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Not That Kind of Doctor: Difference between revisions
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Note that this trope holds water only in certain languages, such as English; other languages were smart enough to create different words to distinguish between MDs and PhDs. An example would be Chinese, where the medical professionals are addressed as ''[Surname] yīshēng'' while academics get ''[Surname] bóshì''.
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{{examples}}
=== [[Anime]]/[[Manga]] ===
* 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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=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* The [[The DCU|female Dr. Light]] started out as Not That Kind of Doctor, being an astrophysicist. Then, she was later shown as That Kind of Doctor, working in a hospital and healing a fellow hero. Thus began her upgrade to [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist]]...
* [[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.
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=== [[Film]] ===
* In the movie ''Paradise Road,'' Dr. Verstak (Frances McDormand) practices medicine on the inmates of the prison camp, making her non-expendable. Near the end of the movie, she admits {{spoiler|that she isn't an MD, but instead has a doctorate in philosophy}}.
* [[Austin Powers|Dr. Evil]], of course, went to Evil ''Medical'' School, after spy school with Austin and Number Two.
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=== [[Literature]] ===
* Doctor Lao from [[The Circus of Doctor Lao]] is definitely not that kind of doctor.
* [[Sherlock Holmes|Doctor Watson]] is that kind of doctor, if only to underline how much above even medical doctors Holmes is cognitively.
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=== [[Live Action TV]] ===
* 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''
* [[Stargate Verse|Dr. Beckett, Dr. Frasier and Dr. Keller]] are all That Kind Of Doctor. Actually two of them ''were'', both being somewhat dead. And don't forget Dr. Lam, even if [[Brother Chuck|the writers did.]] Dr. Jackson and Dr. Lee, however, are Not That Kind Of Doctor. Jackson is rarely even referred to as "doctor" except when he's being introduced to someone.
** 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.
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* Lampshaded, played with and kicked to death in ''[[Top Gear]]'', of all programmes. Jeremy revealed that he had obtained a cheaper quote for insurance because he called himself 'Doctor', rather than a journalist - the two pay vastly different rates of Car Insurance. He ignored the other two's protestations that HONOURARY doctorates don't count.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* Dr. Zev Cohen from [[Mass Effect]]: "I am ''a'' doctor but not ''the'' doctor. My specialty is microbiology. Not first aid."
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* [[Main/Ptitlehpgydodt 1 jb 7|Dr. McNinja.]]
** When he's not adventuring, he's quite a successful medical doctor, even knowing of rare diseases like Paul Bunyan's Disease. At the very least, he knows general medicine and dentistry.
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=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* In ''[[Kim Possible]]'', both of Kim's parents have doctorates. Her Mother's is indeed an M.D. (she's a brain surgeon), but her father's isn't (he's a rocket scientist). This results in visitors (at least Ron Stoppable) usually addressing them as Mr. Dr. P and Mrs. Dr. P, respectively. To not call them doctor would be disrespectful, but to just call them doctor would be confusing.
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* The old joke about people with doctorate degrees. "So you're a doctor?" "Yes, but not the kind that will do you any good."
** Alternately: "Not the kind with any money."
=== [[Comic Books]] ===▼
▲== [[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|Spider-Man's]] foe Dr. Octopus has a doctorate in nuclear physics.
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=== Fanfiction ===
* 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.
=== [[Film]] ===
* Dr. Delbert Doppler from ''[[Treasure Planet]]'', as quoted above.
* Subverted somewhat in the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' movies. Indiana was freqently referred to as "Dr. Jones" (especially by the evil people) but no one ever accused him of being a medical doctor.
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=== 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 was some sort of nuclear reactor.
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=== [[Live Action TV]] ===
* 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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=== 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 moustache 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'', justifying it because, although "not a real doctor," he "has a Masters Degree ... ''in Science!''"
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* In the main ''Mega Man'' timeline (and nearly all fan works), being a "Doctor" doesn't invariably mean you're a medical doctor...instead, it invariably means you build robots. ::[[Visible Sigh|sigh]]::
** Notably, it means you build robots ''even if you have a doctorate in something else''. Dr. Cain, for instance, has a background in archaeology and botany, and still invented reploids.
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=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* In ''[[Last Res0rt]]'', Dr. Daisy Archanis is a roboticist of some kind.
* ''[[PHD]]'' is a Webcomic about Grad Students [[Fridge Logic|who are studying to become Doctors]]. Also, their Guide Professors and one main character are Doctors too. But no one is a Physician or even a Physician Student.
* "Doc" from ''[[The Whiteboard]]'' isn't actually one, in spite of his nickname, [http://www.the-whiteboard.com/autowb380.html but it beats having the ER staff laugh at you again].
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' toys with this when they land on an uncharted planet. After Tagon gets unexpectedly eaten by a sea-going predator (which he shoots his way out of) he calls in Kevyn and Bunnigus for professional opinions. Kevyn is an engineer. Bunnigus is a medic. They wind up calling in the chef instead.
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=== [[Web Original]] ===
* In ''[[Freeman's Mind]]'', Gordon Freeman, upon seeing the dead scientist just outside the test chamber: "Oh hell. Is that guy dead? Dammit, I'm a doctor not a... normal doctor!"
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* Dr. Venture from ''[[The Venture Bros]]'' is usually called "Doctor Venture", even though he dropped out of school after his father died.
** Dr. Orpheus (whose official credentials are a major in Communication with a minor in Women's Studies from a community college yet claims to have received his doctorate from "a higher power") is the only character to always call Dr. Venture "Mr. Venture." The causes and implications of this are unknown.
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=== [[Real Life]] ===
* Hitler's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels demanded that everyone would call him "Doctor Goebbels". His doctorate? Literature.
** The demand is not that unusual in Germany, where titles are given much more respect than North America. Also, physicians in general are typically referred to as "Ärzt" instead of "Doktor", so the title doesn't quite have the same connotations as in English.
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