Only PhD holders should use Doctor’s title (II) By Abdulrazaq O Hamzat

Historically, lawyers in most European countries were addressed
with the title of doctor, and countries outside Europe have
generally followed the practice of the European country which had
policy influence through modernization or colonialization.

The first university degrees, starting with the law school of
the University of Bologna (or glossators) in the 11th century, were
law degrees and doctorates. Degrees in other fields were not
granted until the 13th century, but the doctorate continued to be
the only degree offered at many of the old universities up until
the 20th century. As a result, in many of the southern European
countries, including Portugal, Spain and Italy, lawyers have
traditionally been addressed as “doctor,”(as well as Macau in
China).

Additionally, the doctor’s title was not known to be a title for
medical practitioner, until in 1703, when the “University of
Glasgow’s first medical graduate, Samuel Benion, was issued with
the “Academic degree” of Doctor of Medicine. That marked the
beginning of medical practitioners using the Doctor’s title.

In recent time however, laymen had associated the doctor’s title
only to medical practitioners. Apart from laymen, some doctors even
feel it is unworthy for none medical practitioners to use the
title. Reports of medical doctors feeling dismayed that there are
so many academics these days who insist upon being addressed as
“doctor,” when that title properly belongs to physicians abound.
These medical practitioners do not know that from Roman times
through the middle Ages until well into the 18th century, the
honorific doctor applied only to eminent scholars – e.g., the Four
Doctors of the Western Church in the 5th and 6th centuries (Saints
Ambrose, Augustine of Hippo, Jerome, and Gregory).

History has it that, jealous of the respect shown to scholars by
the title doctor, medical schools in the 18th century (particularly
Edinburgh in Scotland) began the practice of addressing their
graduates as “doctor.” The schools argued that since their
graduates generally earned bachelor’s degrees before admission to
medical studies, they were entitled to the honorific in the same
manner as university scholars. In one of life’s great ironies, many
uninformed laymen now perceive the medical degree to be more
prestigious than the PhD, declaring that people who have earned the
latter are “not real doctors.

“Doctor” signifies that an individual has not only gained enough
competencies to practice in a teaching field, but has developed
enough expertise to instruct others. Incidentally, most UK surgeons
drop their title of “Dr” and revert to “Mr” after joining the Royal
College of Surgeons. I’ve read through an online medium of at least
one surgeon who reacted quite angrily at being addressed as a mere
“Dr”, which in such circles, due to a collision between traditional
titles and modern medical training, could be unkindly translated as
“trainee”.

Additionally, the confusion in the use of Doctor’s title is not
only in Nigeria, it existed all over the world. In France for
example, only medical practitioners can use the Doctor’s title. The
mention of Doctor for none medical PhD holders is forbidden,
especially in hospitals –even when the type of doctorate is
precisely stated. More shocking is the fact that, in some health
departments or hospitals in France, PhD holders are not authorized
to sign/co-author any article, even if they did all the work and
wrote the manuscript; they are mostly retained as ghost writers,
whose intellectual work goes to others. But in Poland, doctor is a
common degree of education. It is not reserved for medicine.

By convention in most countries, recipients of honorary
doctorates do not use the title “Dr” in general correspondence,
although in formal correspondence from the university issuing the
honorary degree it is normal to address the recipient by the
title.

However, this social convention, especially in Nigeria, is not
always scrupulously observed; notable people often defy social
convention and use the honorary prefix.

Furthermore, It has also been argued that, using the title “Dr.”
based on an honorary doctorate is unethical, but this is prevalent
in Nigeria. But let me state that Doctor’s title isn’t an honorary
title; it’s an earned title; an academic degree after much efforts
and rigor. It is a title for scholars or teachers, who have
acquired enough competence to pass down knowledge.

However, others have equally argued that, whatever one thinks of
the merits of an Honorary doctorate, it is not something “claimed”
but rather something “awarded” for good reasons or bad.

Finally, let me emphasize that, neither MD’s nor PhD’s are the
original “Doctors”, but Doctor of Divinity (DD’s). But since Pope
granted the right of usage to the University, the right of usage
has been transferred to educators, particularly the holders of PhD,
which is the highest academic qualification for teachers. For this
reason, I believe only PhD holders should use the Dr’s title to put
an end to the confusion once and for all.

Concluded

Abdulrazaq O Hamzat, Executive Director at Foundation For Peace
Professionals, Abuja.