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This one is a not-so-great debate. But still interesting.
We had lunch with some friends yesterday. Seem some other friends of theirs invited their sons along with them to their kid's wedding. One of my friends' sons is a doctor.
When he received the invitation for the wedding, it was address to "Mister", not "Doctor".
Apparently this was an issue to both the doctor and his parents, our friends. The parents brought the issue up with their friends, letting know how insulted they were that the folks who made the invitations weren't told of their son's doctor status (highlighted for obvious reasons).
The feeling was: a doctor works his ass off to get to be a doctor and the recognition that comes with it and their rightful station in life. It is an insult not to call them such.
Obviously you can tell my response to this is: BUNK. I hate the very notion of it. I dispise the notion of a hierarchial society and the notion of caste.
Here's my thinking: I am more than comfortable with the notion that when we deal with a medical doctor we adddress him/her as "Doctor". I honestly believe that in doing so, we serve ourselves more than the doctor himself. In matters of health, the most critical of issues in our life, we need to have the feel with are talking to a "doctor"...not a mr., miss, or mrs.
but outside the medical environment, I see it completely different. No, I have no problem with someone using Dr. as their title. I just object to the ego that shows up when it is not. I suspect that many doctors who made a reservation at a restaurant using the title "doctor" would either object, walk out, or both if the matre d' called out their name as "mister".
Do how about it: am I right when I say that "doctor" is absolutely appropriate and even desirable in a medical situation but in the outside world where there is nothing wrong with the title, there still is a lot of absurd ego in play when the title is innocently dropped in favor of mr, miss, or mrs.
Well, in my opinion your post does an excellent job of showing the two extremist sides of the whole argument. Firstly, yeah, the doc's parents over-reacted a bit by saying it was an insult not to use their son's proper title on the wedding invite. For all they know, it could have been merely an oversight--something easy to do when handling tons of wedding details--and not an intentional slight. So, yeah, I agree: they basically sound like petty-minded dweebs.
You on the other hand, bristle at the notion of addressing MD's as "Doctor" in the public setting. In my mind, this is also a sort of over-reaction. For one thing, this practice is not an example of a caste society, which pigeonholes people simply by dint of their birth. Doctors have worked hard to attain their title, and I feel it's their right to reap the status of their hard work (and huge educational bills!) by preferring to be called Doctor if they so choose. Now, keep in mind I'm referring to MD's here. Some chick who has a Ph.D in English Lit or in Child Education who demands to be called Doctor is merely a twit.
So here's an idea: forget about the doc's parents, and don't take their rude behavior as an excuse to dismiss out-of-hand the deserved respect that MD's have fostered.
Well I am in the club but I am not a physician. One of the greatest compliments I ever received was when a teacher who I'd worked with for about seven years came to my office to deliver some materials. She looked at my diploma on the wall and exclaimed, "I didn't know you were a doctor and here I've been treating you like a regular person!"
I told her that she treated me as a colleague and it was an honor to work with her.
Those who insist on being called "doctor" are insecure, in my opinion.
Alternatively, they may have attended "Pay Your Money and Get Your Degree" University.
Alternatively, they may have attended "Pay Your Money and Get Your Degree" University.
Both my MS and my MFA came from highly regarded brick-and-mortar schools. A former boss was prompting me to attend some online school with him to go after a Ph.D.. I declined as I didn't have the time just then and do not place the same value in a diploma mill. Well, he's now "Dr. Dave". I really don't take it seriously.
When I hire, if I see an online university on a resume the candidate loses a few points before we even shake hands. A doctoral degree from such a place would lose a whole lot more.
Do restaurants still even do that? I don't think they give two whits about who you are if you're not a celebrity.
In this area, we don't have a whole lot of "celebrities". So any whits they have to give will be given to those they perceive to be able to recommend the establishment to their peers.
When I hire, if I see an online university on a resume the candidate loses a few points before we even shake hands. A doctoral degree from such a place would lose a whole lot more.
It's a shame you judge candidates that way. There are plenty of students who attend the brick and mortar universities that cheat off one another and get through college with term papers written by others and cramming for tests. A lot of what you learn in any school, be it online or in a classroom is rarely absorbed in the long run. You hone your craft in the workplace and I don't believe the degree you possess for certain career fields really makes all that much of a difference. Is it reassuring to know that your family physician graduated from Harvard Medical? Sure. But is it necessary for an Anthropologist or urban planner to have a degree from Yale?
It's a shame you judge candidates that way. There are plenty of students who attend the brick and mortar universities that cheat off one another and get through college with term papers written by others and cramming for tests. A lot of what you learn in any school, be it online or in a classroom is rarely absorbed in the long run. You hone your craft in the workplace and I don't believe the degree you possess for certain career fields really makes all that much of a difference. Is it reassuring to know that your family physician graduated from Harvard Medical? Sure. But is it necessary for an Anthropologist or urban planner to have a degree from Yale?
Demonstated experience and/or expertise can quickly alleviate any concerns I have. A 10-minute conversation can tell me most of what I need to know. Fumbled answers just reinforce my concerns. I work in a highly-specialized field and in many ways, it's a 'small town' where people are easily checked out. Degrees are a check-mark on my requirements list as some contracts require them. I have seen some fake degress, allegedly from online schools or schools where the degree was not really a strong point of that school's educational offerings.
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