<p>This is not a matter of law or entitlement, but rather a matter of ettiquette. In the United States, traditionally the custom is to call only medical doctors (as well as dentists, vets, etc.)by “Doctor.” In Europe, it is different–people with advanced and professional degrees (including lawyers) are commonly addressed as “Doctor.” But like many other ettiquette issues, there has been “creep” in the US, with more use by non-medical people of the title. Sometimes it seems reasonable–like when the principal of the high school has a doctorate and is called “Dr.” That does not strike a funny note to my ear. It does strike a funny note, though, when (say) a person with a PhD in English Literature prefers to be called “Dr.” in daily life. But there is no real authority–people don’t turn to Emily Post like they used to.</p>
<p>Edited to add: I didn’t look it up in Emily Post, but I think Doctors of Divinity are also customarily called “Dr.” in the US.</p>
<p>The PhD. high school teachers were called Dr. I didn’t mind - they earned it double by being willing to teach our kids!</p>
<p>I wish we had two different words.</p>
<p>It was much more formal in Germany. My husband called his boss Herr Doktor Professor. My husband’s students seem to swing between calling him by his first and name and Dr. Last Name.</p>
<p>I agree that it also doesn’t seem odd to me in a high school setting–it is a way of distinguishing the teachers who have PhDs, and it would seem peculiar to call them “Professor.”</p>
<p>In the context of a medical appointment, I think I would be offended if a PhD nurse introduced herself as Doctor an left me to assume she had graduated from med school. At the med school here, we have EdDs and PhDs and they resolutely intro themselves without their academic titles, to avoid confusion. They do include their xxx after their name, in correspondence.</p>
<p>As for Emily: Socially as well as professionally, medical doctors, dentists, and other professionals are addressed by, and introduced with, their titles. People who have earned a Ph.D. or any other academic, nonmedical doctoral degree have the choice of whether to use “Dr.” both professionally and socially. If, when meeting people with doctorates, you’re unsure how to address them, “Dr.” is always correct. If they’d rather the title be dropped, they will let you know.</p>
<p>In Germany, I believe Herr Professor is the working title (ie, he is a college level teacher.) Whereas, Herr Doktor Professor is a PhD equivalent who teaches or researches. Love it when the Germans have to order a number of titles. Also, technically, I was Frau Doktor Professor, because, yup, DH had the titles.</p>
<p>Last, it’s all confusing. Like some rules of grammar, depends on the source. My kids did call PhDs in their hs by “Dr,” but it had simply become custom- no one said, hey, you have to. But, students and families alike felt that they deserved it.</p>
<p>lookingforward, what edition of Emily Post is that from? Alas, she (or rather, her successors) have compromised.</p>
<p>If you are amused by the German titles, you might enjoy Alexander McCall Smith’s books about several German Professors, beginning with “Portuguese Irregular Verbs.”</p>
<p>The correct title for a PhD is Dr. My DH receives letters with that on them all the time from professional associations, etc, it is on his business card, and if he or his other PhD colleagues are speaking at a conference, guess what the moderator introduces them as? </p>
<p>He does not really like it being used, he feels it is stuffy, but it is the etiquette in the field so that’s what they all do.</p>
<p>At the ETA in Switzerland, the PhDs there are all called “Herr Doktor Professor X” by everyone and you had better say it all!</p>
<p>My D’s h.s. art teacher is a PhD and everyone calls him Doc. The principal calls him Dr. N when he introduces him. </p>
<p>MDs do not have the lock on the title. If I am in a hospital and I hear someone being called Dr I do sort of assume they are MDs. But in other settings, I would not necessarily make that assumption.</p>
<p>JRZMom, these ettiquette questions are thorny. Does your H’s business card really say “Dr.?” As a matter of ettiquette, if it says PhD, it shouldn’t also say Dr. (Same for M.D. and Dr., by the way.) And I was taught that you address a letter to a lawyer with Esq., but that a lawyer doesn’t sign his own name that way.</p>
<p>I think the problem is that there is no real arbiter of what is “correct.”</p>
<p>JRZMom- I think that’s the correct “formal” title. Which, yes, adds to the confusion. There was a thead, some time ago, about what to call a lecturer or other, when you’re not sure if he/she has the PhD. (I believe the issue was about when writing to him/her.) I think all agreed on “Professor,” which reflected the work. </p>
<p>I–sniff–would never look to Emily Post’s website for definitive ettiquette rules. I will refer later to my hard copy edition given to me by my mother when I went off to college. Even that is a later edition, and probably shows signs of decay.</p>
<p>Somewhat more seriously, this is one area where we have a slight conflict of values, between wanting to do what is “correct,” and wanting to call people what they prefer to be called.</p>
<p>^ Love you. I get it. I was an Amy Vanderbilt gal. But, since virtually no one knows the “rules” today, it’s tough to stick with 'em. DH tries to get the girls to face the knife blades in the right direction.</p>
<p>(Let us know what that old copy says- bets it’s more fun. My mom insisted I address wedding invitations, “John Doe, M.D.”)</p>
<p>Although she is more modern, I like Miss Manners–she makes it clear that ettiquette rules are essentially arbitrary and often serve no sensible purpose–but they make it easier for people to get along together.</p>
<p>I was an adjunct at one college where instructors without doctorates were called “Professor”. However at the university I attended undegreed adjuncts were simply called Mr. or Mrs., instructors with PhD’s were called “Dr.” and only long-time instructors who had been honored with advancing to the top positions were called “Professor”. Some of it depends on the convention at the particular school. Personally, I now prefer my students to call me Dr. but it felt a little strange when the banker used it.</p>
<p>The article is really who gets to use the title Doctor in a MEDICAL setting.
Do you want to go to the doctor’s office or a clinic and be greeted with
“I’m Dr. Soandso, your nurse, physical therapist or pharmacist?”
Wouldn’t that confuse you? Especially since that person will be treating you to some degree? Would you think you were being taken care of by a MEDICAL doctor, not someone with another advanced degree?</p>
<p>I love a hint of modesty about one’s triumphs or accomplishments. (Not neuroses, but a sense of what’s appropriate and where/when.) If the nurse intro’d her/himself as doctor, I’d smell a little insecurity- as in, “I have to let you know my highest degree.” In contrast, if it were not mentioned, but I spotted a diploma on the wall, I’d be (at least a bit) impressed. </p>
<p>As an example, plenty of PhDs, MDs and other high degrees on CC and the holders rarely mention it except in specific contexts.</p>
<p>Hunt, you are right, the business cards, which he did not design or order, come saying Name, PhD. Correspondence says Dr. </p>
<p>Those Ds in the titles <em>mean</em> doctor. Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Law (juris), Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Doctor of Education, and Doctor of Philosophy (natural philosophy in DH’s case, today known as a science), et al. Maybe lawyers don’t use it but if they have the JD degree they are doctors. </p>
<p>I think the confusion came when the public began to call people who had the MD degree doctors with a small D. Many people think the only kind of Doctor is the small d medical kind. That is just not true. </p>
<p>I can understand confusion in hospitals over nurses who have a legitimate title to the D in the little train of initials after their names. But, they did the work, they earned the degree, it is theirs. The better path would be to educate people as to what these titles mean, instead of allowing folks to think the only people who should be called Dr are the bearers of only one type of doctoral degree.</p>
<p>The receptionist may have a PhD (must have been an English major…) but she probably won’t have a stethoscope, a white coat and the ability to prescribe medications like many nurses and pharmacists (and physician assistants). When someone examines you, hands you a prescription and calls themselves Doctor who do you think treated you?</p>
<p>I jokingly tell people to call me “master” because I have a master’s degree, and I warn them not to make me angry, since as a “master of science” I have the power to make their lives very difficult. :D</p>
<p>I really love people who have a diploma-mill Ph.D. and want to be called doctor. Also people with theology “degrees” from the Worldwide Online Church of Whatever who want to be called The Reverend Such-and-Such.</p>