5 ms·
An MD is the first degree one earns in the subject. It takes four years to earn. It used to be a bachelor's degree: MB or MBBS. In the modern era, the premed re
by wl 6y ago
An MD is the first degree one earns in the subject. It takes four years to earn. It used to be a bachelor's degree: MB or MBBS. In the modern era, the premed requirements pushing total medical education to five and a half years probably justifies making the degree a master's degree. The residencies and fellowships that physicians do after earning the MD that are virtually required for any physician to practice probably make calling physicians "doctor" appropriate.
Still, calling the MD a doctorate is questionable.
- leephillips 6y agoWe call doctors “doctors” not because of the “D” in MD but because they are doctors.
- wl 6y agoWe call physicians "doctors" because the profession aggressively pushed the title on the public in an era where modern medicine was emerging from quackery. The title means "teacher" and was previously used for people who were especially learned.
- leephillips 6y agoThanks. I’m not aware of how the term has traveled through history, so this is interesting. I just meant that, for most people, “doctor” is almost synonymous with physician, but, as you say, this may be more recent than I thought.