My mom has a PharmD and my husband has a PhD in the humanities. They both joke about being ‘doctors’, as in we have two doctors in the family, but they’re about equivalent to us. Both have a doctorate degree and neither use the title Dr. in every day life. I guess my husband uses his more just because he uses it in academia and isn’t retired.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Pharm D is not a physician, but they know much more about drugs and medications than an MD or DO. They are resources for MDs and DOs and other healthcare providers who need guidance on prescribing medications.

So I guess here’s the question: when MDs/DOs go to the PharmD for guidance and expertise, do they address the PharmD as “doctor”?

In my experience it’s mutual first names in that case.

Unless you don't know them. Then your introduction is, Hi, Dr. Pharma, I'm Dr. PharmD. Welcome to our meeting!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A Pharm D is not a physician, but they know much more about drugs and medications than an MD or DO. They are resources for MDs and DOs and other healthcare providers who need guidance on prescribing medications.

So I guess here’s the question: when MDs/DOs go to the PharmD for guidance and expertise, do they address the PharmD as “doctor”?

In my experience it’s mutual first names in that case.

Anonymous wrote:A Pharm D is not a physician, but they know much more about drugs and medications than an MD or DO. They are resources for MDs and DOs and other healthcare providers who need guidance on prescribing medications.

So I guess here’s the question: when MDs/DOs go to the PharmD for guidance and expertise, do they address the PharmD as “doctor”?

A Pharm D is not a physician, but they know much more about drugs and medications than an MD or DO. They are resources for MDs and DOs and other healthcare providers who need guidance on prescribing medications.

In an academic setting, I would absolutely refer to a PharmD as "Dr. So-and-So." They have a doctorate.

In a medical setting, I would not refer to a pharmacist as "Dr. Anything." In that setting, "Dr. Anything" is reserved for MDs and DOs and dentists. DNPs also do not use "doctor" in that setting.

Well yes, they’re a real doctor since they have a doctorate degree. Do you mean are they a real physician? No, they’re not a physician.

I think people confuse MD / Medical Doctor as being the only type of doctor. There are lots of doctorates, and PharmD is one of them.

Eh. It's a terminal degree. That's going to be different in different professions. I'm really not sure what "real doctor" means.

I consider a PharmD a real doctor. More real than my Juris Doctor.

The word doctor comes from the latin word meaning teacher. It was originally used for professors and then the medical profession coopted it to gain credibility when they were still using leeches and rubbing dog hair into bite wounds. Asking "is xyz degree a real doctor" is basically meaningless.

Anonymous wrote:A doctorate is the highest level of education in a particular field. If a person has a PharmD, then they have achieved the highest level of education in pharmacology. People who earn a PhD have a right to be called Dr. Have you ever heard of Dr. Jill Biden?

A PharmD is much like an EdD (which is what Jill Biden has) a practicing pharmacist is more likely to have a PharmD just like a practicing educator is more likely to have an EdD. PhD's are designed for those who generally will have an academic or research career.

Anonymous wrote:What do you think? Obviously you wouldn’t call your pharmacist “Doctor xxx”, right?

Some pharmacists have PharmDs and others do not.

A doctorate is the highest level of education in a particular field. If a person has a PharmD, then they have achieved the highest level of education in pharmacology. People who earn a PhD have a right to be called Dr. Have you ever heard of Dr. Jill Biden?

What do you think? Obviously you wouldn’t call your pharmacist “Doctor xxx”, right?