doctor title: a new perspective

[Guest guest]

i've been following the threads about the doctor title and have been mulling

over what's been said.

 

i'd like to add a new perspective to the dialogue towards a meaningful, open

discussion of the matter.

 

first, i'd like to say that i'd love to have the professional respect that

comes with that title. but as i've clearly stated (so won't belabor again

here) i do not believe that we can use the title if we haven't gone through

the academic rigours to earn it.

 

on that point, i like to add a couple of thoughts to the discussion:

 

first, the respect that comes with the title come form the academic rigours

involved in earning it. (please, i do not mean to disrespect any of the

DC's in this group with my next comment:) DC's are not seen to have gone

through the same level of academic rigours that MD's have, and consequently

do not garner the same level of respect that MD's have.

 

by this i mean to emphasize that getting the doctor title without the

academic rigours will not get us the respect we seek.

 

the same applies to calling oneself a specialist: without earning the title

through academic and clinical achievement, the title is meaningless and does

not garner respect.

 

secondly, we were told in acu college that we are doctors because we treat

and heal disease. maybe we should focus less of being called doctors, and

more on conducting ourselves as doctors, regardless of what our title may

be. by that i mean, professionalism, providing compassionate, effective

care and treatment, conducting our practices in a highly ethical

manner, striving to become superior beings. i believe that is what was

meant when we were told that we are doctors, not whether or not we have a

title.

 

thirdly, a point was made in another discussion group about what it takes to

get in and get through med school in this country. only those with the

highest grades get in, the programs are cut-throat in rigours, in addition

to an 80hr/week residency of 1-2 years of sleep deprivation. honestly, it's

doubtful that 99.9% in our profession would have gotten in, gotten through,

or even wanted to go through that. but after graduating from acu college, we

want the respect of the title, and we forget that honestly we never would

have made it into med school or wanted to do what it takes to earn the

doctor title. (to those who say that's not true, i say go to med school and

get the title).

 

fourthly, we entered this profession because we were looking for an

alternative to conventional, west med. our field is new, and has not

developed in this country to the extent of west med and even chiropractics.

this is why we are still using the technician title of LAc that was given to

us when our field was legally in its inception, and is why we don't have

specialist and doctor titles yet. we have to accept that this is where our

profession is right now in this country. and we have to accept the

consequences of having entered into a new field, rather than a more

established one (no doctor titles yet). we are pioneering this profession.

 

fifth, there are advantages to not being doctors: lower malpractice, less

clinical responsibility, ability to be more casual and friendly with

patients, fewer expectations placed upon us.

 

again, i am not saying that i wouldn't love to have the respect of the

doctor title, but i think we can earn it individually through our clinical

expertise, results and demeanour: patients will see us as doctors, which is

the main thing regardless of our professional title. i think we have to be

realistic about where our profession is at this point in time, and accept

it.

 

in peace,

 

kb

 

 

 

--

Kath Bartlett, LAc, MS, BA UCLA

Oriental Medicine

Experienced, Dedicated, Effective

 

Asheville Center For

70 Woodfin Place, Suite West Wing Two

Asheville, NC 28801 828.258.2777

kbartlett

www.AcupunctureAsheville.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Kath,

 

Really nice post but would add that the chiropractic issues with the medical

establishment seem to be coming more from the AMA and some older professors

and practitioners. My chiropractic college routinely has university medical

students come

and visit as a part of their education. They ask lots of interesting questions

and sometimes

my instructors hear the same assumptions being repeated (did you know that a

cervical adjustment

can cause a stroke, for example). Our education is very similar when compared

with

an MD but there are some differences in hours for some subjects. We get

radiology and

they only see that if they specialize in that area.

 

There are many difficulties we have and the first one of importance is about

comparisons

of our own programs that are not similar. The numbers of hours, subjects and

depths of

these classes at some of our colleges is variable. This is one reason why more

schools

are not CA recognized/approved and possibly why the NCCAOM lobbied the CA

legislature

so hard to make changes and lower the training reqs. As I see it, we have a

two-tiered

education and licensure although these do not always match up. Mike W. Bowser,

L Ac

 

 

: acukath:

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:34:01 -0400doctor title: a new perspective

 

 

 

 

i've been following the threads about the doctor title and have been mullingover

what's been said.i'd like to add a new perspective to the dialogue towards a

meaningful, opendiscussion of the matter.first, i'd like to say that i'd love to

have the professional respect thatcomes with that title. but as i've clearly

stated (so won't belabor againhere) i do not believe that we can use the title

if we haven't gone throughthe academic rigours to earn it.on that point, i like

to add a couple of thoughts to the discussion:first, the respect that comes with

the title come form the academic rigoursinvolved in earning it. (please, i do

not mean to disrespect any of theDC's in this group with my next comment:) DC's

are not seen to have gonethrough the same level of academic rigours that MD's

have, and consequentlydo not garner the same level of respect that MD's have.by

this i mean to emphasize that getting the doctor title without theacademic

rigours will not get us the respect we seek.the same applies to calling oneself

a specialist: without earning the titlethrough academic and clinical

achievement, the title is meaningless and doesnot garner respect.secondly, we

were told in acu college that we are doctors because we treatand heal disease.

maybe we should focus less of being called doctors, andmore on conducting

ourselves as doctors, regardless of what our title maybe. by that i mean,

professionalism, providing compassionate, effectivecare and treatment,

conducting our practices in a highly ethicalmanner, striving to become superior

beings. i believe that is what wasmeant when we were told that we are doctors,

not whether or not we have atitle.thirdly, a point was made in another

discussion group about what it takes toget in and get through med school in this

country. only those with thehighest grades get in, the programs are cut-throat

in rigours, in additionto an 80hr/week residency of 1-2 years of sleep

deprivation. honestly, it'sdoubtful that 99.9% in our profession would have

gotten in, gotten through,or even wanted to go through that. but after

graduating from acu college, wewant the respect of the title, and we forget that

honestly we never wouldhave made it into med school or wanted to do what it

takes to earn thedoctor title. (to those who say that's not true, i say go to

med school andget the title).fourthly, we entered this profession because we

were looking for analternative to conventional, west med. our field is new, and

has notdeveloped in this country to the extent of west med and even

chiropractics.this is why we are still using the technician title of LAc that

was given tous when our field was legally in its inception, and is why we don't

havespecialist and doctor titles yet. we have to accept that this is where

ourprofession is right now in this country. and we have to accept

theconsequences of having entered into a new field, rather than a

moreestablished one (no doctor titles yet). we are pioneering this

profession.fifth, there are advantages to not being doctors: lower malpractice,

lessclinical responsibility, ability to be more casual and friendly

withpatients, fewer expectations placed upon us.again, i am not saying that i

wouldn't love to have the respect of thedoctor title, but i think we can earn it

individually through our clinicalexpertise, results and demeanour: patients will

see us as doctors, which isthe main thing regardless of our professional title.

i think we have to berealistic about where our profession is at this point in

time, and acceptit.in peace,kb-- Board Certified

in Oriental Medicine, NCCAOMExperienced, Dedicated, EffectiveAsheville Center

For 70 Woodfin Place, Suite West Wing TwoAsheville, NC 28801

828.258.2777kbartlett[Non-t\

ext portions of this message have been removed]

 

 

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