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Friday, July 3, 2009
That's DOCTOR to you
Here's a pet peeve of mine. Calling doctors by their first names. Now if I were a peer, that is a doctor myself, I wouldn't have a problem with it. When techs and nurses take it upon themselves to call the doctor--in my world those are surgeons and anaesthesiologists--by his or her first name, I take offense. I think that no matter how familiar you think you are with those doctors that you may work with week after week, you are not familiar enough to disrespect them by calling, "Hey, Jim!" or "What's new Michelle?" Even if you are best of friends outside of the OR, or you happen to be dating outside of the OR, inside the OR the proper title is still DOCTOR. The ONLY exception to the rule (maybe it's only my rule?) is if you have been personally invited by the doctor to refer to him or her by their first name. There is one doc here in town that told everybody he met when he first came to town to call him by his first name. Everybody has and will most likely continue to do so. I too call him by his first name but you know what, I don't really respect him. If I did, he would still be Doctor even though he's asked to be called by his first name. The doctors closest to me that have invited me to call them by their first names have given up asking me to do so because I just can't do it. It isn't respectful.
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10 comments:
If you don't realize that otherr health care [rofessionals are the equal of any doctor yet maybe you should choose career that doesn't involve anyone of us because what you just said? Incredibly disrespectful.
We call each other by name because we are professional equals not because we are friends or any other sordid, nasty thing you can think up.
You don't belong to our group yet so you feel inferior and in your feelings of inferiority you are passive aggressively attacking every other member of the health care team to elevate your own place within the team.
Try and get a grip, it's 2009 Doctors aren't the head of the group anymore.
You really need to apologize to those who have offered their name if the reason you refuse to use it is to show those you look down on the "proper" way to do things.
You need to grow up
Wow! Maybe I should get my wife to start calling me doctor. Inferiority complex? I feel better when others DON'T call me doctor. When I'm called doctor, they usually want something from me. People expect more out of you when you demand they call you doctor.
I completely agree with you. Respect is good, necessary and doesn´t hurt anyone (except maybe the jealous non-doctors; they need to grow up).
To me, titles don't mean respect, as there are a lot of ways to show disrespect to someone even if you always use 'Dr. X'.
Respect is all about how you treat someone, which is why the term is 'show respect' - the proof is in our actions. If somebody has said "call me 'X', instead of the more formal 'Dr. Y'", it is indeed polite to respect that request.
Some people though, may need the boundaries of using titles to remind them to be respectful, and that's fine too.
If you're this fussy about the title usage, I can promise you that people are carefully calling you Dr. to your face, and also making fun of you behind your back.
Really, get over yourself. Everyone deserves respect, and respect doesn't come from demanding a title from others.
Clarification: I am not a doctor
I am as good at my job and as vital to patient care as the doctor is. Does he call me Nurse, a title I earned? Nope. Half the time they never bother to learn my name
I call them Doctor in front of patients because I work in a high-anxiety area and I think it is more comfortable to patients to hear that.
I respect that the doc is the captain of the ship, but I'm not inferior as a person. They want respect, they gotta give it too. Away from patients, if they call me nurse, I call them doctor. They call me Sue? I call them Bob. I'll defer to them enough to let them decide which way it will be, but not so far that they get to look down on me.
mmt, you can call me whatever you want, even doctor if you must
Firstly. You'd better be calling all the nurses Nurse So-and-So if you want to stick with archaic traditions. If you're going to respect those with position/ higher level education, then why would you only refer to Doctors as those who command respect? There are many other health care team members who are highly educated (physiotherapists who have masters' and post-undergrad training, dietitians, pharmacists and the like) who should also be referred to with deference then. Don't insult the rest of the interdisciplinary team bin inferring that the doctor is more worthy of respect than anyone else.
Secondly, respecting someone has very little to do with calling them by their first name. Respect can be conveyed verbally, nonverbally, by attitude, and et cetera.
Do I respect the doctors I work with? Absolutely. They have much more education than me (a lowly nurse probably in your opinion), and are valuable founts of knowledge. Some of the doctors I refer to by their first names (because of the kind of relationship we have, where they ask about my family and are friendly and stop to chat with me about life, in addition to answering my questions about medicine as well as my concerns about my patient). Some of the doctors I refer to as Dr. So-and-So due to the different relationship, one that is more formal and would not exist outside of the hospital setting and where conversations are medical-related only. I respect them both, regardless of what I call them.
But to the patients I always refer to them as Dr. So-and-So... hmm. So am I perpetuating the myth of the Dr as a more evolved being, the knower of all things and fixer of all problems? We nurses are now educated to be in partnership with the patients as co-collaborators in their care. This shift in thinking is what caused the change to first names. you can't be in a collaborative relationship when one person is believed to be more powerful than the other. Medicine has not moved in that same direction as readily. Something for me to think about I suppose.
Sorry for the long post... you struck a nerve. :)
On the unit where I work frequently, we're familiar enough with each other to use our first names. But one day a tech absent-mindedly introduced me to a patient by my first name. You can believe I corrected his faux pas immediately.
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