Abstract :
Sir, I remember being a PhD student in the UK some 20 years ago and being asked by the cashier at a checkout counter in one shopping mall, “Are you a real doctor or a PhD doctor?” This was her response to seeing my name, which was preceded by ‘Dr.’ on my debit card. To many people, real doctors are those who actually write prescriptions or perform surgical procedures. Any other person with the title is either a PhD or does not fall within their own understanding of the role of doctors, by which they mean ‘physicians’. One could overlook this general perception of the role of physicians by a section of the general public but it would be unfortunate if this perception were to be held by physicians themselves regarding the roles some of them play in health care systems. This is because there has been a recent disturbing trend amongst some physicians to introduce a dichotomy into the role they play (i.e. medical practice) in health care delivery systems. This trend attempts to define medical (meaning clinical) practice as direct patient care, including prescribing medications, or performing surgical or invasive procedures.
