What is a doctor?

The mind body expo this weekend in Minneapolis gave me a different perspective on my title. If I said I was a "doctor" or a "physician" I got constant requests for clarification! The only unambiguous title was "MD" but this was not always a welcome one. Considering insurance companies now insist on calling me a "provider" (which I always thought was something I helped do for my family, being one of only two) I'm beginning to wonder if society has a role for people like me. Surely the education, study and practice of the past 30 years are of value. I know my skills are helpful to people and believe in my own worth independent of titles, but they do help people understand roles. I am not really ready to given them up either to generalization from "physicians" who have had much less training, or to be downgraded by insurance to a generic cog in the wheel- the role is only to see patients and generate revenue.

This brings me to what I should call the people who come to me for care. For decades I have used the term "patient" (and many of them have been VERY PATIENT with me, especially in the early years!) but I am coming to prefer the more modern term of client. This puts us on more of an equal footing which I do like. We are really collaborators in health.

Once the relationship is established, I don't think it matters as much what we call each other, but names do have implications.