doctor

A term most commonly applied to a physician. Witty v State, 173 Ind 404, 90 NE 627. Equally applicable to a dentist, even to a veterinarian. Applicable in fact to a person who has attained a doctorate conferred by a university in any branch of learning-medicine, law, divinity, philosophy, etc. State v MacKnight, 131 NC 717, 42 SE 580. The degree of M. D. is something more than a mere honorary title. It is a certificate attesting the fact that the person upon whom it has been conferred has successfully mastered the curriculum of study prescribed by the authorities of an institution created by law, and by law authorized to issue such certificate. It thus has a legal sanction and authority. But it has more. In practical affairs, it introduces its possessor to the confidence and patronage of the general public. Its legal character gives it a moral and material credit in the estimation of the world, and makes it thereby a valuable property right of great pecuniary value. Townshend v Gray, 62 Vt 378, 19 A 635. The term is applied with a degree of levity to drug clerks, male nurses, hospital attendants, etc. Of course, calling a person "doctor" or "doc" does not qualify him as a professional. A person licensed to practice drugless healing is not a "doctor" and rules of law pertaining distinctively to the latter are not applicable to the former. Kelly v Carroll, 36 Wash 2d 482, 219 P2d 79, 19 ALR2d 1174. See physician.