As a child addressing thank you notes for birthday gifts, I was
perplexed by the one relative whose address began “Dr. and Mrs.
John Doe.” I knew he was not a Doctor and yet he was called
doctor. My mother explained he was a doctor, but not a “Doctor,”
and you can imagine the emphasis on the second doctor. This was
my first introduction to the confusing world of honorifics and
it hasn’t become any simpler since. We all know that the title
“doctor” refers both to physicians with medical degrees and to
people who have been awarded a doctorate in a certain subject.
These days patients often visit “the doctor” and are seen by a
nurse who has an advanced practice degree and whose title
includes the right to use the honorific term doctor. Physician
groups have been voicing concerns that the growing numbers of
nurses who are also doctors are confusing for patients. Nurses
are concerned that advanced practice professionals who have
received doctorates in their field are afforded the proper
respect and receive the des