Do you work with any that ask you to do this? Does it weird you out at all?
I'm a pretty laid back person...like sometimes "check-a-pulse" laidback. :wink2: I'm also pretty self confident and I'm not scared of doctors. But I guess I had it ingrained into my head at some impressionable stage in my life that they're addressed as "Dr So and So". I didn't realize how deeply this penetrated my fragile psyche until a few years ago when my Sis started dating a vet. I called him Dr H, even when we were all out in a social setting and taught my Kiddo to do the same. (I quit when I found out he was a Red Wings fan...came up with a different name that I won't post here! LOL! But I made the Kiddo continue to call him Doc for the longest time. It eventually evolved into Uncle Dr H. )
Anyway, so now I'm working in an ER, and even though I'm a probie RN, I've worked there for over a year. We have a bunch of great docs...talented, respectful, the whole shibang. I'm very lucky and I know it. Some of our doctors have started asking us to call them by their first names, and I kinda feel uncomfortable doing it. I mean, they went to school for a loooong time to earn that title. At first, I just thought that it was because they were younger docs and less formal...but then I realized they weren't that young, I was just older. I don't think it's a big formailty thing, and it's not like I'm adressing them as my superior. It's just a title for an impressive feat that they accomplished, and I think they earned it, and my respect.
I do it, or at least try to remember. I refuse to do it in front of patients though. Gets my lots of eye rolls, but hey...I have my standards. Not many, but the ones I do have, I stick to. But it just feels weird. So I was wondering if this was common in other areas, or if my docs are even more laid back than I am? :chuckle
I would have to agree that if I were in front of patients I would call them Dr...I'm sure some patients would find the informality disturbing??
But in all, if they ask to be called by their first name, they'd win points with me (no I'm not really keeping track of points:chuckle). Either way, that is nice that even though they deserve to be called doc, they don't want you to feel uncomfortable.
Very respectable...I would feel like you though.
If a doctor was a Red Wings fan, I'd have a hard time calling them anything respectable too.
Interesting replies, thanks all! It's interesting to see how the hospital cultures, regions and our ages kinda make a difference. I'm also glad that it's not just me! :wink2:
We did have a doc whose last name NO ONE could pronounce (not even the other docs!), so we used the Dr First Name. I think he maybe secretly thought we were all a bunch of redneck hicks for not being able to say it, but there wasn't much he could do when his boss was on our side.
(To the one poster who called her vet mom Dr Mom....LOL! That cracked me up! I'll have to share that with Dr Uncle Yucky Wings Fan! )
Noticed that as the interns come up you tend to be on a first name basis and when you page them and they call back, they even say they are "first name." As they become residents and attendings I end up calling them both. I always call them Dr... in front of patients though.
I always use Dr. ________ with the patients/family, and it's situation-dependent otherwise. Usually with the younger ones, i.e. residents, newer attending, it's a first name thing and it's mutually agreeable. With some of the old cronies I just stick to Dr. ________ because it's what they're accustomed to and I certainly don't mind.
same here . . . . although i slip up occasionally, especially when one of the docs is my doc.
we had a new doc here a few years ago - awesome guy, funny, intelligent, cute. wore bow ties to work. one of the paramedics started calling him a nickname . . . the doc was too nice to ask him to stop, especially since the doc was new and wanted to be nice to everyone. he was finally, privately asked to stop. the doc took me aside and thanked me. he hated the nickname.
I've never been asked to call an MD by his/her first name nor would I feel comfortable doing so...though I could, and would, if he/she were a foreign MD's first name because those last names can be a challenge!
I totally agree. For the OP, if they ask you to call them by their first name...fine do so (definitely makes them more approachable), but I also agree with the using their proper title when in front of patients.
Kris
I see with this, and others posts here that, in front of patients, doctors are referred to as Doctor, plus their last name, because that is their title, or as a sign of respect. However, I was curious if the doctors refer to nurses using their professional title in front of patients, or at any other time, such as "Nurse Jones," instead of "Jane," for instance. I wonder because I always hear nurses refer to doctors using their professional title, even when they personally know them, and not just in front of patients, but nurses are always called "Peggy" or "Susan" by doctors.
It took me about a year before I started calling them by their first name.... They call me by my first name, why not the same for me? I do call them "doctor" in front of pts.
I agree with this wholeheartedly.
I have always been taught you can never go wrong in ettiquette by calling someone by Mr., Mrs., Ms., or Dr...and their last name, unless they tell you something different.
I see with this, and others posts here that, in front of patients, doctors are referred to as Doctor, plus their last name, because that is their title, or as a sign of respect. However, I was curious if the doctors refer to nurses using their professional title in front of patients, or at any other time, such as "Nurse Jones," instead of "Jane," for instance. I wonder because I always hear nurses refer to doctors using their professional title, even when they personally know them, and not just in front of patients, but nurses are always called "Peggy" or "Susan" by doctors.
No, they don't. I wouldn't be comfortable with that at all. But, I insist that my children's friends refer to me by my first name. I hear Mrs. M and look around for my mil. However, our docs say in front of patients all the time, let me check with your nurse, you know they are the real bosses around here. I also like that they will ask for advise and input infront of the patients so they and the families can get a feel for the team approach we use. (One doc even jokes that since he is married to a nurse he is use to taking orders from RN's:rolleyes:)
In my department we are on a first-name basis. When I'm on the phone with a surgeon, cardiologist or other consultant, I say hello Dr. X, this is (first name) (last name), the nurse taking care of patient A.
If someone prefers to be called Dr. X I most certainly respect that, though since we're not on a first-name basis I would reciprocate by introducing myself to that person as Ms. MLOS.
) 
)
(One doc even jokes that since he is married to a nurse he is use to taking orders from RN's:rolleyes:)
Abishag
168 Posts
I would have to agree that if I were in front of patients I would call them Dr...I'm sure some patients would find the informality disturbing??
But in all, if they ask to be called by their first name, they'd win points with me (no I'm not really keeping track of points:chuckle). Either way, that is nice that even though they deserve to be called doc, they don't want you to feel uncomfortable.
Very respectable...I would feel like you though.
If a doctor was a Red Wings fan, I'd have a hard time calling them anything respectable too.