Call me doctor. Please. (regular, extremist, education, money)

[skchi]

Originally Posted by Coolhand68

At the wedding be sure you and your family badger him about all of your ailments and grill him for free medical advice. He'll be sorry he ever brought it up.

LOL - good idea.

I wonder if this guy makes his friends and family call him doctor in social settings, too. For instance, at the wedding, it is expected that everyone refer to him as "doctor"?

[miu]

Since the wedding invitations were being mailed, addressing their son as "Dr." would be the correct Emily Post type of thing to do.

I always address a doctor as "Doctor" or "Dr. ____"... as a sign of respect for their profession. If later on, I actually become friends with that person, I will then drop the "Dr." and just address them by first name.

My boyfriend's sister has a longtime college friend that is also close friends with the rest of their family. Affectionately, they always refer to him as "Dr. Bob". But that is also because they know a few "Bobs".

One of my high school English teachers had two Ph.D's. She wanted to be addressed as "Dr. ___", and would often tell us that in Germany, she would be addressed as "Dr. Dr. ____".

In Chinese culture, since we have a great respect for those with higher academic standing, addressing people by their academic titles just comes naturally to us.

And I'm not sure why anyone would want to p*ss of their doctors by refusing refer to them as "Dr."... lol

[dvcgal]

I'm from the south and in the south it is the proper way to address someone if they hold that status. My grandfather was a doctor and I sent him a card oneday addressed to "Grandaddy" and my mom told me how inappropriate that was. Now...before you insult my mother, understand that she was raised that way and was taught that you address people by their proper names. My grandfather's proper name was "Dr. M___." Now, not sure where your friends are from or how old they are because I do think that there is an age thing about it. I'm not sure that in today's society it would be as big of a deal but back in the late 40's when my grandfather started practicing medicine, it was a HUGE deal!

[Workin_Hard]

I have two Masters' degrees. Can I expect to be addressed as "Master"? That may not go over well at first, particularly with some co-workers and neighbors who are of a particular race, but I'm sure once they understand how long and hard I worked to get those degrees they'll go along with it.

I agree with addressing a Dr. as such in the context of matters dealing with health issues, or in a professional setting otherwise, but for social and somewhat more casual occasions, all I can say is "How freaking pretentious!!"

I call my dentist Joe and my family doctor Sam, and they call me Bob. Neither is meant as a slight to their position or accomplishments. Honorifics are sometimes best saved for award ceremonies or tombstones.

[jackmccullough]

At the University of Vermont medical school they have a ceremony every year when they give the students their white coats, and it often gets covered by the local TV station. One year when I saw that story I heard one of the students say how humbling the experience was. My reaction was, "That won't last."

Here in Vermont, where almost everyone is very casual, I call my doctor, my dentist, and all of the many doctors I interact with professionally by their first names. I would think it is no more appropriate for me to call them "Doctor" than it would be for me to expect them to call me "Mr."

[Drover]

My response would be something along the lines of "if you believe it was addressed incorrectly, don't send it back. And don't wait for a replacement invitation either."

[Moonwalkr]

I call Dr's doctors at least initially since that's how I was raised. We usually end up calling each other by first names anyway after they see my degree. However I cringe every time I'm called doctor since it just feels so unnatural to me.

[andreaspercheron]

I work with all doctors so from a standpoint of respect, you do and would address them as such and it has a lot to do with age too. When patients aren't around all of the doctors and I call each other by first name.
A lot of more senior doctors still want to be addressed as "Doctor" so and so. I've always heard on any type of invitation you use "Doctor and Mrs." or whoever the Doc is. It really doesn't have anything to do with hierarchy, I think it's more of a respect issue.

[newtohouston2]

i guess from "proper" standards, an invitation should be written with one's title... but i'm not really into that and think it's silly that they objected. as a physician myself, i expect that my patients will call me doctor (not my first name) unless i know them in a personal way (i.e. from other community activities or something). if the patient has a degree that makes her a doctor (phd/md/etc), i will call her doctor as well. i do not call my patients by their first names. outside of the medical setting, i prefer not to walk around with an "im a doctor" sign and usually feel weird having to tell people i am one when they ask.

[gentlearts]

Is the son a physician? If he's a PhD, then it's kind of affected to be referred to as Dr. outside of a professional setting, although on an envelope it would be proper.
What really bugs me is when, in a newspaper article for example, everyone else is referred as Joe Blow, and Sam Jones, but it's Dr. so and so. Like we care.