This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Antheia: Beware of parabombers!
This trope stems from an old convention: in the past, people did primarily refer to medical doctors with the "Dr" honorary prefix — everyone else with the highest level academic degree had to do with "Mr" or "Mrs". (Is this correct? "Doctor," meaning "teacher" in Latin, was originally — i.e. in the Middle Ages — used of anyone holding the equivalent of a modern doctorate. St. Thomas Aquinas, "the Angelic Doctor," wasn't physician to the archangels...)
As I don't know the answer, I'm moving the question here instead.
Novium: It isn't correct. Doctor was an academic term. Medical doctors have their own greek/latin derived term- physician. Anyway, I rewrote the passage. Here's the original.
This trope stems from an old convention: in the past, people did primarily refer to medical doctors with the "Dr" honorary prefix — everyone else with the highest level academic degree had to do with "Mr" or "Mrs". Over time people started to call those other guys doctors as well, but Hollywood has failed to catch up — as have a large quantity of other people, which makes this Truth in Television. (It should be pointed out that in the UK, surgeons are actually called "Mr" or "Mrs") However, it should also be noted that doctorates in non-medical professions of learning stem back to at least the Renaissance- professors at universities of the time often obtained doctorates, and the infamous Faust is a doctor.
Zeke: Cleaned up:
- Real Life example: Dr. Laura Schlessinger apparently thinks that having a doctorate in physiology enables you to be a radio talk therapist.
Mens Rea: It is just me, or does it look like the quote at this page and the quote from Stargate on M.D. Envy need to be traded?
