Doctor

Doctor means teacher in Latin. It has been used continuously as an honored academic title for over a millennium in Europe, where it dates back to the rise of the university. This use spread to the Americas, former European colonies, and is now prevalent in most of the world. As a prefix – “Dr” – its primary designation is a person who has obtained a doctorate — that is, an advanced university degree whose completion involves extensive research.

Medical usage of the noun "doctor"

In United States, Indian, and Canadian parlance, the noun "doctor" is most often used for all forms of physicians and surgeons, including internists, pediatricians, gynecologists, and all other surgical and nonsurgical specialists who hold M.D. degrees and practice medicine of any form. It is also used in this sense for osteopathic physicians (whose medical degree is D.O.). In a specific context or setting that does not include physicians, doctor is sometimes used as a noun to refer to a chiropractor, veterinarian, dentist, optometrist, podiatrist, pharmacist, or clinical psychologist (whose degrees are usually D.C., D.V.M., D.D.S., O.D., D.P.M., PharmD, Ph.D.), though less often in a context which includes physicians.

Related Topics:
United States - India - Canadian - Physician - Surgeon - Internist - Pediatrician - Gynecologists - M.D. degrees - Osteopathic physicians - D.O. - Chiropractor - Veterinarian - Dentist - Optometrist - Podiatrist - Pharmacist - Clinical psychologist - D.C. - D.V.M. - D.D.S. - O.D. - D.P.M. - PharmD - Ph.D.

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In the United Kingdom, Australia, India and other areas whose culture was more recently linked to the United Kingdom, within medical circles the title Doctor generally applies to medically qualified individuals. However, those who are Members or Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons for historic reasons prefer to be addressed as Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss.

Related Topics:
United Kingdom - Australia - India - Mr - Mrs - Ms - Miss

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There are many other countries, such as France, where doctor nearly always is synonymous with medical doctor.

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