Not a super serious question, just curious – let’s say you are at the doctor’s office, filling out your patient form and it asks what your title is. You have a PhD. Do you put Dr. or Mr/Ms/etc?
I am in the UK and I don’t love using Ms or showing that I am not married, so I put down Dr. but I always wonder if it looks like I am showing off or creating an impression that I am a medical doctor.
Comments
No. We don’t even use it at work.
Nope. Anyone who calls me doctor has to write two essays and call me in the morning.
I use it in places where it makes me laugh, council tax, nectar card etc..
Sometimes. We had it first. Physicians got it later, so I don’t worry about that.
I don’t get bent out of shape if people don’t use it, which I think is the important part.
I use it if something forces me to use a title, such as poorly designed online forms. Otherwise, no
It’s the one time I do use it.
TBH, the whole idea of titles seems so antiquated to me. But I have no problem using the entirely accurate title of Dr. – I was legitimately relieved when I got my Ph.D. and I didn’t have to waffle between Ms/Miss anymore. I definitely put it down on any form that requires it.
That being said, I don’t care if someone uses the wrong title. I often will just leave it title blank, and only fill it out if it’s required.
I pretty much only use it on rental applications. I’ve been told that it helps make you seem more reputable to prospective landlords.
I will also use it if I’m going out to dinner with my parents and need to make a reservation, but that’s mostly because it makes my Mom happy to hear them call “Dr. Antichain.”
I don’t introduce myself as “Dr” in any context in which I wouldn’t have used “Mr” before.
So, I will enter “Dr” if asked for my title on a form, but can’t really think of any other time when I would use it.
I am amazed by people who wrap academic titles up into their Twitter and/or Instagram handles!
If something calls for an honorific I use Dr.
I will circle “Dr.” on a form, but do not expect anyone to use it. My dentist’s office always uses it to call me back– “Dr. Puppet!” . . . which makes me chuckle. But they’re the only ones.
Yes. In hotels, flights, and other reservations.
In job interviews when I try to pass as a professional, nobody needs to know that Im just a desperate postdoc
i’m in the uk too, and i know this is a minority opinion but i absolutely do use it. everywhere.
doing a doctorate almost killed me (only slightly hyperbolic), and has a very deep emotional significance for various reasons. so yes, i do use it everywhere i can. i wear it as a badge of honour and a reminder of how hard i fought for it.
but!!! i totally see how it can look braggy/weird for some. each to their own.
and not to be like errrrm actually 🤓, but iirc, the term doctor originates from the latin ‘docēre’, meaning to teach—nothing to do with the medical field.
so if you want to use doctor, fucking use doctor!!! for all the reasons above, but also not to mention how statistically unlikely it is for us women to even get to this point (subject-specific, i’m sure).
Well, I earned it so yeah, I use it upon initial contact in professional/non-academic settings (e.g., when introducing myself at industry events).
I don’t expect or even want people to use the title to address me; but after putting myself through those five years of abject misery, it’s something I feel I must do where appropriate.
I do at medical doctors’ and dentists’ so that they’ll ask and I can say they can skip the intro to the human body/teeth.
I don’t on flights/transport as I don’t want anyone to think I could help in a medical emergency… Because I can’t.
Everywhere else I’m not really aware so I guess I don’t by default.
Edit: it’s definitely helped me secure rental accommodation at least once.
I’m not an academic, but I only use my title in professional settings. My wife, on the other hand, is a family physician, so she’s alway THE DOCTOR.
I am married, and for some reason I have a visceral response to being called a “Mrs.,” so I do use it when a title is warranted. If I was a guy, I might feel differently.
Avoid it in medical contexts to avoid risk of confusion. Use it for things like banking. insurance, etc where it can make a difference.
I’m Dr. when talking to the bank and when trying to get a good table at a posh restaurant… because I’m Dr I cannot afford a table at a posh restaurant
I use it largely at random on forms etc; 40% of the time if I had to guess. But if somebody actually calls me “Dr Presence” then I will always tell them to just call me Wooden.
It is my title and I use it in writing – dont like the other alternatives for women. I don’t use it in contexts where no title is needed – I will introduce myself as Name Surname, unless my doctorate is pertinent, eg when I am consulting on projects within my area of expertise.
Mostly I use Ms. because i don’t think we should know anything about peoples’ status from their names. But if I find it funny or if the person I’m interacting with is an asshole, then sure .
My wife uses Dr. to address me when she needs me to run errands.
Only when some man is trying to put me in my place.
I don’t use it. Maybe I would if I was married since I don’t like Mrs.
I tried to use it while flying to see if I can look fancy and get upgraded……nope.
I absolutely do check the Dr. box since I damn well earned it, but I use my first name with nearly everyone who knows me. A PhD is the modal degree where I work, and my industry is full of PhDs, so it’s not really a rare accomplishment — more like a club to which most people in the company belong.
But I otherwise don’t answer to Mr. That’s my father, not me.
Sometimes I make my kids call me Dr Dad, but then I hear them whispering and giggling. So no telling what they’ve add to it…the little beggars.
Only if someone is being rude in emails. Then you add it in your reply signature.
I’m young and female and black and I do use it especially in medical settings, because I want them to know that there will be consequences for dismissing me. The good MDs I’ve had don’t need to be reminded and use it instinctively, but the bad ones will usually call me “Mrs.” or “Miss” and then I get to explain to them how I can read peer reviewed research and how we’re gonna be having a conversation, not a lecture. I had breast cancer and this move saved me from a 27-year old oncology resident who was the worst medical professional I’ve ever met. (I’m fine yadda yadda, the point is you get treated better if people think you’re important. Which is a travesty, but you should make people think you’re important because it could save your life).
If there’s an option to add a title I use Dr., but if I’m introducing myself or signing an email I just use my first name. My doctor does call me Dr. Lastname but that’s because she was my doctor before I graduated and knows how much work that took.
Only when I need to get my way when on the phone to a call centre 😂. Something about the title makes things happen.
I use it when others are using honorifics, and I insist on it when people are being condescending jerks, particularly in sexist or ableist ways.
The only time I insist on being called “doctor” is when my friends address me while we are hanging out.
I hardly use my title at work.
If a form has a space for an honorific, I will put Dr because it’s correct & appropriate. Unfortunately, my physician’s office (at the university i work for!) doesn’t have an option for Dr, so it doesn’t matter.
When I was in grad school, a classmate of mine referred to one of our professors as Dr. [Last Name]. She was the only one who used that honorific, and he was visibly uncomfortable every time she did so. One day he cut her off in the middle of her question and said, “Just call me Stuart.”
Make of that what you will.
I will use it in official capacities, never in social settings.
I’ll use it on paperwork like my mortgage, my bills, etc., but I wouldn’t expect anyone to address me as it in person. I’ve been using Ms where possible, but sometimes systems demand I’m either a Miss or a Mrs and I fucking hate that, so I’ll happily be Dr instead
Only if I think it might be useful, like with doctor appointments. Maybe it doesn’t actually matter and it’s all our bias, but everyone has the feeling that it does make waiting times shorter.
I don’t add doctor to anything. The only place I ask anyone to use it is when I’m teaching undergrad or masters students because the university has a policy that there needs to be a professional distinction between faculty and students so faculty need to have students use honorifics in class. I tell them Dr/ Professor/Mr are all fine but they need to use one.
If they ask what my title is, then yes (I’m never Mr., always Dr.). In formal or official letters, I’m “[firstname] [lastname], PhD” (no Dr. in front of my name). All other cases, no.
Never. I don’t even use it on campus much.
Nope.
I live in Central America. An awful lot of people say “Mr/Ms first name,” which feels colonial to me, but it is meant to be respectful. I answer the phone with doctor bc it may be a student, and if it’s a business call they’ll clarify, “is this Mr first name?” and I answer yes.
Around campus, it’s very formal. I’m positive that most of my colleagues don’t even know my first name is not actually “Doc.”
I don’t care for myself, but I have seen profs be harshly critical of students who use Mrs.
Never. My brother, also a PhD, put his title in the phone book and got the proverbial phone call asking for help from a distressed husband whose wife was about to give birth.
One thing academia taught me… A title doesn’t matter but the lack of a title does.
Outside of academia…. No one cares. Like I have two titles and it really urks me when people introduce themselves as DR this or DR that.
Today a colleague of mine (a super junior academic that just got promoted) kept manually signing off the email with Prof. First name. Like my boy, why do you feel the need to use your title as a defence against your own insecurities? I even asked do you want me to refer to you as Prof. First name now? Because if so, please Prof. Dr. Dr. Sheepy me. 🙄
I think titles are silly.
Frequent Flyer and Hotel membership schemes absolutely. Not really anywhere else.
I use Dr over Ms/Miss for a variety of reasons.
If a question about titles is asked (on a form, at an office, etc), then I use the title (Dr.) appropriate to my degree (Ph.D.).
I do not insist on being called doctor in a coffee shop or at a restaurant or in line at the supermarket or in any other ordinary situation, though. But if someone asks, either verbally or in written form, then I assume they want to know the truth, and so I answer truthfully about my proper title.
If a form asks for it then sure, especially because Miss seems juvenile and I never vibed with Ms. However I haven’t gone through all my accounts to change it on things that already have my details and I wouldn’t correct someone if they didn’t use Dr. Unless they’re being patronising about my wheelchair, then all bets are off.
I use it when it asks for it but bizarrely rarely use it in academia and would not make my students use it. But also it’s a nice gender neutral honorific in an antiquated system.
sure, i earned it, and if its a setting where a title is used why not use my actual title
If an honorific is required, and Dr is an option, it would be odd to not use it. But I wouldn’t add it
Having spent far too much of my life arguing with organisations that didn’t allow “Ms” as an option, or with people who told me it was “illegal” to use it if I was married, or who passive-aggressively pronounced it Miss’s regardless, I am Dr, all the way, every time an honorific is needed.
Plus, medical receptionists (famously cranky in the NHS) is so much better.
I am legally not allowed to use it in my home province of Quebec. Only MDs have the right. Ironic since the designation of doctor of philosophy predates the existence of medical doctors, but facts don’t play much of a factor in our government’s decision making…
No. I figure I won’t until I’m 90 and in the nursing home, then I’ll want to remind the staff that I had a career and have them call me Dr.
Yes, and I see a difference when I do, especially at the hospital
In a professional setting, if someone insists on using an honorific, I’d certainly prefer “Dr.” over “Ms.” I don’t really run into many situations where it would otherwise make a difference. Most cases, I don’t have a burning desire to let people know I have a Ph.D. Unless, they’re a dude and they are explaining to me how ChatGPT works like I don’t have a Ph.D. in Computational Sciences.
When I had just defended, I used it in a form to declare lost luggage.
Somehow it autocorrected to dr. Router. (Not my name) And I had several days of no updates until I called support and they said “we have no record of you, we do have a dr. Router” …
Not the successful use of the title I had in mind.
It’s great fun at a restaurant near me that calls tables for seating over a loudspeaker. Though others tend to overdo it- I heard “Father Martin Black, Esquire, party of 4” the other night.
I don’t even use it in academic settings.
I use “Prof” as my honorific (I’m in the US), unless Prof is not possible, in which case I’d use Dr. The people I studied under, perhaps influenced by the German practice, tend to find Professor as more important than Doctor, and that has always stuck with me.
Now if I ever leave academia and stop being a professor, then I guess I’d revert to Dr…unless mentioning my PhD would make it harder to get a job.
As someone with a PhD in math that decided to do to med school, I never use it anymore. Though I did use it when applying for jobs for clinical experience, back before I started med school.
Aint no way. The only time I ever get referred to as Dr is on wedding invites.
It depends. If I want to look more professional, usually.
Unless it’s for something government related, no.
Two places I’m OK with referring to someone as Doctor—- healthcare facilities and college campuses.
Only with people I don’t like or in settings where I think people may try to exert some sort of weird power or superiority over me.
No. I used it a few times when booking hotels for the novelty when I first received my PhD, but there’s no reason to use it outside of academia (UK)
Same. The fact that we otherwise have to chose a female honorific that pigeonholes us infuriates me. I tell people I prefer they call me by my first name, but if they want to use my last name, it’s Dr Science.
The only times I’ve insisted upon it was when I was suing Scottish Power, and when I was applying for a mortgage.
I do not. I barely use it professionally since I’m in industry these days. It’s on my business cards and in my email signature.
When ordering German train tickets, for sure. They give me the option in a dropdown, I take it.
I’m nonbinary, so I use Dr because Mr/Ms/Mrs/etc are gendered and Mx doesn’t feel quite right for me.
I go by my first name in both professional and personal life and don’t use any titles. Only places where I might put PhD after my name is on slides of a scientific presentation ar a conference..
Banks and doctors office. Sadly you get better treatment.
>filling out your patient form
It’s on my insurance card.
Easier to say the only time I wouldn’t would be when speaking to a patient or in a medical context where they could misconstrue me as a medical practitioner
Edit: spelling
I say, “No, no… Mr. greenm71 was my father. You should call me DOCTOR greenm71.”
I work in a non-academic field and I include it in my email signature for the slightly calculating reason that it makes me seem a little more important than I am to clients. If anyone internally refers to me as Dr I immediately tell them to just call me by my first name, but after all those years of slogging through the PhD I’m quite happy to get some career advantages out of the qualification.
Nope. Only (on occasion) when traveling, as I’ve found airline and car rental people sometimes at least act like they are giving me better service as “doctor” Albino. Mostly that’s because I have “Dr.” on my Amex, not on my other cars, and I mostly use that when traveling.
If there’s an option for no title, I usually take that. If I have to pick a title, I’m going Dr. instead of Mr. because I always thought Mr. sounded bad with my last name.
I thought I was going to but I haven’t done at all really, feels kind of weird.
I don’t even use it in academic settings. Definitely not using it in public.
I almost never do, except with alumni mail from my undergrad university. Their systems also has things like Monsignor and The Honorable available, though, so I switch it up every time I happen to visit the website.
What about when a student addresses you as “Professor,” though, and you’re NTT?
No.
Rarely in my work either, since my degree and career diverged some time ago.
I put it down when it’s the only gender neutral option. So basically whenever I’m asked on forms for my title.
IRL I want to be called by my first name in basically every setting, even teaching a course. I don’t insist though.
I’m not even a Dr and I use it everywhere.
Not really. In the United States, the term “Doctor” is so closely associated with “physician” that if I called myself “Doctor” outside academia, I’d sow confusion and would be accused of misrepresenting my expertise. It matters not at all that physicians “borrowed” the term “doctor” from academics to try to dress up their profession before it became scientific in a way that we would recognize.
I’m not a doctor but if you got a doctorates, I absolutely think you SHOULD use your title. You freaking earned that.
If you have a PhD then “Dr.” is your correct (and earned!) honorific. Anyone that would have called you Mr./Mrs./Ms. is showing respect/deference/following social convention and unless they have some kind of anti-academic ideology (e.g. Republican mockery of Dr. Jill Biden) they will want to know that actually it’s “Dr.” instead.
Now if you don’t want to be called Dr. for whatever reason that’s up to you. Just don’t tell anyone and leave it at Mr./Mrs./Ms.
Anyone that wouldn’t have used an honorific won’t use Dr. either and that’s fine. Since getting my PhD I think someone has called me “Dr.” maybe 1-2 times. No one ever called me “Mr.” before I had a PhD either.
I have occasionally added it to my signature line at work to make a point. And when a deputy sheriff was talking down to me, I corrected him and said “Doctor”. 🤣
I only go by in the classroom. But I put it down every time a form asks.
I don’t even use it in academic setting. People who know me and my position automatically understand that I have a PhD. Others, I couldn’t care less about.
If I have to select a title on a form or similar, I use Dr., because that’s my proper title. I don’t insist on it in in-person interactions, but if someone will be on using a title for me then I want them to use the one I prefer, & that I worked damn hard to earn!
If I need to put my title on a form then I put Dr.
I generally only correct someone when it is an estate agent. Slimy gits, always makes me laugh when they back track to “its dr actually”.
Had the benefit of getting me out of jury duty once. Not something I meant to do, but I was working IT at the local hospital and my conversation with the jury officer was “its Dr actually” and then I was asked where I worked…
No lies told but I was released after 4 hours from jury service and got a phone call on the way back telling me I had better things to do with my time. The chap was apologetic in the morning and I just said I did not mind as it was a civic duty.
Only when my partner made me recount my interaction did I understand the conclusion he jumped to.
My best friend’s kiddo calls me Dr. Fraggle. I would love to use it everywhere because I hate having to identify myself by my marital status. If I don’t, people assume I’m full of myself. I also hate having to explain that every time, so I don’t. If it’s a choice on a form, I use Dr.
French law (see this, second to last paragraph) allows PhDs to use their “doctor” title in “all jobs and all circumstances”.
Still can’t get the Dr on my credit card, though 🙁
Same. I’m an unmarried woman and I feel strongly about being defined by my accomplishments and not my marital status.
I don’t do it for anything social because I don’t want people to think I’m the useful type of doctor, but for all online forms and stuff I put it in.
The ONLY folks I see demand this on a consistent basis are the EdDs. All the time. From children and adults alike.
Im gonna give my opinion as a current medical student and former graduate student who did his Masters thesis in Pharmacology on cocaine pharm (and thus uniquely having keen awareness of what takes to become both a MD and become a PhD more than like 99% of people with either 1)
Its more common for PhD holders to prefer to be addressed as doctor outside of their respective workplaces than MD/DOs based on my observation and extensive personal experience working with both. I’ve always wondered why. Maybe its a badge of honor to the PhD holder for all it costs to climb that mountain? If so fair enough. Maybe its an manifeststion of (unwarranted) feelings of social inferiority because lay people try to place one above the other.
Either way, whenever I encounter anyone in a casual setting (ex: local professional baseball game) who INSISTS upon going by Dr infront of their name, it always comes off ego-driven.
I have a gender atypical name. Dr is a gender neutral title. I derive great amusement from playing with people’s expectations
I worked hard for that PhD, so I use it everywhere. Just not on flights.
I have an MD and a PhD. I put down Ms.
I often do, but I’m non-binary and like it better than something like ‘Mx.’ I earned it, I don’t see the reason why I shouldn’t be able to use it.
That said, I do try to be strategic about it. If I think it would come off as haughty or give a specific impression I don’t want to give (eg if I were to get in a car accident and was sharing my information, I don’t want them to think I have a lot of money, because I definitely don’t! lol) I might not use it. But generally speaking, I do.
Apart from the use of Dr, though, “Ms” is the equivalent of “Mr” in that it doesn’t denote any marital status, like Mrs or Miss would. I’m married but use Ms because it’s nobody’s business! Not a Dr, alas, only an MA, but if I did have a doctorate, I’d use the title!
I use Dr for the same reason. Why do they make us use these antiquated titles?
I have a master’s degree that I worked very hard for*. I would love to be able to go by Master Astronomisst.
*believe me, I KNOW that a PhD is much more work. I know tons of them, and I dropped out of an astrophysics PhD program. But still, I earned that title!
Paper yes, verbally…now you’re just showing off.
My physician calls me Dr. Snoo. Other than that, military officers.
My coffee subscription is addressed to Doctor because god knows that’s the only reason I made it through my diss year 😂
I think about it as the people that know, know. So at weddings and special events. Maybe on rental applications and leases.
I don’t use it with patients in a clinical or research context (my professional college does not want us using it in those circumstances, to avoid confusing patients- I can use PhD after my name) but I use it everywhere else. I use it jokingly at the optometrist when they introduce themselves as “Dr So and So” so I say “I’m Dr Crochets” right back. Then say “but you can call me Sphynx.”
As a woman, I use Dr with my students as so much research has shown that women, especially women of colour, get less respect from students (and I’m Indigenous). Also I took my spouse’s last name, and so to me, Mrs is my MIL, not me.
My wife introduced me as Dr. (Last name) to her coworkers. 🤣
Only on my social media handles. And my checkbook.
Most of the time on forms etc. I earned it. Only time I don’t is if I need to do something that someone thinking I earn MD money might bump up an estimate for something. I’ve never introduced myself as Dr in person other than in an academic setting.
I use it whenever they ask for a title, and never when they don’t. I especially hate getting medical paper work addressed to Mr/Ms. You folks all want to use your titles everywhere, so give me the same courtesy.
Nope.
My stance is, “I generally don’t use my title outside of work, but if you are going to use titles, please use the correct one.” If it’s a one off call with a group, I won’t correct them for calling me Ms, but if there will be more interactions in the future I either tell them to use my first name or Dr depending of level of formality.
Prof is my title, I use Prof.
Well when I retired from academia to start a cidery, I called myself the CSO (chief scientific officer) and used my PhD suffix. Now no one calls me Dr in the company, by I’m also very laid back with staff and I’m a guy. But customers are always excited to call me Dr. Your marital status is nobody’s business, doctor. Proud to call you that. You earned it.
I only use it on forms, never in conversation.
I don’t expect academics to refer my by Dr, because then I would have to refer to everyone else as Dr. And it also doesn’t make sense out in the world. The only real practical place is insurance, banks, and apartment rentals. This provides financial benefit, and is typically a sign of trust when needed.
Lmao I barely use it in academic settings
I typically only use it if I’m writing a letter advocating/complaining about something (i.e., writing to a government official), or if someone is being obnoxious/sexist.
Whenever I accompany my dad to the doctor, he likes to casually mention it in the conversation. I honestly hate how much it affects how we are treated. One particular specialist would quickly dismiss my dad’s questions, but when I asked the same question 20 seconds later, he would suddenly take it seriously.
I’ll have to remember to use it with insurance companies, the bank, and rental applications. I have never considered how it could help with those things.