Probably already mentioned in this thread (haven't read it all) but I do love it when chiropractors call themselves "doctors".
For me asking you are what ... is the question. it's weird how I can turn that sentence around and it still kinda makes sense
Well, JDs and MDs are comparable degrees in that they're "professional" degrees designed to prepare students for a practice career in their respective fields. In most countries around the world, there is no MD and it is in fact called a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, MBChB). PhD, on the other hand, is a research degree that prepares you for a career of scholarship in the field, mostly for teaching in a particular field. PhD holders are scholars, and it's the highest degree attainable in any particular field (for instance, you can pursue your postgraduate studies beyond an MD to try and get a PhD in a particular field, i.e. PhD in Medical/Biomedical Sciences). Generally speaking, a PhD is a research degree; an MD or a JD are designed for professional practice in that field. In reality, the only true 'doctors' are PhD holders; what we're 'accustomed' to calling people not withstanding. So from now on, you can address me in one of two ways: as Doctor or Professor...I am enlightened that way.
Interestingly, back then in Florence where this Bachelor's, PhD and Masters hierachy originated, one would progress from their basic degree, onto a PhD before Masters. Then somewhere along the line, a bunch of twigs in boofy hats got bored and flipped the sequence around. Personally, the 'Dr' bit only gets brought up when I'm talking to annoying people or when my mum wants to trumpet something to her oddball relatives and friends. I always introduce myself to students on a first name basis... and within the dept, everyone is on first name basis too, whether you've got a degree, MD or PhD or none of the above. But I never hesitate to use Dr when making a dinner reservation now, can someone tell me why chairopractors have a delusion that they deserved to be called 'Drs.'?
I would tend to agree. All of those professional degrees with the name of "doctor" are not "doctorates" in the sense of a degree indicating completion of a thesis requiring substantial original research. That's not to say that they are "lesser", its just that the professional degrees have no real basis for calling themselves "doctorates" as that term is generally understood. They are all fields of study where you master a set curriculum but in that sense they are not different than most bachelors and masters degrees. In fields like accounting, business and architecture among others, they chose to call their professional graduate degrees "masters" degrees. But there's nothing that would prevent them from changing their degree title to "doctors" degrees instead. They just haven't felt the need to (unlike lawyers who decided to change their degree name from bachelors of legal letters to "doctors" of jurisprudence. Whatever makes the lawyers feel better about themselves I guess...)
