Being a Doctor of PT

My wife is a doctor and really fears this trend. It’s bad enough that Chiropractors can call themselves Doctors…

I am not really a fan of calling yourself a Dr. even though you may have your DPT. I have my DPT and I am proud to JUST call myself a physical therapist. I tell my patients that I have my doctorate but I do not consider myself a “doctor”. I think it is really just a lot of ego leading this trend in name calling. Just my 2 cents…thanks

I get this comment a lot, especially from physicians and ortho’s. They typically ask me why I wanted to get my doctorate and why do I think this is an appropriate title. First of all, I didn’t necessarily want to get my doctorate, I just wanted to be a PT. The program I went to (and all programs nowadays) happens to be a doctorate. Second, I think its important to have the doctorate designation (but not be referred to as “Dr.”) in order to move the profession forward, and further APTA’s Vision 2020 plan where we can have direct access to our clinics (and actually have insurance reimburse) without a physician referral.

I definitely agree that the term “doctor” should be reserved for those who went to medical school, however, I say that you earned your degree and we are the most knowledgeable person about musculoskeletal and pathokinesiological issues. No one knows more about this than us! And for this reason we should be thought of as the first line of care for such issues.

We also need to realize that we also have a responsibility on the other end to know when a patient is either not appropriate for PT, requires advanced medical imaging, or needs to be referred to a physician.

I myself do not like to be called “doctor”, but I do have DPT at the end of my name, and I am often asked what it stands for. Its something to be proud of, but not to be flaunted.

Just my 2 cents…

I agree with Todd. Using Dr. in front of your name is almost “like we’re trying to prove something” like the chiro’s…Go on any physician website…They use their credentials after their names…I believe chiro’s on the other hand put Dr. in front of their names publicly to hide their credentials…

All of your comments make sense to me. So far, I have not met a DPT who calls him/herself Dr. Lastname. Instead, the DPTs I know are simply proud of their degree and knowledge and ability to treat patients. I wish there could be another title that conveys the respect and knowledge of having a doctorate but doesn’t confuse the DPT with an MD or DO.

Many professions go by the title doctor. MD, DO, DPM, DMD, DDS, DPM, DC, PhD, etc. It is simply a courtesy. I feel that our country has lost it’s civility and for the world of health care that prides itself on professionalism it is often very unprofessional in being demeaning toward other clinicians. Graduating with a doctorate makes you a Doctor, and we should celebrate education and those who obtain it.

Whoa Todd… lets get one thing straight, PT and Chiropractors base their approach to treatment off of two totally different ideological platforms, and to be completely frank there has never been or ever will be a single Chiropractic institute that has academic affiliation (where as, as far as I am aware, every DPT program has academic affiliation)… the medical community just would not allow it. That being said, there are good Chiropractors out there (not to be too biased toward Chiros’) that have logical, scientific approaches to treatment.
I strongly agree with what BJ said. The current medical system is a bit of a wreck. We do sick-care really well, but we are failing when it comes to healthcare. The medical community recognizes this and just recently, the unsustainability of the current healthcare model has received enough attention to prompt government into action. APTA knows change is coming and are taking action; perhaps not as vocal and boisterous as to ruffle the feathers of other healthcare providers but understand that we are preparing for the change that is so sorely needed. We have become a doctoring profession so that we can see patients as primary care providers. We need to look at preventative care as a means of reining in the staggering costs we are seeing for chronic, preventable illnesses. We need to provide care and education to the under-served populations that aren’t addressed until they become swept up in the downward cycle of sick-care.
Change is occurring to our medical model and PT’s are going to be major players in that change!

By no means do I expect anyone call me “doctor,” nor do I want it. In my eyes, as a current SPT, the clinical doctorate education we receive that culminates in a DPT means that we have gone the “extra mile” in our education to better ourselves and our communities. For me, earning this degree isn’t a right – in fact, it is a privilege. We DPTs, and future DPTs, should feel privileged to have such an amazing education. We should feel privileged to have the opportunity to positively influence people’s lives…but unfortunately, the rest of the medical community may not think that way. Sure, some doctors view this as “disrespectful” to the medical community, and in my home state of Washington, chiropractors see this as an advance on their profession (it’s a long story…we can’t perform Gr 5 HVLA, we want to, they don’t want us to; they’re already “docs,” we’re starting to produce DPTs, etc.).

Culturally, this is a very different issue. Take for example the Hispanic population, of which I have had the opportunity to serve recently. All medical professionals that aren’t nurses are referred to as “el/la doctor(a)” (nurses have their own word in Spanish). I would walk into a treatment room, and my patients would greet me with, “Hola doctor, como estas?” or something of the like. But again, this is a very cultural issue, and people of the Latino culture traditionally have a great deal of respect for people of higher education. Just some food for thought.

At any rate, the bottom line for me is this: I’m doing this for my future patients. Anything I can do to better myself for them is exactly what I need to do. Like I said before, I don’t want anyone to call me “doctor.” I want them to call me Chris, and I want them to feel connected to me. I don’t care what MDs, DCs, or any other medical professionals think of my higher education – I didn’t do it to impress them. I might be persecuted for saying this, but maybe our medical community should stop being so overly concerned about how many letters we can all get after our names, and start focusing on what matters – the people who rely on us. Some more food for thought.

As a student pursuing a doctorate of physical therapy, let me just say I did not choose to go into physical therapy for the “Dr.” title. I chose to go into this field for the potential it has and the many therapists who truly care for their patients. I do not expect my patients to call me Dr. and actually prefer that they do not. As physical therapists we spend more time with our patients than most clinicians.
I did not choose to become a physical therapist to impress anyone with a “Dr.” title. I chose to go into this field because I wanted to help out my community and am grateful and honored to be currently pursuing a Doctorate in physical therapy.
The Doctorate title represents how we have gone the extra mile to better our selves and use evidence along with our clinical experience to get the best results for our patients.

At the end of the day, I chose to go into this field because of its limitless potential and the opportunity to help those in my community.

Hi, my name is Dr. Aaron LeBauer and I’m your physical therapist.

I think you all should embrace the degree and title that belongs with it. I’m quite surprised that no one else has commented stating they feel that we as physical therapists should use the title Dr.

No one is going to confuse a physical therapist or any other professional, for a physician unless that is the intention. Even chiropractors, and hey, they are doing something right especially when it comes to private practice and marketing, but that’s another issue.

The title of Dr. is deserved by all people who graduate from a University with a doctoral degree, including your cardiologist, high school english teacher, dentist, podiatrist, pharmacist, college profesor, and your physical therapist.

As physical therapists we can almost always see a patient with out a physician’s referral and even when patients are referred, must be accountable for our actions, including screening patients, taking health history and providing an intervention. We do not rely on other professions to tell us what to do, how to treat, and are autonomous practitioners who when awarded a doctor of physical therapy degree can and should use the title “Dr.” That does not mean you need to use it all of the time, but that we should not be afraid or ashamed to call ourselves Dr.

Dr. LeBauer