The title of doctor has a long tradition and is conferred on someone who has studied for and been awarded a PhD and is a scholar; however, medical practitioners are also called doctors, despite only having a BSc.
Consultants drop the Dr and become plain Mr, which is a bit of an anomaly, yet the title Mr is much sought after in medical circles.
Using the term Dr for a medical practitioner began in the 17th century, prior to which they were physicians, barber surgeons and sometimes apothecaries.
Hay has a PhD in biochemistry and is a doctor, but not a medical practitioner in the conventional sense, although she constantly diagnoses me from a biochemical perspective and has a far greater knowledge of the biochemistry of the human than the vast majority of medical doctors.
We have a friend who did his PhD with Hay and then decided to follow this up with a medical degree - we call him Dr Dr.
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