Some naturopaths put "Dr." in their title (without completing a medical or any other doctoral degree). Is that legal?
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2Possible duplicate of Is the title Ph.D. or Dr. meaningless in the sense that anyone can use it? (PS You haven't mentioned whether the naturopaths in question have completed a doctoral degree other than an MD, or not)– ff524Jul 31, 2015 at 5:00
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This has no relation to academia.– user6726Jul 31, 2015 at 5:22
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Migrating on OP's request.– ff524Jul 31, 2015 at 5:25
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1This varies by state (in the US) and province (in Canada). See kyena.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/…– ff524Jul 31, 2015 at 5:38
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1 Answer
I know of no legal restrictions on using the title of Doctor in the United states. I know next to nothing about Canadian law and can't speak on that.
Falsely claiming to have a license to practice medicine is probably illegal, depending on circumstances, and practicing medicine without a license is most certainly illegal, and there a numerous federal and state laws that would apply. But simply styling one's self as Dr. is unlikely to be held by a court as a claim to hold a medical license, or a particular degree.
It's, of course, misleading and generally frowned to use the Dr. prefix unless one has earned an MD or PhD. Some holders of honorary doctorates use it as well, though some debate whether that's acceptable or not.
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This (the claim about misleading and frowned on) is actually not true, since there are many other doctorates – DDS, OD, Ed. D, DBA, DSc., DA, DEng, Th. D etc. The problem is that there is also a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, where the degree officially contains the trigger word "Doctor".– user6726Jun 26, 2022 at 0:21