Several health-care providers over the years have employed my title when I was in their offices, even correcting their assistants from time to time, emphasizing that I should be called “Dr.” One dentist in particular noted, “This guy studied as long as I did for his doctor’s degree. He deserves that title just as much as I do.” He even gave me a professional discount on his services. I thought that was pretty nifty.
Having said that, there is one experience that drives me crazy: I can’t count the number of times that most of my time spent with a doctor has been spent fielding questions about grammar, writing, literature, or even motivating children to do better in their high-school subjects. As one English professor lamented, “One time I actually clocked the conversation: the doctor spent 14 minutes on my checkup and 19 minutes asking me for my professional opinion, which was based on my 25+ years in the classroom and 8+ years of graduate work. Somehow it felt funny when I reached the counter and had to write a check for $100 to pay my bill. I know that I’m not one of those doctors who ‘actually’ does someone any good, and honestly I don’t mind helping to advise other professionals, but I do grow a bit weary at the inequity of the professional status of teachers.”
Are you ever called on for professional consultations that are simply written off as free advice?
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8 Responses to What Kind of Doctor Are You?
superdude - December 4, 2009 at 10:54 am
Uh, yes, all the time. It’s part of my professional obligation, I feel, as a faculty member at a public university.
jffoster - December 5, 2009 at 7:30 am
Like Superdude, I consider it, within reason, as part of my job as a cultural anthropologist and linguist at a public university. I suppose too I still have a bit of the messianic fire — the desire to spread the gospel, the good news, of linguistics. In fact, I spent well over an hour last night writing an answer to a query on Ask-a-Linguist, a nonpaid (non financially, that is) public service of the Linguist List.
madamesmartypants - December 7, 2009 at 11:16 am
Well, it works both ways. My favorites are the times when no one has any idea what your field of expertise is, but go ahead and ask you to solve their problems anyway. One example: my sister is getting her doctorate in public health. A few Christmases ago, one of our relatives asked if she could take a look at his tennis elbow. Though she explained to him that she is not studying medicine, she still gets asked for advice on people’s illnesses from time to time.
isugeezer - December 7, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I teach English composition. At least once a semester, I’m invited to edit someone’s novel or proofread someone’s dissertation. These “invitations” are proffered as if I have just announced that my dearest wish is to spend weeks of my free time with a red pen in my hand. Finally, I came up with this response: “Why, yes, I do that professionally. Would you like to know my fees?” After four seconds of stunned silence, the person usually mutters something that rhymes with “ditch” and doesn’t bother me again.
judithryan43 - December 10, 2009 at 11:38 am
A kindergarten teacher I know once asked me to write to parents of children in her class about how important certain aspects of the kindergarten curriculum were for later admission to Harvard. I wrote a firm letter explaining why parents shouldn’t spend a single minute thinking about this totally spurious issue. Basically, I felt good about allaying the poarents’ fears, and it didn’t take much of my time to compose the letter.I’ve never minded similar, brief conversations in other contexts either. Luckily, my doctors have never encroached in this way on time during my visit to their offices, though. That doesn’t seem right to me. Naturally I wouldn’t edit someone’s novel or proofread their dissertation, either. I think some people underestimate the amount of time it takes to do that sort of thing.
fiacobelli - December 10, 2009 at 12:04 pm
So, at a bar, one guy says to the other: “you are a lawyer, Can I ask you a question?”; “sure” says the lawyer. “Well, Just now, at this bar, When that guy knew I was a doctor he asked me a few questions. When I answered, he kept asking more questions. In sum, I spent almost an hour giving this person medical advice. I told her what to do, who to contact, what to eat, etc.” and he continued “So, should I charge him my regular consultation fee?”. The lawyer replied: “Hmm let me think, so you basically scheduled a follow up and gave him all the recommendations on how to stay healthy until then… Yes. Most definetely. You should bill him.”; “Thank you, said the doctor”. The next day, as the doctor was telling his secretary to bill the person, the secretary gave him the lawyer’s bill…. :)
mlevendusky - December 10, 2009 at 2:11 pm
People ask for help with statistics. Once I make it clear that statistical consulting should result either in my name on the paper or money, things become more reasonable.
laoshi - December 11, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Outside of students or faculty in my own department, I feel it’s okay to refuse to teach for free. Even when asked to give guest lectures elsewhere, I pump up the price so high that they realize my time is valuable. This rarely results in a well-paid gig, but generally results in me being left alone to prepare quality lessons for my own department. For informal requests, I just don’t respond in English.