Quick question...

[advocatexxx 0]

I'm a little skeptical.  What are the differences between "doctor" "professor" "PhD" "Dr."?  How are they obtained/awarded and which one is the highest/lowest ?

I go to the dictionary and PhD - Doctor of Philosophy is apparently the "highest university degree" further quoting - "that can be studied for, awarded to somebody who has successfully completed a lengthy piece of original research.  A Doctor of Philosophy may be awarded in any subject except law, theology, or medicine."

However I find an almost identical description for "Doctor" as well, quoting - "somebody with the highest university degree:  a title given to somebody who has been awarded a doctorate, the highest level of degree awarded by a university"

As for "professor" the only dictionary descriptions I find claim it to be a college/university teacher, although I am aware of people who hold the title "professor" even though they are not teachers.

So again, how does one obtain the title of "professor" and what does it take to obtain it.  Same question goes for "doctor" and "PhD".  I assume anyone who is a doctor has the "Dr." in front of their name, but what do you call a person who has a "PhD" after their name ?  Are they casually referred to as doctors too ?

If anyone knowledgable in this area could please clear these things up for me for each title aforementioned, thanks.  It's eating me up on the inside not being clear on them.

PS: By the way, to be a medical doctor you need to spend 4 years in a medical school, another 4 years studying your field, then 2 years residency and another 2 years doing something else. So it generally takes 12 years to be a medical doctor. Are these requirements the same for other fields and how do they differ from the requirements of PhD/Professor ?

[scout 0]

PhD is giving you the right to be called Dr. in any of these areas you've mentioned. you get it after your doing MBA and then subjecting a Thesis about a subject.

MBA takes a measured time, getting PhD depends on the time it takes you to research your subject.

Professor is a Dr. who teaches an area in the university (teaches and researches). its an honorary title, to show that the person had achieved great things both in teaching and research.

hope that helps

[Warin 0]

As I understand it..

Anyone who earns a doctorate is entitled to use Dr in their title. And the actual doctorate is refered to as a PhD.

'Real' doctors are those who have a doctorate in medecine.

So not all Doctors are doctors

A professor is anyone that teaches at a college or university. I know several professors at our local college who have barely manage a BA. If you know someone using the term Professor, they have at one point been a teacher, or hold an honourary position from a school, I suppose.

[ralphwiggum 6]

phD is a degree that is given to someone who demonstrates that he/she can perform a great level of reasoning within that field.

the college, as most ppl know it, gives you bachelors degree(either bachelors in science or arts). then, if you choose to learn more, then you go for Masters degree. this degree is saying that you expanded your knowledge in subject you got the degree from. this is one step under phD.

so what is different btw Masters and phD? Masters shows that you were able to expand your knowledge. phD shows that in addition, you have proven yourself that you are capable of performing independent critical thinking and reasoning.

in general academic arena, Masters take 2 yrs, and phD take additional 2 yrs.(time may vary).

Masters degree are generally noted as M.A.(master of art) or M.S.(master of science).

for business schools, equivalent would be MBA(Master of Business Administration).

for phD, it applies to both medical and non-medical field. for non medical field, it usually takes 2 years on top of masters degree.

(depending on medical school program, medical phD time may vary too.)

'Professor' denotes those who are teaching, and has performed great works. in many US universities, Professor-ship is goven to phD holders, but in some cases, Masters degree sufices. and even in professor category, there are numerous sub-categories like associate professor and so on.

hope this helps.

anything to add Denoir?(he is going for masters in Electrical engineering)

[Blaegis 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (RalphWiggum @ Aug. 04 2002,08:24)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">for business schools, equivalent would be MBA(Master of Business Administration).<span id='postcolor'>

You got everything right, except for the MBA, Ralph. When (and if ) I graduate, I'll become M.Sc. in International Business, not an MBA. MBA program is for people with several years of work experience and who already have an academic degree (not necessarily in business). MBA presumably gets you a deeper understanding of various aspects of running a business and improves your career prospects as a manger.

[Guest]

You all got the things pretty much right, except for one thing. Professor is not a honorary title, it is a job title/position.

A professor can either be

1) Head of a university department

2) Head of a certain subject within a department

It is quite common that professors do not teach students, but stick to research only.

[advocatexxx 0]

Thanks guys. So if one chooses to pursue a doctorate in a field of science, would I need to take undergraduate courses first or could I endeavor on pursuing the doctorate straight on ?

I'm aware you need to write your own research paper, a thesis. Assuming that your schedule will be very much eaten up by all the exams and studying for your Ph.D, then what's the maximum time allowed to form a thesis ? In other words, can you work on your thesis while you're studying the subject for those 6 years ? What if you haven't got enough time and choose to start your thesis after those 6 years. Will the university allow you to use their laboratory and other resources to form your thesis ? If so, for how long will you be allowed to do so. Hope I don't sound nosy. Thanks.

[Harnu 0]

Which one's the doctor? The Phyciatrist (God I can't spell today) or the phsycologist?

[Paratrooper 0]

I would also add that a Professor has to have had some of his papers published. Usually within a university.

[Blaegis 0]

Now this has gotten a bit confused

The starting point for getting a doctorate (PhD) is a Master of Sciences degree (MSc.) After that you'll need to determine your research topic and find a place that'll fund it (usually a university). Then you'll need to do the actual research to gather the empirical data for the PhD thesis. Then you'll have to write the thesis (which normally includes the analysis of what other researchers have written on the topic you are exploring, description of the methods you used to gather your empirical data, the actual results you got and finally the analysis of those results and their implication in your area of study). After the thesis is done, you'll have to submit it for review and eventually defend it at the thesis presentation. If you pass all these hurdles and your thesis is approved, you are given a degree of Philosophy Doctor in X (i.e. History or Biochemistry or International Business or Mathematics etc.). In theory there aren't that strict time limits for completeing your PhD thesis, but in practice it is limited by the amount/duration of your research grant.

As for articles, the quantity and quality of particles published with your name in them serves as a generic benchmark of your higher academic achievement. It's not necessarily an accurate reflection of your abilities, but few benchmarks are...

[ralphwiggum 6]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (advocatexxx @ Aug. 04 2002,15:48)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Thanks guys.  So if one chooses to pursue a doctorate in a field of science, would I need to take undergraduate courses first or could I endeavor on pursuing the doctorate straight on ?

I'm aware you need to write your own research paper, a thesis.  Assuming that your schedule will be very much eaten up by all the exams and studying for  your Ph.D, then what's the maximum time allowed to form a thesis ?  In other words, can you work on your thesis while you're studying the subject for those 6 years ?  What if you haven't got enough time and choose to start your thesis after those 6 years.  Will the university allow you to use their laboratory and other resources to form your thesis ?  If so, for how long will you be allowed to do so.   Hope I don't sound nosy.  Thanks.<span id='postcolor'>

Blaegis explained it in fullt detail. let me just regurgitate it.

first, you need to get bachelors degree(complete undergraduate courses)

then get Masters degree(takes about 2 years)

then you can go for phD.

for Harnu's question;

psychiatrists is someone who is working as a doctor in ifield of psychology.

psychologist is someone who does academic research in field of psychologist

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Paratrooper @ Aug. 04 2002,17:06)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I would also add that a Professor has to have had some of his papers published. Usually within a university.<span id='postcolor'>

LoL, I can be a professor soon too! I want to publish my dissertation on: "boomerangs, a valuable supplement to new recruits in the hospitality industry" through Proquest.com. I dont think my stinky paper is worth a penny but a friend of mine did it with his so why shouldnt I do it?

[Paratrooper 0]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Albert Schweizer @ Aug. 04 2002,18:23)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">6--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Paratrooper @ Aug. 04 2002,176)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I would also add that a Professor has to have had some of his papers published. Usually within a university.<span id='postcolor'>

LoL, I can be a professor soon too!    I want to publish my dissertation on:  "boomerangs, a valuable supplement to new recruits in the hospitality industry" through Proquest.com. I dont think my stinky paper is worth a penny but a friend of mine did it with his so why shouldnt I do it?  <span id='postcolor'>

Lol! You also have to connected to a university!

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

I know a guy who tried to change his first name to "Doctor"

The danish government just didnt accept iti :/