PhD or Ph.D. or Ph.D

[kaysixteen]

What does NOR refer to?

[mamselle]

"Nurse, Operating Room" in some settings....

M.

[namazu]

What does NOR refer to?

The word "nor", i.e.
"Never 'Dr. John Smith, PhD', nor 'Dr John Smith, Ph.D.'"

[bio-nonymous]

Just my two cents: I use PhD, and rarely(as in do not recall it being done) in my field see it abbreviated Ph.D. I do not think it matters as long as you are consistent.

[Descartes]

List Dr. or Ph.D., not both.

There are people who do the following as soon as they receive the PhD: Dr. Jamie Smith, Ph.D.

No.

It's Jamie Smith, Ph.D. or Dr. Jamie Smith.

This is my understanding as well.  One or the other, but not both.

This never made sense to me, though, because one denotes title while the other denotes achievement.  I.E., Dr. John Smith, PH.D, or Dr. John Smith, ED.D, or Dr. John Smith, D.O.

The functions of the two incarnations are for different reasons.

[clean]

his never made sense to me, though, because one denotes title while the other denotes achievement.  I.E., Dr. John Smith, PH.D, or Dr. John Smith, ED.D, or Dr. John Smith, D.O.

The functions of the two incarnations are for different reasons.

Im pretty sure that you will not see "Dr. Marcus Welby, MD"  or "Dr. Kildare, MD"  anywhere. 

[namazu]

List Dr. or Ph.D., not both.

There are people who do the following as soon as they receive the PhD: Dr. Jamie Smith, Ph.D.

No.

It's Jamie Smith, Ph.D. or Dr. Jamie Smith.

This is my understanding as well.  One or the other, but not both.

This never made sense to me, though, because one denotes title while the other denotes achievement.  I.E., Dr. John Smith, PH.D, or Dr. John Smith, ED.D, or Dr. John Smith, D.O.

The functions of the two incarnations are for different reasons.

It's redundant, though; the achievement/credential implies the title.  (The title alone does not, however, clarify what sort of doctor a person is.)


On a silly note, I always know when my parents have sent me a package at home, because it's addressed to Namazu, PhD.  I roll my eyes, but I'm glad that my accomplishment made them proud.

[Hibush]

If you're old-school, then Ph.D.
If you're new-school, then PhD
If you're no-school, then Ph.D

Well put. 

Perhaps the new-school write JD Smith, PhD while the old-school write J. D. Smith, Ph.D.  Are those who write J. D. Smith, PhD no-school?


(Dr. John Smith, PH.D, and Dr. John Smith, ED.D are left as an exercise for the reader.)

[jerseyjay]

Perhaps the new-school write JD Smith, PhD while the old-school write J. D. Smith, Ph.D.  Are those who write J. D. Smith, PhD no-school?

In point of fact this is the correct way of indicating that somebody has two doctorates, in this case, a juris doctorate and a doctor in philosophy.

There are several conflicting schools of thought of the correct way to do this. One is to put the least prestigious degree first. However, this raises questions of how to determine this.

Another is to put the most relevant degree for one's work last. Hence:
Dr MD John Smith PhD for somebody in biomedical research, but Dr PhD John Smith MD for a practicing physician.
There are of course obvious problems with this.

This is why I prefer to put the degree that requires less time first and the one that requires more time last. However, this could be a problem for people from some countries in which an MD is essentially an undergraduate degree and a PhD takes three to four years. No system, of course, is perfect.

[dismalist]

I had an optometrist for a long time -- now retired -- who was a Christian nut job. His middle initial was G. His business card read Last Name, First Name, G OD.

This is not a joke and I have not stopped cracking up over it. :-)