Honorary Doctorates

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Honorary Doctorates

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Calling yourself "Dr." when your Ph.D. is honorary is:

Perfectly acceptable

20%

[ 6 ]

Legal, but unethical

16%

[ 5 ]

Neither illegal nor unethical, but not right

[ 1 ]

Not "not right" but unspeakably pompous

60%

[ 18 ]

Other (please elaborate)

[ 0 ]

Total Votes : 30

louche

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 2:51 pm

Why or why not?

Last edited by louche on Tue, Jun 30 2009, 2:53 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 2:52 pm

What if your first name is doctor?

Clarissa

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 2:53 pm

I think, if that bozo Dr. Phil can call himself Doctor, we should all be able to do it.

Doctor Clarissa

louche

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 2:54 pm

amother wrote:

What if your first name is doctor?

Follow the rules for people whose first name is "god".

louche

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 2:59 pm

Clarissa wrote:

I think, if that bozo Dr. Phil can call himself Doctor, we should all be able to do it.

Doctor Clarissa

According to Wikipedia, he really does have a Ph.D. in clinical psych, from a real university, so he's entitled. Having a "Dr." appendage does not immunize anyone from bozodom.

I think Bernie Madoff's accountant should be required to call himself "Doctor" because he did a stellar job of doctoring...the books.

Clarissa

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 3:01 pm

That's it, I'm giving up on institutions of higher learning in the United States, if someone awarded him a degree. Maybe if Madonna goes to Kabbala centers enough, she'll get a smicha.

Clarissa

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 3:02 pm

louche wrote:

I think Bernie Madoff's accountant should be required to call himself "Doctor" because he did a stellar job of doctoring...the books.

Hey, I think he'll be calling himself something else these days, like Prisoner #12294-7775, as I imagine he'll be following Bernie to the Big House.

cassandra

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 3:04 pm

In some states JDs can call themselves "Dr." When we moved my father got a kick out of this but ultimately decided not to stick with it....

Clarissa

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 3:05 pm

I should get an honorary JD for dating so many of them, and marrying two of them.

cassandra

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 3:21 pm

Will you then be able to prescribe meds legally?

ss321

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 3:35 pm

Clarissa wrote:

I should get an honorary JD for dating so many of them, and marrying two of them.

lol clarissa!!
all kidding aside, as much as I think"honorary degrees" are a total joke, in a non-hospital environment I really dont care what you call yourself. if you have a PhD in ancient philosphy or baroque art or classical music then you are just as much a "doctor" as a psychiatrist. if you are a juris doctor then you are a doctor plain and simple.

but in a hospital, I really firmly believe that no one, not a PA, not a medical student, not a NP, not a postdoctoral student with a pHd in physiology or a grad student studying biochemistry, should use the term "doctor" lightly, otherwise you are misrepresenting what a physician is and I think doing so breeds mistrust between health professionals and patients.

I think in a non-hospital environment, this practice is ok.

tovasmom

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 5:14 pm

Well Esq. means something like the Honorable, so I'll stick to that. In Europe I know that those with a JD or Doctorate of Laws get to call themselves Dr.

Flowerpot

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 7:14 pm

People as is get all mixed up in hospitals with everyone being in scrubs. so at least only physician should be called doctor.

I was also wondering do they still go by the white long coat short coat?

ss321

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 9:48 pm

flowerpot wrote:

People as is get all mixed up in hospitals with everyone being in scrubs. so at least only physician should be called doctor.

scrubs were fine when it was just the docs and nurses wearing them (plus PA's, NP's and some thereapists such as respiratory therapists). but now you have everyone from kitchen staff to janitors wearing scrubs and it makes things really hard. Some hospitals have policies like only RNs and MDs (and I am pretty sure NP and PA would also qualify) can wear blue/green scrubs, everyone else is assigned other colors. I think that makes sense.

flowerpot wrote:

I was also wondering do they still go by the white long coat short coat?

in academic hospitals (other than Brigham and MGH IIRC), absolutely. short coat for 2nd and 3rd year medical students, long coat for interns and beyond (residents, fellows, attendings). In Israel I think med students might wear long coats. and again, things get very skewed when you find people like charge nurses wearing long coats vs med students wearing short coats and all the boundaries get skewed. the simplest solution is for everyone to make sure their ID badge is easily visible at all times. but doesnt always happen. oooh my ID badge Sad

you reminded me. Sad

better make sure I threw that in my bag....aaaargggghhhh prolly my last imamother login for a while Sad

bbmom

Tue, Jun 30 2009, 10:50 pm

The Russian Rabbi of our shul growing up used to call everyone Dr. Or more like doctorrrrrr. He called my father rrrrabbi doctorrrr and he was not certified in either field. So I guess you don't even need an honorary degree.

Ruchel

Wed, Jul 01 2009, 3:22 am

Only docs are called doctors here. But in Israel "dokto" (lol) is used by so many people...
My mom has a (real) PhD and she would NEVER present herself as "doctor".

Mrs Bissli

Wed, Jul 01 2009, 6:41 am

Here medical doctors can be addressed either Dr (as in general practitioners, dentists) or Mr/Miss (as in surgeons), though specialists are usually members or fellows so they put acronyms.

If someone is a congregational rabbi without smicha (quite common), the title is Rev.
Official letters to DS are addressed to Master.

greenfire

Wed, Jul 01 2009, 11:11 am

Clarissa wrote:

Hey, I think he'll be calling himself something else these days, like Prisoner #12294-7775 ...

hey that's my zip code ...

call me doctor greenfire Mr. Green

Atali

Wed, Jul 01 2009, 11:14 am

Mrs Bissli wrote:

The "rev" thing is British.

Outside of England anyone who is the rabbi of a shul (or for that matter in any other klei kodesh postion) is called "rabbi", whether or not they have smicha.

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