History Main / NotThatKindOfDoctor

* Dr. Jean Poule of ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' is a biologist with a [=PhD=] in polymicrofragilistic monoclonalexpialidocious. Being a biologist hardly useless in a medical situation, but she's the first to admit she is not a medical doctor.

* Dr. Jean Poule of ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' is a biologist with a [=PhD=] in polymicrofragilistic monoclonalexpialidocious.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTimeFionnaAndCake'': When it's revealed that Little Desiny is sick, Cake asks Simon if he can help, since he's a doctor. Simon responds by saying that he's an antiquarian.

* In the children's book ''The Enormous Egg'' by Oliver Butterworth, Nate's mother gets annoyed when a doctor starts giving Nate advice on how to handle his pet triceratops, when he should be concentrating on his job of healing the sick. He's actually a palaeontologist.

* Dr. Naomi Wolf has a PhD in English Literature, and was a successful author and activist in the 1990s. She has lately taken to promoting disinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination, and other public health topics - with the insistent use of the title, despite not having any sort of health or medical qualifications.

* [[Music/BrianMay Dr. Brian Harold May CBE]] has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics. ([[DevelopmentHell Completed after 30 years]] since obviously the success of [[Music/{{Queen}} the band]] kept him from doing science.)

* ''Sam and Max: Freelance Police'' has Momma Bosco, who got her doctorate online - as a ghost. She's technically more of an inventor, though she still prefers the 'doctor' title. To prevent confusion with her son, who is just 'Bosco', she prefers 'Dr. Momma Bosco'.

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-->'''The Medic:''' And when the patient woke up, his skeleton was missing, and the doctor was never heard from again! [[LaughingMad Ahahahahahaha!]] ''(sigh)'' Anyway, that's how I lost my medical license.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' has Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. We never find out what his doctorate is in, but it's probably some kind of physics or engineering degree, if his robots are anything to go by. Considering his studies on SealedEvilInACan, he also may have some kind of ancient history degree.

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** Perhaps the most notorious Nazi "doctor," Josef Mengele, had a [=PhD=] in anthropology from the University of Munich and was an assistant at the [[EvilutionaryBiologist Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene]] in Frankfurt. He got DrunkWithPower when assigned to Auschwitz, where he performed gruesome human experimentation, particularly concerning twins and usually without anesthetics, that produced no viable scientific results, or indeed any results beyond satisfying his morbid curiosities. Oddly, he ''did'' have a medical degree, but his only medical experience prior to his butchery at Auschwitz was as a combat medic for the Wehrmacht. Most of his work was devoted to pseudoscientific genetic research. Probably the only DoubleSubversion of this trope you'll ever see in real life.

* In Chapter 2 of ''Webcomic/JennyAndTheMultiverse'', the confusion is intentionally [[InvokedTrope invoked] to self-serving ends by Laura (whose degrees are actually in physics and engineering) to get Jenny to tell her about some revealing dreams she had under the guise of therapy. [[ExactWords She said she was prepared to act as Jenny's therapist and that she had a degree — not that it was a degree *in* psychiatry…]]

* Music/DrDre is a former member of Music/{{NWA}} with "Dr" in his rap name, and does not actually have a doctorate. However, Music/{{Eminem}} - whose Slim Shady persona is an AxCrazy MunchausenSyndrome victim with an AmbiguousDisorder - ''loves'' to cast Dre as Slim's medical doctor, usually his psychiatrist. Fittingly, since he's just a music producer, he's rarely very helpful.

* In the ''Franchise/StargateVerse'': Dr. Janet Frasier, Dr. Carson Beckett, and Dr. Jennifer Keller are all That Kind Of Doctor. And don't forget Dr. Lam, even if [[BrotherChuck the writers did.]]

** Science author Ben Goldacre made fun of this by referring to her as "Gillian [=McKeith=], or, to give her full medical title, [[BaitAndSwitchComment Gillian McKeith]]."

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' has an aversion: Dr. Frasier Crane and his brother Niles are both That Kind Of Doctor, despite frequently (and amusingly) being mistaken for Not. Possibly a [[IncrediblyLamePun borderline case]], since psychiatrists ([=MDs=] who complete residencies and board certification in mental illness) are commonly conflated with non-MD-holding mental health professionals such as psychologists and social workers.

* There was a related exchange in an episode of the old animated ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters Ghostbusters]]'' cartoon between TheChick and the PluckyComicRelief on an episode with weird weather. "Besides, we're not meteorologists. We are scientists." "A meteorologist ''is'' a scientist."

* Jason Seaver from ''Series/GrowingPains'' was a psychiatrist who, in early episodes, had to correct people when they thought he was a medical doctor and then defend being a "shrink". For instance, he was assisted a woman giving birth in public, letting her know he's a doctor. Her husband seems relieved by soon realizes that Jason plans to comfort her until paramedics arrive. The man then exclaims, "Oh, I thought you were a REAL doctor", much to his chagrin. This was befitting the attitudes of the early 80's in which psychiatry was not yet fully embraced by the public. It might also indicate a CriticalResearchFailure on the part of the writers, since a psychiatrist is a medical doctor with a specialty in psychiatry, while a psychologist is a counsellor. The main difference is 'trists can prescribe medication.

* An example of a non-medical doctor treating people successfully. Louis Pasteur was a doctor of chemistry, not a physician. This became a problem when he was faced with the prospect of treating a 9-year old kid bitten by rabid dog with the rabies vaccine he had just developed since he would be guilty of practicing medicine without a license. He went ahead anyway, the kid got better, and Pasteur was hailed as a hero instead of being prosecuted.

* An example of a non-medical doctor treating people successfully. Louis Pasteur was a doctor of chemistry, not a physician. This became a problem when he was faced with the prospect of treating a 9-year old boy bitten by rabid dog with the rabies vaccine he had just developed since he would be guilty of practicing medicine without a license. He went ahead anyway, the boy got better, and Pasteur was hailed as a hero instead of being prosecuted.

* Inverted in the UK, where General Practioners are called "Doctor," while surgeons and other specialists use (and prefer) the title "Mr." or "Ms."

If someone in TV-land is referred to as "the doctor", it means he's a medical doctor. It might not be explicitly mentioned, possibly even outright denied, but anyone called the doctor seems to be [[OpenHeartDentistry able to deliver any and all surgical operations]] and medical {{technobabble}} required by the plot. There are no exceptions (well, other than [[Series/DoctorWho THE Doctor]]). All those other guys who've got doctorates in science, law and philosophy are helpfully distinguished from ''real'' doctors with vaguely-academic titles like "[[TheProfessor professor]]", if they're even awarded one at all.

This trope stems from a modern convention: in the past, "Doctor" had a purely academic connotation -- the word itself derives from the Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher", meaning that the title-holder is licensed to lecture at a university on the subject they have a Doctorate in. Later, the meaning of the word ''Doctor'' narrowed down to mean that the holder has a doctorate degree: M.D. = ''Medicinæ Doctor'' (Doctor of Medicine), or [=Ph.D.=] = ''Philosophiæ Doctor'' (Doctor of Philosophy). At some point, the word (in English, at least) began to shift from being the title of a learned person/a person with a doctorate to meaning the same as "physician". Originally, the M.D. was a doctorate in medicine, but in some places, like the US and Canada, it became the first professional degree. (In the UK and Ireland bachelor of medicine & surgery — primarily abbreviated as MB [=ChB=], though it can vary depending on university — are the first ''undergraduate'' degrees; holders are addressed as "Doctor" regardless. Meanwhile, surgeons — which require a graduate degree, equivalent to a North American M.D. in length of education — are only addressed as Mr, Mrs, Miss, or Ms in a form of reverse snobbery.)[[note]]Historically, being a doctor (the equivalent to GP today) was considered a more upper-class and gentlemanly career than surgery, as they do not have to get their hands dirty. Most surgeons were simply working-class barbers. This was in fact the origin of the iconic barber's pole, which [[OlderThanTheyThink dates back to medieval times]]; the red stripe represents bloody bandages, with the blue stripe being a much more recent addition that began in the United States (due to the national colors) and has spread from there. However when the modern era rolled around and surgery become a more specialized and prestigious line of work than ''mere'' doctoring, the surgeons refused the title of Doctor as a sort of passive-aggressive middle-finger to the snobs who denied them the title 300-ish years previously.[[/note]] It is easy to see how the term "doctor" was slowly divorced from its academic roots. This has gone so far that it is common for it to be thought that "real" doctors are physicians... which brings us to this trope. And MDEnvy to boot.

* Former porn star Sharon Mitchell used her savings from nearly thirty years in the business to put herself through college and get a doctorate. Laudably, she had recognized that people working in the porn industry are at higher risk of contracting diseases, and that one performer with an STD who carries on working and doesn't declare it can infect a MASSIVE number of people. She also knew that younger porn performers are likely to be very ignorant of the risks and implications of the business, and that their employers can profit by keeping them ignorant. So she set up the Sharon Mitchell Foundation as a means of bringing practical advice, sexual education and practical, affordable (or free) medical treatment for people working in the sex industry. All very laudable, and a lot of people were impressed enough by Doctor Mitchell's personal achievement to donate generously to the charitable foundation. But... everyone meeting an engaging, personable and likable woman with a lot of drive and energy to do good, simply ''assumed'' she'd trained as a medical doctor at an accredited college. Sharon never contradicted this impression.[[note]]Lots of publicity pictures and videos concerning the foundation she established show Sharon looking very professional - in a doctor's white lab coat. This didn't help either.[[/note]] A lot of disillusionment set in when it was discovered her doctorate was in social services and it was from a college which, while not exactly a degree mill, wasn't all that prestigious either. The Sharon Mitchell Foundation, the AIMHCF, is now bankrupt[[note]]After a lawsuit concerning the security breach in which its confidential files were stolen and placed online[[/note]], and Sharon herself returned to the business as a "mature performer".