Can a dentist call them self's a medical doctor ???

Coco88

yes or no .... thnx . I thought you had to study medicine in the course to become a dentist its part of there course ??? . And if yes can the call them self's a medical doctor still .

What?

tolosenc

What did you get in English in the LC, by the way?

Answer to Q: No. Dental doctor, or some such.

Coco88

obl wrote:

What did you get in English in the LC, by the way?

Answer to Q: No. Dental doctor, or some such.

I didn’t do the leaving cert yet …. And why would you request that information anyway

xeduCat

Coco88 wrote:

I didn’t do the leaving cert yet …. And why would you request that information anyway

Probably something to do with the spelling errors in your post.

Now, I request this information. What has this got to do with TCD?

paperclip

They have to study anatomy, but focus specifically on oral and dental anatomy and the practical techniques involved in dentistry (orthondontic, replacing crowns, maxillofacial surgery, etc.), so they are dental doctors.

That's why dentists have DDS after their names- Doctor of Dental Surgery.

''Regular'' doctors have M.D after their name- Medical Doctor.

So the answer to your question is no, they cannot call themselves medical doctors.
(I have one M.D and one D.O in my family, so this is how I know)

Kwekubo

paperclip wrote:

''Regular'' doctors have M.D after their name- Medical Doctor.

That's not actually the norm in this country (see this post), but other than that I think you're right. I've heard of dentists calling themselves doctor before, but I think they often tend not to do it so as to avoid confusing the public.

Why exactly is this thread in this forum?

Thirdfox

And don't forget the Ph.D Doctors! I remember the car salesman's attitude changing when he found out my Father wasn't a medicial doctor "Doctor of computers? Do you look after then when they get viruses?"

Would there be more Ph.D doctors or M.D. doctors?

europerson

This certainly is not the correct forum, in which to ask this question.

In the USA (where else?), many dentists (and vets) are referred to as "Doctor", in much the same way as we refer to medical doctors, who hold only primary degrees in medicine. In Ireland and Britain, dentists are not referred to as "Doctor" unless they hold a doctorate of some sort in dentistry or another field.

ApeXaviour

Thirdfox wrote:

Would there be more Ph.D doctors or M.D. doctors?

PhD doctors, if for no other reason than you can get a PhD in almost any field. I'd say the number of PhD students taken purely by the schools of physics and chemistry, in trinity would be of similar order to the number of medicine grads each year.

Dubliniensis

europerson wrote:

This certainly is not the correct forum, in which to ask this question.

In the USA (where else?), many dentists (and vets) are referred to as "Doctor", in much the same way as we refer to medical doctors, who hold only primary degrees in medicine. In Ireland and Britain, dentists are not referred to as "Doctor" unless they hold a doctorate of some sort in dentistry or another field.

Most dentists I have come across, style themselves professionally as "Dr." but include the words "Dental Surgeon" or some such to avoid confusion on their letterhead, signs etc.

Nietzschean

ApeXaviour wrote:

PhD doctors, if for no other reason than you can get a PhD in almost any field. I'd say the number of PhD students taken purely by the schools of physics and chemistry, in trinity would be of similar order to the number of medicine grads each year.

That'd be a curious one, how big is medicine each year and how many PhD 's are attained each year?

xeduCat

Nietzschean wrote:

That'd be a curious one, how big is medicine each year and how many PhD 's are attained each year?

Slightly dated figures, but

PhDs awarded in 2004/5: 774 (196 of them in TCD) in universities etc plus under 100 in ITs and DIT.

People who started PhD programmes (or integrated Masters/PhD) in 2004/5: 4574 - which is about 33% higher than those who started in 2001/2, so you can see that the 774 will jump quite a lot in post-04/05 years). Government and HEA wants more PhDs (like, double).

Medical graduates 2004/5: 593 (107 in TCD), including universities and RCSI.

But: medical numbers will change too as new places and grad entry comes on stream. Indeed even by recent years the number of entrants was closer to 800 per year.

And also: the number of (EU) medical graduates is restricted (historically it has been 305 places which follows through to around that many grads; this will change shortly but on a phased basis) whereas universities can take as many PhDs (EU or international) as they can handle without any restriction from the government...

aidan24326

Dentists are not classed as doctors as generally wouldn't use the Dr. title unless they have a PhD or some other doctoral degree in Dentistry or a related field. Dental degrees are BDS not DDS.

Coco88

Thnx all

notjim

Of course it is a disgrace that anyone uses these titles at all: why should a professional qualification make you special allowing you some special title?

ApeXaviour

Yes comrade. Why does the fact I'm born a man prevent me from using the Ms. prefix? Or the fact that I'm young mean I have to pay higher car insurance?

If it helps you get a mortgage, or rent a flat, then why not? At least in this case ya bloody earn it..

Crash

Now now Dec, don't be crazy. how dare someone use an honorific they've earned through their hard work and time - thats just crazy!

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

&#231 wrote: »

Now now Dec, don't be crazy. how dare someone use an honorific they've earned through their hard work and time - thats just crazy!

Maybe i'm just new to the 'having a PhD' game, but i'm finding it to be quite pretentious to refer to myself by my new title of Doctor outside of academic circles. Think i'll just use it in academic circles and if i'm working in my field of finance, but probably only on emails. If it is not directly relevant to what you are doing (e.g. in social meetings), then I don't think people should use it.

Medical doctors should always use their titles imo as knowledge of their qualification could potentially be useful in any situation.

BTW saw a letter from a former poster to this board, and prominent Fine Gael activist, refer to himself in a letter to the Irish Independent as Dr 'Name' PhD. Surely you can't refer to yourself as both 'Dr' and 'PhD' in the same title if you only have one PhD?

Crash

I would find it quite pretentious for a PhD holder to refer to themselves as Doctor, but if they want to, fair enough

Pinker

I recently noticed a name in the phone book where the person had B.A after their name, can you imagine asking eircom to insert that after your name??...

Crash

My grandfather got kicks out of being being Dr. Joseph. C. McGough, K.M., S.C. - he was also a Lt. Cnl., and somehow managed to fit that in too.

edit: apparently there was a C.I. Mgt. too *shrug*

Thirdfox

What's a K.M. for?

low

I've no problem with people calling themselves Dr when they have a phD however, I can't stand martial arts people that refer to themselves as Sensei or similar. They need to be thumped.

xeduCat

Knight of Malta.