Mr. or Dr.?

[Schlomo78]

Does anyone know why G.P's are known as Dr. and consultants at the hospital are known as Mr.? I thought they always used to go by Dr. as well,anyone know why it has changed?Is it their own preference or for a different reason? Ty.

[Grunty]

I believe this is related to the egos of the consultants. There was a piece in the news a few months ago saying that many people think they are unqualified if they are called Mr. The suggestion was that they should be called Dr, as I think they are in America.

[kev100]

Grunty, I'm pretty sure it's the other way round, I once broke an arm very badly and I saw several doctors over a period of months and they couldn't fix the problem.

Eventually they said we are sending you to see a specialist, a top man in this field.

His title was Mr.???

[Schlomo78]

Now I'm even more confused.Heh.I thought it might have been that a lot of people think that Dr's, especially surgeons, have a 'God complex' and so they changed their title to Mr .That sounds like a load of old tosh now i've read what i've written....

[oxcomper]

Well according to my reference work,

A dr. is one who is responsible for looking after a patient

A consultant (who is usually know with the title mr.) is an expert or advisor in the field and advises the person responsible for the patient [so that's why they never tell you the results themselves but always tell the doctor to tell you!]

A registrar (usually a mr, but can be a dr if he looks after patients too]is the senior person at the hospital or health centre responsible for looking after the patient records and admissions.

[LazyGun]

It may have changed now, but when I was working at hospitals the convention was that GPs were Addressed as Drs, medics and registrars and consultants on the Medical teams were Drs, and consultants and registrars on the surgical teams were Mr.

[Schlomo78]

Cheers people,at least thats one thing in life I've got the answer to!

[gary baldy]

I think consultants get a bit of a raw deal.
When you have been in the situation where you put your life (or in our case, my daughter's life) in their hands they can call themselves whatever they blinking well like.
As far as the God complex goes- If my daughter's consultant wanted me to call him My Lord i blinking would - the bloke is a f******g God in my eyes.

[goldfish1]

Consultant Psychiatrists tend to call themselves Dr!

[Grunty]

kev - if you interpreted my answer as saying that consultants are less capable, you are right to object. My point was that people who have little to do with the medical profession know what is meant by the title 'doctor'. If someone is described as 'Mr', he could be anything from a top consultant to the man who sweeps the car park.

[smorodina]

This explains it a little:

http://www.knee-surgery.co.uk/miscellany.htm

[SeaJayPea]

I think it's as simple as Doctors are called Dr., Surgeons are Mr.

Consultants who aren't surgeons are Dr, if they are surgeons, they're Mr.

That's always been my (mis) understanding.

[don1]

Grunty, I wasn't objecting I was just telling of my experience in hospital thats all.

[spudqueen]

Doctors in the medical profession are only known as Doctor as a courtesy title as they don't have a doctorate, only people with a doctorate, eg Phd are real Doctors.

[drjohn]

My understanding is that the 'Mr' title is granted once the 'Dr' has become part of one of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (eg FRCS). It goes back to the surgeons/barbers and doctors distinction. Consultant physicians are 'Drs' as they aren't surgeons.

Is it just me or have more dentists started calling themselves 'dr'?

[mimififi]

you are correct if you think that Dr's are medical doctors and doctors that then specialised in surgery are mr's. Anyone who went further are prof's regardless of subjects.

I think this goes back to when surgeons were actually barbers and doctors were just doctors and didn't really like to operate etc, or didn't outside of the hospital anyways. In fact sometimes, dr's would get the local barber along to do the minor surgery that was required under his more medical supervision.

Henry VIII then promoted barbers who were also surgeons to being actual surgeons and had them on his naval fleets to assist injured sailors. A barber who made a mistake and killed a sailor was punished severely, often with death. It was then that the (I forget the name of it now, but the surgeons equivalent to the BMA?) was set up to protect their surgeons who were members. Thus doctors were Dr and the surgeons were still Mr.

If you go to hospital to see a consultant who is not surgical, then he will be Dr. If you go to see a surgical specialist he will be a mr.

[mimififi]

Oops didn't read far enough! Dr John got it right and remembered the Acronym.

sorry

*blush*