PhD "etiquette" ....address them as "Dr. Smith" and not just "Doctor"?

Question

I hear this on news programs all the time. PhDs in, say, history being addressed as "Doctor". I spent many years in a university environment. People corrected me early on, saying only MDs (or medical-types) should be addressed as simply Doctor. All others must have their last name attached to the Doctor part.

Is this a universal etiquette or just something that was quirky to my campus?

Answer 1

It's university etiquette, but I would venture to say that a majority of the news reporters don't come from that background and simply don't know the proper usages of the term 'doctor'.

Answer 2

People who get PhD's deserve to be called doctor, regardless of if you add their last name to it. You don't spend 4-5+ years on a PhD to be called by your first or last name. I'll be getting my PhD when I'm 24, so I might be an exception. I wouldn't have a problem with students calling me by my first name for awhile, since we will be almost the same age. Professor would also be acceptable. When I'm older though, I'd like to be addressed as "doctor." I don't know. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. :-)

Personally--I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with just "doctor" though. Dr. X (fill in last name) is more appropriate than just doctor. Just calling someone professor also has it's pitfalls--you may insult someone who has a PhD. After all, yes they are professors, but they also have a doctorate. Professor is usually a term reserved for those with Masters, or those working on their PhDs--at least at my university.

It's a complicated question. I've used both Dr. and Dr. X in my academic travels and I have never been corrected on way or another. I am very careful to call even my graduate advisors by certain names. I still wouldn't call 98% of them by their first names. Until I am a "full colleague" I doubt I will. Wow! This was a way more loaded question than I initially thought.


*One thing I always hated in college though: when students refer to the professor as a "teacher"....wow, it just makes me shudder! Come on people, at a minimum, they are your instructor or professor.

Answer 3

I find it odd when people call me just doctor, so I think your campus' etiquette was quite common, if not universal. I would rather be called just doctor, however, than Ms., Mrs., or Miss, and PLEASE, PLEASE, don't just call me Smith (that is true of most of my colleagues too, who hate being called by their last names alone)! I used to be fine with being called by first name, until I realized that it became uncomfortable for many of my students, for whom I was around their mothers' age, to do that.

Feel free to ask, though, what someone would prefer to be called. A recent rules change at my school in which someone decided that all instructors, regardless of rank or tenure, would be called Professor, Mr., or Ms., deeply offended a number of people who felt that all the effort they had put into getting their degrees was being blatantly disregarded. Many of them are not stuffy individuals and would have no trouble with being called "hey, you!" under normal circumstances (I have personally put my foot down on Sweetie, Babe, and Dude, all from students!), but having it ordered from the top was a real problem for them.

Answer 4

If it is universal, I think it's stupid. I think it is a respect thing that you attach their name to it. I have a couple of instructors who have their PhD, and I address them as Dr. So-and-so...and the rest Mr/Ms/Mrs...very few to I call by their first name.

They spend just as much time in school to earn the title of Doctor, so why not call them such?

Answer 5

Ph.D.s who work in academia are referred to as "Professor," rather than "Doctor" (medical school professors holding an M.D. degree may be called by either). If the person has a higher academic position, such as Chair, Dean, Provost, Chancellor, President, etc., then they can be referred to as that title.

Answer 6

Haha that was very funny! * 4 u