1) people will invariably ask if they're a medical doctor (and think you're stupid when you're not) and 2) people will snicker behind your back about how silly you are referring to yourself as a doctor when you're not a medical doctor. We need a new word for "Academic Doctor."

• The short answer to OP's original question is "Yes."

• I have gone back to school to get a masters degree in social work and am a minister in a small non-Christian church. On the first day of class last semester, I addressed a PhD as "professor" and he loudly and smugly corrected me by saying, "I prefer to be called Dr. Smith, Mr. Jones. I worked hard for my degree." So I responded, "I beg your pardon, Dr. Smith, then you may call me John or [bold]Reverend[/bold] Jones." Some of the other students still call me "rev" because they thought it was funny, but I'm actually kind of embarassed I didn't just let it go. But I still got an A. BTW, names have been changed, blah blah blah.

• Interesting to see how many credentials lots of DL posters have. Quite a mixed crowd here.

• Doctor's office = yes Vet's office = yes Academic setting = yes, unless told otherwise Everywhere else, no. But if someone makes an introduction as a doctor, it's polite to honor that request and does no harm to do so. No need to be defensive or insecure about terminal degrees that end at the Master's level or what ranks where and whatnot. Yes, I'm from the South.

• In the US and Canada yes it is, outside it varies. In the USA and Canada, "Doctor" commonly means physician. The two words are interchangeable basically. Not so in the rest of the world. So if you're using "Doctor" in a situation where one would not know it was an academic title, rather than a physician than you are pretentious. The same way you can refer to a dentist or a vet or a psychologist as a "Doctor" in the appropriate setting. Earning a degree has nothing to do with it. I know of PHDs who work hard on their degrees and others who did little, it came easy for them. So what? The easy ones aren't entitled to use the degree? No, effort has nothing to do with it.

• Sort of veering off topic a little, but I follow a few new age type people who claim to have PhDs, and just for fun I researched one day and found that at least two of these people who claim to be healers received their "PhDs" from a diploma mill. Now the first thing I do when I see some supposed expert on youtube or a talk show who claims to have one is to research, and nine times out of ten they are from diploma mills. I am pretty skeptical of the new age in general, but I guess I am always hoping at least one of them will be the real deal. I guess the true PhDs are firmly grounded in academia, and if they veer out into mainstream publishing, they still keep their day jobs, unlike the phonies who sell endless seminars on self improvement online.

• I recently received my MPA. I address all of my professors as Dr. Thisnthat. My academic adviser, who is now a good friend, I call solely by his last name. Everyone references him by his last name; everyone knows his rank. I work with a prac-ademic in government. Outside of class, at work he prefers to be called "Robert". When he provides testimony or official representation he is always addressed as "Dr Thisnthat". I have applied for a PhD program. We'll see.

• I hold a Ph.D. in comparative literature and students generally call me "doctor" until I tell them to call me by my first name. I don't like the honorific; makes me look over my shoulder for my uncle who's a surgeon. However, my partner has a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering and design and works for boeing. EVERYONE addresses him as "doctor." If they don't, he'll kick their ass.

• I take issue with people who have received honorary degrees, but use the title Dr. Examples include Dr. Maya Angelou and Dr. Lonise Bias.

  Ph.D%20in%20Economics%20

• As to the diplomas in offices: professors display their PhD diplomas in tribute to their alma maters in the same way they will continue to wear their doctoral robes, ceremonially, from the awarding institution for the remainder of their careers. No ego thing just a reference thing. I also see fellowships and honor society certs hung as a matter of fact. Professionally, my agency rewards people who take the initiative to pursue educational advancement. My MPA diploma and my Cert in Public Management are hung on a side wall of my office. I will never put up my undergraduate diploma, as some have done, as it comes from a well known private university. For some reason THAT would come off a snooty. Licenses are displayed when they relate to employment and are reviewed for renewal. Ultimately, aside from the personal satisfaction, the only place they are required is on a job application by reference.

  r70

• LOL R67. As an undergrad, my professors always wanted us to call them by their first names. However, being from the south, I always had the impulse to show courtesy and call them "Prof. Last Name." Even the grad student TAs I would sometimes call Mr./Ms. Last Name.

• [quote]I hold a Ph.D. in comparative literature and students generally call me "doctor" until I tell them to call me by my first name. I don't like the honorific An earned degree does not result in a honorific title. It is an earned title.

• In twentieth century usage "Doctor" was used as a term of address only to a medical doctor, dentist or some other medical professional with a doctoral degree. In an academic setting you called someone with a doctorate "Professor," not "Doctor." In written form, you just used the person's name followed by the letters denoting the type of degrees they had, like John Smith, PhD (for a doctor of English literature) or Joan Jones, M.D. But popular usage changes and maybe everybody with a doctorate is now called Doctor. My opinion though is you shouldn't be called Doctor unless you're either legally empowered to write scrips or own a Tardis.

• Is it pretentious to insist that people continue to call me "Governor Romney"?

  Mitt

• It's fine, r77.

  President%20Clinton

• I decided to have students to call me "Dr." for the number of years equal to the time I spent earning the damn thing. After that I'll start going by "Mr." or--more likely--just my first name with them. For everyone else it's always "Mr." (when appropriate) or my first name.

• I forgot to add: I think it's okay to put up ONE framed degree in your office if it's a school you are especially proud to have attended. More than one starts to seem like bragging. And I would never put "Dr." on my checks, address labels, credit cards, etc. That's some pretentious shit.

  R79

• In correct form one does not say "Doctor John Jones, MD. He is Dr. John Jones or John Jones, MD.

  Emily Post and Amy Vanderbilt.

• Elderly Ph.D. (in Communications, no less) in our building insists all call him "Doctor". Lady living here overheard him being called "Doctor" and she approached him to find out if he was an oncologist. Her husband was dying of cancer and she wanted another opinion. Embarrassing.

  Anonymous

• I'm Dr. Mary Albright, Ph.D.

  Dr.%20Mary%20Albright%2C%20Ph.D

• I have several friends who are holders of both Doctorate Degrees and Medical Degrees. It depends on the person. I KNOW that both have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into getting that training and Diploma...however, the unpretentious insist on using their "Given" names without the Doctor prefix. In fact my Doctor, insists that I call him "Tony," which is his first name (I've been his patient for 20 years).

• R82. What's with the "Communications, no less" snark. I have one of my Ph.Ds in a Communications field--trust me, there are as many dolts in the more traditional fields as in Comm. But the elderly Ph.D who insisted on being addressed as Dr. Is a douche. And insisting on being addressed by any title is a sign of bad manners and insecurity. Period.

• My cousin married a guy with a Ph.D in English. Their wedding invitations announced that she would be marrying 'Dr. Smith'. The entire family (and I'm sure friends as well) thought that it was hysterical. We still laugh about it sometimes. It is just so pretentious.

• My best friend is a doctor of medicine. I never call her "Dr" unless I want some xanax.

• This topic really annoys me. I discovered a friend from high school has been appearing on national TV and radio shows for years now as a "specialist" in stress - whatever the hell that means. She CONSTANTLY refers to herself as DR. So and So - in everything she writes or says. All her advice is nothing more than common sense or even worse something like "surround yourself with beauty to stay calm throughout the week - so make sure you always buy fresh flowers for your home." LOL!!! And more idiotic things like that. So if your stress is caused by money problems go spend your money on a constant supply of fresh flowers? I looked her up and she went back to school after working in accounting/finance and got a masters in divinity and a doctorate from a seminary in "spirituality" - what is THAT? Anyway it pisses me off because her subject matter suggests that she is a medical doctor or at the least a psychologist. Which, of course, she is not. It's very misleading. I actually went online and read some excerpts from her books and all they show is a narcissist bragging about herself and how wonderful she is. I was embarrassed for her especailly when she compared herself to Gandhi and Jesus. I also found a bunch of unnecessary exaggerations about herself that suggest to me she's a pathological liar. So the question is - is her doctorate in spirituality better than my J.D.? LOL! And should I make the judges call me Doctor? "Overruled, Doctor."

  Just call me Al

• [85] Anyone who has more than one Ph.D. (and a law degree too perhaps?) and uses the word "douche" is, well, a douche. It pays to increase your word power, Doll.

  Anonymous

• I have two Masters degrees. As I told one insufferable English lit Ph.D who demanded to be referred to as "Doctor", "Call me 'Master' first and you got a deal." Neither request was honored and that was for the best.

• Yes it is annoying as fuck. I only call people doctors who practice medicine. Why can't these Ph. D holders just say they have a Ph D? I refuse to call them Dr and if they insisted, I would just keep saying "You" or "he/she".

• I work in medical research and am around md's and phd's. 95 percent of the time, it's the phd's that insist you call them doctors. MDs on the other hand usually prefer being called by their first names unless you are interacting with them in the patient care areas.

• r83 is Halfbright.

  Vern

• A prominent Houston socialite was granted an honorary doctorate in "humanities" (from a school with questionable accreditation to begin with) and went around having herself referred to as Dr. Carolyn Farb. I think someone must have clued her in to what an embarrassing joke that was, since recently she seems to have cut that shit out, for the most part.

  http://www.cmhouston.org/news/dr-carolyn-farb-book-reading/

• This thread must be bumped; the angst, the sturm und drang must continue. When I am hooded I will post as a PhD here, my bitches!

• I have a PhD and would only expect to be called doctor if it was appropriate in a work setting.

• [quote]if it was

  OD

• I have noticed that the lamer the PhD the more the holder will insist on being called doctor. PhD's in education particularly administration or special education. Also Psychologists, Theology, PhD's in"studies" of some variety that are largely advocacy or cheer leading types. People with PhD's in physics, chemistry or any hard science for the most part never insist in being called doctor.

• Depends on the circumstances. Where one is consciously reminding people of one's (relevant) credentials, it's permissible -- until one quickly suggests that he or she be called by the first name. In some fields, everyone's got one, so it's moronic to use the honorific (unless one is trying to persuade someone to undress). I never use mine, except for that purpose, or where someone has taken the liberty of calling me by my first name in clearly inappropriate circumstances. (A receptionist, for example, who calls her/his boss Dr. Something, but calls me by my first name.) Okay, so I'm a prig. Take that into consideration when reading my answer.

• Lawdy, I'll nevah tire of calling a preacher Reverend Doctor. After Martin Luther King it became an epidemic.