JUST TO SHARE (Lau Tai Onn): True Meaning of a Doctor (by Dr JB Lim)

The blogger finds the comments from his most learned e-buddy the Great Sifu Dr Lim Ju Boo on the question of “Why Even Tan Sri & Datuk Also Want Fake Degrees?” very informative and enlightening and wishes to share with all readers of this blog:

From: lim juboo

Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2012 03:12:11 +0800

In this idiotic country everyone wants to be called a Doctor with the abbreviation Dr. in front of his name. Even a medical doctor is technically and legally not eligible to be called Dr So and So. It is only a courtesy title given to him.

A real doctor is academically someone who actually holds a PhD, DSc or an equivalent DOCTORATE degree. This is the HIGHEST degree that can ever be bestowed by a university on an individual after much, much, much learning and original research to the advancement of knowledge. He or she is the REAL, legally, and technically recognized DOCTOR, because he/she actually holds a DOCTORATE degree unlike those who holds only a first or Bachelor's degree in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary who also clamors to be addressed as 'doctor'. Actually this is technically and legally wrong, because a bachelor's degree remains a bachelor's degree and no higher.

The word 'Doctor' actually originated in the medieval church time to refer those who are highly learned, teachers, philosophers, sages, rabbis, thinkers, or someone who teaches other philosophy, religion and spiritual enlightenment. In other words, he is a highly learned person, a thinker, or a philosopher. That is the true meaning of a doctor.

How can a dentist who plucks people teeth out, a veterinarian who treats sick animals, and a physician who doesn't teach at all (yes, TEACH, a Teacher) his patient how to take care of his health and well-being but merely tell him to 'makan ubat ini satu biji / dua biji, sebelum/ selapas makan, dua / tiga kali sehari dan balik appointment lagi dalam 3 bulan' (for more biji to take) be called a doctor? He only has a basic bachelor's degree, and he does not teach his patients but just ask him to take his medicine (and he will be 'alright'). It is NOT a doctorate degree at all. In Britain, surgeons were once called barber physicians. So they are addressed until today, not as Dr So-and-So, but as MR. So-and-So.

Even here in Malaysia within the medical community in the government hospitals only, surgeons like to be addressed as MR. and NOT as Dr. They want to differentiate themselves from the ordinary medical officers, registrars, house officers and housemen. This is only among the doctors and nurses in a govt. hospital. But the public does not know this, so they call the surgeons also as 'doctors' when actually, technically and legally they should be called Mr. So and So. The surgeons get angry if one of their hospital staff calls them as Dr So n So. They want to be addressed as MISTER ....the Surgeon, and the rest of the physicians ...as the Clinicians.

They themselves are very class-conscious. I was talking to a Malay Trauma and Emergency Physician and Orthopedic Surgeon at KL Hospital some years ago, and he told me how another Malay colleague of his should be addressed as Encik So-n-So, and should never be addressed as MISTER so-n-so, because only he should be given this special MISTER title (even as a Malay) because he is the Chief Surgeon and Head of the Dept of Emergency Medicine at KLH.

Ordinary Malays are always addressed as Encik, never as Mr. But a Malay surgeon wants to be called Mr. and not as Encik or a Dr.

So you can see how compartmental and classy people can be whatever their race. They are so fussy about titles and how people should call them.

When I was at the University of London, we in the academia never call a medical doctor, a doctor. The University is full to the brim with professors and doctorate doctors. We always refer the physicians as 'clinicians'. The same thing when I was working in IMR. We doctors, researchers, and scientists always at clinical and scientific meetings, or when we present research papers at conferences - ALWAYS refer our medical colleagues as clinicians because most of us are actual doctorate holders. So there is a class distinction even among ourselves.

Not just doctorate holders, but most of us in research also have medical qualifications as well. So we must distinguish the upper class from the lower class academically. So those in the upper echelon of the academia and members of the university just want to compartmentalize themselves from the clinicians. This is my exposure in the environment of medicine and science both overseas, and back home here at the IMR and in the local universities.

Probably, like the class-conscious British and the academically upper class Malaysians in research, they too want to differentiate those who are actually holders of a doctorate degree (PhD, D.Sc) from those who only hold bachelors degrees in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science. There is a very marked difference in the academic achievements and the academic ability between the two classes of doctors.

In the US, you can clearly see they want to differentiate. They hardly use the title 'Dr' in front of their names. If they are a doctorate holder (PhD), they clearly want to put that credential there after their names to differentiate themselves from those who are MD's. But America is so advanced unlike in this country, most of the scientists and physicians there have both an MD and a PhD (a double doctorate), because an MD is actually a Doctor of Medicine, and this remains legally and technically a doctorate bestowed by a university. But not those with a bachelor's degree in medicine, dentistry or veterinary in British universities.

That is why our universities follow the old British system of education by giving medical graduates an MBBS instead of an MD like in America and elsewhere. If you give someone an MBBS, this remains a bachelor's and NOT a doctorate degree. Because of this legal implication, the newer local universities are now offering the MD instead of the older MBBS because an MD is a doctorate, whereas MBBS is a bachelor's degree (rather 2 degrees). This will overcome the legal and technical implication of calling someone 'a doctor' when he/she has just a bachelor's degree?

In no time even pharmacists and nurses also want to be called 'a doctor'. Where got meaning like that? It takes years, and years of learning, and after graduation years and years of original research to contribute to the advancement of learning, particularly in Science, Technology and Medicine to be a REAL Doctor or a Professor.

To my mind, what is there in a title? It is your EDUCATION, your BASIC EDUCATION, even just a diploma that is far more important. Even if you are just a BSc or a professional engineer with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering this is far more important. That speaks volumes that you are a professional engineer.

To me, putting your academic credentials BEHIND your name, not title in front, would be far, far more important. Because this alone tells about your educational level and area of expertise.

I would rather prefer to see someone write behind his name this: BSc (Chemistry, Pharmacology, Mathematics, Engineering, Physiology, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Food Science....etc, etc) than someone writing BSc (London, Cambridge, Oxford, MIT, Harvard...etc, etc) because I don't even know what is his area of expertise. The name of the university become less important, but it is your area of expertise and knowledge behind your degree that comes FIRST. I don't want to employ someone with a Bachelor's degree in Islamic studies (example) to do bio-medical research (example). What for, even if he holds a PhD in an unrelated field from Harvard. I would rather prefer a Bachelor degree or even a diploma holder in bio-medical sciences from 'Chow-Kit University'. He will perhaps be able to do the job better.

When I interview a graduate for employment I always ask for his area of specialization first, and NOT which university he/she came from? Of course if he is from Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London or King's College London in the right field that would be 1000 million times better than 'Chow Kit Road University' for the same field.

In summary, putting your degree credentials BEHIND your name is far more important, practical, and more meaningful to me and everybody else, than writing Tan Sri, Datuk, Professor, Doctor in front of your name, because I don't even know which area you specialize in, or are you a Fraud with a fake MBA degree bought online from the Internet?