I'm a Doctor, He's a Doctor, She's a Doctor...

Nothing annoys me more during a work day when someone comes into the store and insists on being called a doctor. What irks me even more is when someone else into the store derives that they must be a medical doctor and, often, the 'Dr' will play into this fallacy.

Here's my thing, why can't we all give a little more information when saying that you're a 'doctor'. I know plenty of physicians who introduce themselves as a 'Medical Doctor'. My dentist refers to himself as a 'Doctor of Dentistry'. One of my professors describes himself as a 'Doctor in English.'

Why can't more individuals do this? The public really cannot distinguish between someone with a PhD and someone with a M.D. or Pharm.D. or D.D.S, etc etc.

To them, EVERYONE who is a doctor is a M.D.. And don't even try to explain a D.O.... I learned my lesson in that several years ago.

All it does is cause confusion and stoke a few people's egos. I know several pharmacists, mostly newer grads, who insist on being called a 'Doctor' when talking with people. While it is true the hold that doctor title, I personally don't think it's right to leave the taxonomy of the doctor title ambiguous.

Is it really that hard to offer a bit of clarification? One would think it would save on, at least, some confusion. Perhaps we could even educate the average joe who simply does not know all of the different classifications.

Oh to be youthful and idealistic...