Do i capitalize doctor when calling the doctor by doctor?

Answer 1

Yes you do as at 'that moment' it is his "title".

Interestingly enough I happen to be both a doctor and a Doctor.

I have a PhD which makes me a Doctor (big D) and I am, in England, a "doctor" as in I'm a licensed medical doctor (a physician). In the United Kingdom a medical doctor is called Doctor because he 'is' a medical doctor. Here we graduate medical school with a bachelors degree in medicine and surgery [an MBBS rather than an MD], we do not graduate with a "doctorate" in medicine (ie: an MD, which in the UK and most of the World means that one has a doctorate level degree (ie: a PhD) in medicine). Whereas in North America people who graduate from medical school actually have what is called a "professional doctorate" and not a true "research" doctorate. Only a person with a true research doctorate is "entitled" by law to the title "Doctor" even in social life (ie: every day life), a person who "is" a medical doctor has the title "Doctor" because that is what they do for a living.

The difference is that when I receive my phone bill I am allowed by law to be called Dr. X, (because I have a true doctorate) whereas my brother (who is a medical doctor also, but doesn't have a PhD) must, by law, be called Mr. X on his phone bill. He can only be called "Doctor" when he is at work, because he "only" has a Bachelors degree (albeit in medicine and surgery).

In the United States they tend to confuse the two and call any one who is a "medical doctor" as "Doctor" even when they are NOT at work. This is technically wrong. A true "Doctor" is someone who has actually done a PhD level doctorate at a university as a graduate student rather than someone who is "merely" a doctor because of what they do for a living. Interestingly, "Doctor" is a Greek word that translates into English as "Teacher" which is what we both do either as Doctor or a doctor. As a Doctor we teach students, as a doctor we teach patients about health.

But, to get back to your original question, when addressing your medical doctor (or Physician as we are really known) you do call him Doctor not because he is a PhD but because he "is" a doctor (little D) whilst he/or she is attending to your medical needs.

Ultimately, it is a courtesy title because of "what they do" and not "because of what they ARE".

Confusing, I know :)

Good Luck.

Hi,

I think that the previous answer is a bit off base. The title "Doctor" is reserved for those who have a doctoral degree. It doesn't matter if it is a PhD, EdD, MD, or any other doctoral degree.

The word "doctor" in modern English has also come to be synonymous with "physician", at least colloquially. In the United States all physicians have doctoral degrees, so they are called Dr. So-and-So and they are, by profession, doctors.

By tradition, in the US, lawyers do not go by "Doctor", even though they have a doctoral degree (JD), instead they affix the title "esquire" to the end of their names. So whereas a physician might be called "Dr. Gordon", a lawyer would be called "Dan Gordon, esq."

As to whether or not your capitalize the word "doctor", the question isn't really clear to me. When you use the abbreviation "Dr.", you always capitalize it. If you simply call you doctor "doctor", then you don't capitalize it because it's a simple noun. This is the same as if you called your priest "father" or an army soldier "sergeant". Hope that helps.