this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2024
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Risa
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Star Trek memes and shitposts
Come on'n get your jamaharon on! There are no real rules—just don't break the weather control network.
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Here’s a fun fact: “Doctor” was an academic degree. It was originally meant for theology, but expanded as the scope of academia expanded and natural philosophy became the sciences. We still call the degree “Doctor of Philosophy” as a result of that. Being a doctor of something meant that you were qualified to conduct research and teach at the university level. It eventually meant that you have made a contribution to your field - your dissertation - and the expectation was that you had and would continue to publish research papers in scientific journals.
The idea of a “medical doctor” was a new addition. MDs don’t do research, didn’t do a dissertation, and in general are not equipped to teach and advance the academic understanding of their field.
So I agree. Scientists should get the blue shirts, physicians and surgeons should just wear scrubs.
My favorite joke in Brooklyn Nine Nine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5QoYZuMILo
For folks who haven't seen the show, the Captain is normally stoic to a near-fault. RIP André Braugher.
Doctor comes from latin (from the verb docere - to teach) and basically means teacher, or someone with enough knowledge in a field to teach. The term is still used as an academic title, but in different way in different countries. For example, while in english speaking countries ot is used for someone who completed their PhD (phylosophæ doctorate), so someone with enough knowledge to do research and teach to an academic level, in Italy the title "dottore" is given to any who got a degree, even a Bachelor's, so a physician is a doctor in medicine because they graduated in medicine.