I would actually say that it is annoying that the medical profession has hijacked the word "Doctor" so we think it applies only to those with an M.D. rather than everyone with an S.D., Ph.D., etc.

I always say, if they can't set my broken arm, then it's pretentious to insist on being addressed as "Doctor". Especially if it's a PhD in education. Unless...the "doctor" in question is doling out my grade in a course, then it's an obsequious "doctor" from me all the time, gotta keep em happy.

fletc3her:

I would actually say that it is annoying that the medical profession has hijacked the word "Doctor" so we think it applies only to those with an M.D. rather than everyone with an S.D., Ph.D., etc.

just curious, what term would you use to address medical doctors to distiguish them from, say, an economics professor? Or if someone runs up at a traffic accident and says, "let me in, I'm a doctor" would it not matter to you if they weren't a *medical* doctor?

I'm afraid that history is on the side of fletc3her. 'Doctor' was an academic distinction long before it was a professional one, and the use of the term 'doctor' to refer specifically to medical professionals is a recent innovation. I'm surprised that Timothy Noah doesn't know this.

Physician seems like an easy enough term... as far as I know, that wouldn't be problematic. Though I suppose it depends on what the person has... in the U.S. there are M.D.s, so one can call them a doctor, but in other countries such as India or England, only a few physicians end up with doctorates.