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{{quote|'''"[[Shout-Out|Dangit, Jim, I'm an astronomer, not a doctor!]] I mean, I am a doctor, but not that kind of doctor. I have a doctorate, it's not the same thing. You can't help people with a doctorate; [[Heroic Self-Deprecation|you just sit there and you're useless!]]"''|'''[[The Professor|Dr. Doppler]]''', ''[[Treasure Planet]]''}}
If someone in TV-land is referred to as "the doctor", it means
Certain professions blur the line. A psychiatrist or forensic pathologist will necessarily have a medical doctorate, but their main occupation isn't taking care of people's cuts and sniffles. If they're suddenly forced to act like that kind of doctor—like, say, they're on hand when someone gets hit by a car—expect them to act awkward and unsure before they save the day.
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{{examples}}
== Doctors who really do practice medicine ==
=== [[Anime]]
* Dr. Shiouji from ''[[Excel Saga (manga)|Excel Saga]]'' specifically states that out of his many doctorates ''none'' are in medicine, but it doesn't matter that much in the end as he's also an [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]] who knows all the medical terminology and has previously dissected Iwata's dead body to translocate his brain into a mechanical vessel.
** Dr. Kabapu has never said what kind of doctor he is either.
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* ''[[One Piece]]'':
** Chopper's mentor Dr. Hiriluk at least claimed to be that kind of doctor; whether he had a legitimate degree is questionable, as most folks on Drum Island considered him a charlatan and quack. His skills were certainly good enough to save Chopper's life when they first met.
**
** Dr. Hogback from the Thriller Bark Arc was that kind of doctor and a respected one in the field until he got bored and started using... [[Necromancer| controversial methods.]]
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
*
* [[Doctor Strange]], from the [[Marvel Universe]], is a trained (though not currently practicing) surgeon. On the occasions when he does show his medical chops, he tends to be [[Super Doc|better and more versatile]] than a specialist forty years out of practice should be.
** His parody in [[Fanhunter]], Dr. X-Traño (a mix between a real wizard and a cosplayer Marvel geek), is only ''honoris causa''<ref>indicates an honorary degree</ref> of something else by Miskatonic University. His allies believed X-Traño to be an M.D. like Strange; he was forced to tell the truth when he was asked to heal an ally.
* [[Lampshade Hanging]] in ''[[Justice Society of America]]'', when Black Canary is surprised that Dr Mid-Nite ''is'' that kind of doctor, since most supers who call themselves "Dr" aren't.
* [[Batman|
** Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, head of the eponymous [[Bedlam House]] is a psychiatrist, though not the most sane one.
* ''[[X-Men]]'':
** Zigzagged with Dr. Moira MacTaggert. Her specialties seem to be biochemistry and genetics, and she even earned a Nobel Prize for the latter, so one can assume she has degrees in both. While she could likely treat an injury or disease easily, whether she could legally work as a physician isn't clear.
** [[Genius Bruiser]] Dr. Henry McCoy (aka the Beast) ''is'' that kind of doctor ''and'' holds five other doctorates.
=== [[Film]] ===
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* ''[[The Abominable Dr. Phibes]]'' has two doctorates. One is in theology, and the other in acoustics.
* ''[[Dracula]]'' features Abraham Van Helsing, M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc, as seen in ''[[The Brides of Dracula]]'' (1960)
** The satire film ''[[Dracula: Dead and Loving It]]'' showed Helsing as a medical professor
* ''[[City Slickers]]'' has a scene with two doctors needing to attend to an injured man because they're the only people in the group with first-aid training. The problem is that first-aid is all they can provide for him—he needs a surgeon, but they're ''dentists''.
{{quote|What're we going to do, give him a ''cleaning?!''}}
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=== [[Literature]] ===
* Doctor Lao from ''[[The Circus of Doctor Lao]]'' is definitely not that kind of doctor.
* ''[[Sherlock Holmes
* In ''Beneath The Surface'' by Gary Crew, Spiro introduces himself as 'Doctor Spiro Trotter' and has to clarify that he isn't a medical doctor in response to the hotel receptionist repeatedly telling him that nobody's been sick for years.
* The protagonist of ''[[Youth in Sexual Ecstasy]]'' after acquiring an STD, looks for a doctor to get treated, he finds the card of a specialist in "sexual dysfunctions" (sex therapist) and goes to him to get treated, luckily for him the doctor already had a background on medicine and biology; The doctor later points out what his specialization really means.
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* The protagonist of ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' is that kind of doctor; in fact, the full title of the book was originally ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships''. However, the story doesn't include any situation where his medical skills are needed.
=== [[Live
* Mohinder Suresh of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has remarkable know-how in the medical arts despite being a geneticist.
** He even mentions how he's ''not'' a medical doctor at least ''twice'' -- once in Volume 1 when Thompson asks him to figure out what's wrong with Molly, and in Volume 4 when he's brought to see a bullet-riddled Daphne.
* ''[[Stargate Verse
** This is played for laughs in one episode. A man who has captured SG-1 was injured, and asks Daniel to patch him up. Daniel explains that he doesn't know how.
{{quote|'''Daniel''': I'm an archaeologist.
'''Bounty Hunter''': But you're also a doctor.
'''Daniel''': ...of archaeology. }}
{{quote|'''JACKSON''' (offering his hand for her to shake): Doctor Daniel Jackson.
'''CARTER''' (shaking his hand): Doctor Samantha Carter.
'''JACKSON''': Oh! Uh, Ph.D.
'''CARTER''': Oh, me too. }}
* ''[[Star Trek]]'':
** Troi's title is Counselor, meaning she probably filled the role of a guidance counselor of sorts to the crew (more of a psychologist's job, and while they are doctors in the Ph.D. sense, her empathic nature helped her more than her training). Also, the official medical doctors all were required to learn multiple alien anatomies as well as forensics and other analysis. McCoy is pretty dependent on his lab in the original, but in space the doctors have to be able to cope with an emergency. After all, Klingon anatomy has double- or triple-redundancies to keep them fighting and Vulcans have their heart in their abdominal cavity, so why risk being underprepared?
** All of these doctors (aside from Phlox, who's not an actual member of Starfleet, and Voyager's Doctor, who's a hologram) do have ranks, designated on their uniforms. McCoy was a Lt. Commander, for example. Troi, who does not wear a uniform, held the rank of Lt. Commander for most of the show and got a [[Hand Wave]] of not wanting to intimidate her clients because she out-ranked them. (Granted, what she was wearing instead was probably [[Distracted by the Sexy|off-putting in other ways...]]) Crusher was a Commander. Bashir was a Lieutenant.
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* Dr. Sam Beckett from ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' straddles the line; while still amnesiac he recalls how to halt a premature labor, and then balks when Al tells him to do something requiring another degree; turns out medicine is just one of the ''six'' doctorates he holds.
* The vets in ''[[All Creatures Great and Small]]'' sometimes have clients who mistake them for traditional doctors, often under embarrassing circumstances. Tristan once went on a house-call to an infertile couple under the mistaken belief that he was going to artificially inseminate their cow. Another time a woman turned up at the surgery asking for confirmation of her pregnancy and Siegfried pretended to [[Covert Pervert|comply with her wishes]] in order to freak out Tristan and James.
* During one episode of ''[[Leverage]]
* Inverted in Season 17 of ''[[The Amazing Race]]'' when, after being U-Turned, Chad started taunting Nat at the Roadblock. Though really, it might have just been because Chad didn't know the difference between an MD and a PhD.
{{quote|'''Chad''': Nat you should be able to get this easy. How's that PhD helping you?
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'''Reid''': No, I didn't. I am a doctor, so technically it wasn't a lie.
'''Garcia''': What was it, then?
'''Reid''': Um... Second opinion.
'''Garcia''': You're my bitch now. }}
* The ''[[CSI]]'' franchise has two ex-doctors. ''[[CSI]]'' had Dr. Ray Langston and ''[[CSI: NY]]'' has Dr. Sheldon Hawkes. Both have ended up giving emergency care a time or two. Hawkes even helps with a bicycle first aid team in the park. Of course, the medical examiners (Robbins, Hammerbeck) are also doctors, but don't practice medicine.
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== Other kinds of doctors ==
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* [[Doctor Doom]] dropped out of school after his [[Freak Lab Accident]] and then proceeded to learn magic and take over a country. He never actually finished his doctorate. No one would argue that he doesn't deserve one, but he simply never finished the paperwork. Ordering the [[Ruritania|University of Latvaria]] to give him a degree (what the fanon suggests he did) doesn't count, even though the thesis defense would have been... interesting.
* [[Spider-Man
** Lampshaded in ''[[Secret Wars]]'': Volcana asks Doctor Octopus to tend to the severely wounded Molecule Man; Octopus replies that his doctorate is in nuclear physics, not medicine, but he'll see what he can do
*** Conversely, every doctorate brings full knowledge of robotics, including the Entomology course (see Henry Pym).
** Also appears in ''Ultimate Spiderman''. Peter is injured in a fight and goes to Dr Connors for help. Although he isn't an MD, as he is quick to point out, he is persuaded to treat the wound anyway.
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* One-shot [[Justice League]] foe [[Reality Warper|Dr. Julian September]] is a physicist. He is not mistaken for a doctor of medicine, but an official who don't want to reapprove of his funding makes a quip about September fixing his jeep, since he works in quantum ''mechanics''. Shortly after, Dr September's work first paid off, when the official was [[Reality Warper|struck by lightning]] before he could sign the paper that would have stopped September's work.
* Brother Voodoo (Dr. Jericho Drumm) is a psychologist. Some readers assumed when they saw him go by 'Doctor Voodoo' that the title had come along with the office of Sorcerer Supreme, which he inherited from Doctor Strange.
* Kitty Pryde (from [[X-Men]]); after graduating from the Robert Heinlein University, she holds doctorates in Engineering and Astrophysics.
* ''[[Batman]]'' examples:
** Dr. Pamela Isley (aka Poison Ivy) in post-crisis ''[[Batman]]'' continuity, her PhD is in botany. In some cases though, she can use her expertise in chemistry to heal or treat humans, going so far as to cure Nora Fries in the animated ''[[Harley Quinn (TV series)|Harley Quinn]]''.
* [[Harley Quinn]] herself; as Dr. Harlene Quinzell, she was a Psy.D. Of course, there's Dr. Hugo Strange and Dr. Jonathan Crane, and ''those'' are just the most well-known [[Psycho Psychologist]] types among Batman's [[Rogues Gallery]].
=== [[Fan Works]] ===
* There are several ''[[Liberty's Kids]]'' fanfics where the author has mistaken Dr. Benjamin Franklin as a medical doctor. He had an honorary doctorate in law and science.
* In the ''[[Bleach]]'' fanfic ''[[Project Tatterdemalion]]'', we have Dr. Yoruichi Shihouin (ecologist), Dr. Masaki Shiba (biology), Dr. Isshin Shiba (might ''technically'' be a medical doctor, but hasn't worked on anything but mice in years, so comes down to biology), Dr. Tessai Tsukabishi (physics), and Dr. Kisuke Urahara ([[Omnidisciplinary Scientist|any number of things]]). All research scientists- although they do manage to create a fast-and-dirty vaccine against [[The Virus]]. No medical doctors in the original group (although they do have a nurse and a paramedic). In the sequel, when (medical) Dr. Retsu Unohana arrives to treat the nurse's injuries, Yoruichi introduces herself ''with'' her specialty, to keep things clear.
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* Buck Laughlin uses this for some [[Witty Banter]] in ''[[Best in Show]]'' while talking to Dr. Millbank, president of the Mayflower Kennel Club.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* In [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[The Baroque Cycle]]'', Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is often referred to as "the Doctor" (not ''that'' [[Doctor Who|Doctor]], mind you). He's actually a doctor of law, though he's more well-known for his [[Phantasy Spelling|arithmetickal]] studies than his legal studies. In addition, Daniel Waterhouse, an [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]], is referred to as "Dr. Daniel Waterhouse" later in his life. Inverting the trope, physicians are always referred to as "physicians", never doctors; even surgeons were alternately called "chirurgeons" and "barber-surgeons", never "doctors". Indeed, Dr. Waterhouse himself expresses strong contempt for physicians, treating them as if they were snake-oil salesmen (and given the state of 17th/18th-century medicine, that's exactly what they were).
* In Terry Pratchett's first ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''The Colour of Magic'', there's a moment where we get a glimpse of an [[Real Life|alternate universe]] where Twoflower and Rincewind are travelling on a plane, when "Zweiblumen" collapses. Someone asks "Rjinswand" to help since he's a Doctor, but Rjinswand points out that he would only be any help if Zweiblumen were some sort of nuclear reactor.
* A scene in one of the ''[[Adrian Mole]]'' books has Pandora jumping into a taxi with the words "I'm a doctor and this is an emergency!" She doesn't mention she's a doctor of philosophy.
=== [[Live
* Parodied regularly in ''[[The Colbert Report]]'': after getting his Doctorate of Fine Arts from Knox College, Stephen immediately started assuming that he could perform operations. He even started a recurring segment called "[[Yes but What Does Zataproximetacine DO|Cheating Death]], with Dr. Stephen T Colbert, ''DFA''".
** Being a doctor of fine arts, he's only qualified to do operations on paintings.
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* ''[[CSI]]'': Dr. Gil Grissom is a PhD not an MD as he is quick to remind someone who asks him how to treat an animal bite. Although, as an entomologist, he's pretty good with bug bites.
* There was an episode of ''[[Lost in Space]]'' when aliens mistook Dr Smith for a medical doctor, despite his protests otherwise. Of course, he ''was'' originally a medical doctor, but then the writers just changed him to a [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]].
* Used in, of all places, ''[[Growing Pains]]'' where Dr. Seaver has to help a young girl during her [[Born in
** This is [[Truth in Television]] given that you have to earn an MD to be a psychiatrist.
* Aversion: [[Frasier|Dr. Frasier Crane]] and his brother Niles are both That Kind Of Doctor, despite frequently (and amusingly) being mistaken for Not. Possibly a [[Incredibly Lame Pun|borderline case]] since psychiatrists (MDs who complete residencies and board certification in mental illness) are commonly conflated with non-MD-holding mental health professionals such as psychologists and social workers.
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'''Adam:''' You know, I still can't believe he's a ''doctor''. }}
=== [[Radio]] ===
* In ''Cabin Pressure'', a passenger gets a heart attack on an airplane. Whilst trying to decide whether to divert or not, the pilots notice there's a doctor on board and start requesting ever more urgently that any person with medical training come to the flight deck. As noone comes, they start speaking of a "hypothetical doctor" with a hypothetical sandy mustache hypothetically sitting in the seventh row. As the man eventually comes, he advises a bridge, because a tunnel's out of the question...and really his Ph.D.'s in engineering.
* Dan Coffey hosts a show called ''[[Ask Dr. Science]]'' (a [[Spin-Off]] from ''[[Duck's Breath Mystery Theater]]''), justifying it because, although "not a real doctor," he "has a Masters Degree ... [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist|''in Science!'']]"
=== [[Theatre]] ===
* The title character of ''[[The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus]]'' is a Doctor of Divinity, which again, was the original use of the designation of "Doctor".
=== [[Toys]] ===
* Advertisements for the "Doctor Dreadful" line of toys feature a goofy [[Mad Scientist]] named, well, [[Captain Obvious|Doctor Dreadful]]. The line includes the "Doctor Dreadful MD" toys, where the character claims the "MD" stands for "Monster Doctor"; in one commercial, he produces a sheepskin to prove he is, indeed, a licensed Monster Doctor.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
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'''Aquaman''': A ''hero'' doctor, through and through!
'''The Atom''': ...a physicist. }}
** [[Played With]], however—his knowledge of physics allows him [[The Incredible Shrinking Man|to shrink down]] and pull off a [[Fantastic Voyage Plot]] to save [[Batman]] anyway.
* ''[[Family Guy]]'': When the Griffin family starts working with [[No Celebrities Were Harmed|Dr. Diddy]] at his record label, Chris asks Diddy if he could perform surgery on himself in the event he got shot. Whereupon Dr. Diddy calmly replies that his doctorate is in optometry.
* In Booster Gold's episode of [[Justice League Unlimited]], he comes across a woman giving birth and tries to pass responsibility to Doctor Simmons, who informs him that she's a physicist.
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** On the other hand, some teachers with a doctorate or professor's degree at some universities and schools don't insist on being called "Professor/Dr. (name)", and even discourage it in many cases. At many other colleges and universities, however, "Doctor So-and-so" or "Professor So-and-so" is the established way for a student to address their doctorate-holding instructor, and to do otherwise would come across as, at worst, very rude.
* [[Uwe Boll]] also has a doctorate in literature. Good luck finding an unironic mention of him as "Doctor Boll", though.
** Is he [[Small Name, Big Ego|claiming]] to be [[Blatant Lies|
* Doctoral students everywhere. After going through the very long, sometimes soul-sucking process of actually getting that PhD, you damn well want some
* The [[Armchair Psychology|radio talk therapist]] Dr. Laura Schlessinger is a doctor of physiology, not psychiatry. Not false advertising exactly (she's perfectly entitled to put Dr. before her name), but misleading.
* Aversion: ''Every'' university graduate in Italy is referred to as "Dottore" or "Dottoressa." Unless, that is, they have some more prestigious title, such as "Avvocato" (<s>avocado</s> lawyer) or even better, "Ingegnere" (engineer
** It's so pervasive that many people will tend to automatically address as "dottore" someone who seems to be of high status. Also, even some non-graduates may be addressed by a title if their profession commands respect: the most common example is "Geometra" (a skilled construction technician, who has authority to approve some civil engineering projects).
* Dr. Phil is not a medical doctor, but has a doctorate in psychology.
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** In ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'', when Dr. Jack Slocum [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|takes over]], his office door reads "Jack Slocum MD, PhD, JD". So he's ''all three kinds of doctor!''
*** One imagines that he has an uncomfortable time at medical and legal conventions, given the lawyer jokes and doctor jokes that tend to fly at such events.
** Madalyn Murray O'Hair actually was commonly referred to as "Dr. O'Hair" in American Atheist publications, though technically she earned a L.L.B which was [http://books.google.com/books?id=PitAMz7VfKAC&pg=PA29&dq=South+Texas+College+of+Law&hl=en&ei=Y3PATLGlM4W0sAO3wIXYCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false later converted] when all first professional law degrees in the US were automatically changed to JDs. (However, her school wasn't ABA approved so she couldn't sit for the bar exam.) Though in an inversion, she most likely was hoping to be mistaken for "not that kind of doctor", because despite her public legal battles earlier in her life, her articles by this point tended to delve into history, and obviously a Ph.D., especially if it was assumed to be in some kind of study of history as would be assumed for a doctor writing papers on history without mentioning otherwise, would add far more credibility to her many less
*
* Nutritionist Gillian McKeith, who "voluntarily" stopped calling herself Dr. Gillian McKeith on the grounds she wasn't a medical doctor, just before the Advertising Standards Authority insisted that she stop calling herself that because the college she got her PhD from was "not accredited by any recognised educational authority".
** In other words, not only is she Not That Kind of Doctor, she's not actually ''any'' kind of doctor.
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* Dr. Susan Block, best known for her sex advice, got her graduate and post-graduate degrees in philosophy, though "with an emphasis in psychology" and her undergraduate degree was in theater studies.
* Having grown up the child of a university administrator, this troper would like to point out that it's fairly common for this to come into play among staff members. Doctorates in business, literature, engineering and history are formally addressed in pretty much the same way, especially with letters and public addresses, as a sign of respect.
* Theodor Geisel, AKA "[[Dr. Seuss]]", was ''technically'' a doctor, his degree being
* [[All the Little Germanies|Field Marshal Blücher]] was given an honorary doctorate (in law) by Oxford University. But then his work ''did'' [[Black Comedy|contribute to medical science]]
** As did that of the Duke of Wellington who was similarly honoured the same day, June 14, 1814. Blücher at the time joked that if they made him an honorary doctor they should also make Gneisenau, his chief of staff, an honorary apothecary. He and Gneisenau got honorary doctorates (in philosophy) from Berlin University later that year.
* In one of dialects of my{{who}} language 'physicist' meant physician. Nucleus shares the word with kernel. So when female presented herself as nuclear physicist... (given—it was in time when nuclear physics what esoteric area of physics and 'no one' heard of it).
* [[Dr. Dre]] did not attend any university. He does have an honorary degree in Street Knowledge, though.
* Despite his claims to the contrary, creationist Kent "Dr. Dino" Hovind does not hold a valid doctorate. He bought his "degree" from a non-accredited "university" where he [[Did Not Do the Research]].
* Dr Pepper and its knockoffs (of course)
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* Dr. Lewis Yablonski is a sociologist who in 1967 visited several hippie communes and residences to gather information for a book (later titled ''The Hippie Trip''). When he went to Morningstar in Northern California, he said "I'm Dr. Yablonski, they're expecting me" and the man who greeted him immediately turned around and called out "The doctor's here! Is anyone sick?"
* According to AP style, the Dr. honorific is only supposed to be used for actual medical doctors.
* Derek Smart, the man behind ''[[Battlecruiser 3000AD]]'' and ''Universal Combat'', claims to possess a doctorate and frequently titles himself as Ph.D, but his thesis is not listed anywhere, and he has not divulged basic details about his doctorate, such as which college he attended or who was his supervisor. There's understandable suspicion that he's lying.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Doctor Index]]▼
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]▼
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