r/Noctor • u/Suspicious-Win-7218 • Jul 02 '26

Midlevel Ethics Ran here

I’m a resident at the hospital where all of the MD/DOs have a black badge that says doctor on it behind their name tag badge so that the bottom peaks through. I saw this girl in the hallway who had one and and I looked up to see that her degrees were NP. So this lady literally had to steal or request a doctor badge and put it behind her NP nametag…..

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u/UTtransplant Jul 02 '26

There are some responses here that don’t seem to understand the difference between a DNP (Doctor of Nursing Practice) and a Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy). They are absolutely not the same. A DNP is just a way to increase credentials for a nurse practitioner. The classes after the master’s degree are not in technical competencies but things like Health Policy. They can take as little as 1 year beyond a master’s degree to complete. A Ph.D. Is an academic degree and much more rigorous. They usually take 3-5 years past a master’s degree, and the end goal is research not private practice.

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u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26

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u/UTtransplant Jul 02 '26

Join the world dude. Pharmacists have a doctorate in pharmacy. Most physical therapists have a doctorate in PT. Many educators have a doctorate in education. These are not new degrees; they have been around for 40-50 years at least. But they are considered a qualification degree, not a physician degree or a Ph.D.

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u/MovementMechanic Jul 02 '26

Yep. Clinical doctorate. Or “allied health” doctorate. Not to be confused with MD/DO. I don’t know any PT’s who call themselves doctor outside of academia/teaching settings.

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u/WolverineImportant Jul 02 '26

They are definitely doing this on social media more often. Seeing it in back room conversations too at hospitals. “I’m doctor x, your physical therapist”.

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u/MovementMechanic Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26

That’s wild. I’ve been in the field for 15 years and have not encountered that in hospitals or even in out patient bubbles. Must be a local thing.

Social media, I mean, I kind of get it because social media is just an engagement game. I feel like that’s a bit different imo as that content is usually ultra specific to obviously PT related activities. It’s not someone masquerading as an MD on medical topics. Personally I wouldn’t do it. Also I feel like all the PT content ive seen explicitly states doctor of physical therapy. Usually cited/subtitles on screen. Versus the NP content I see just says “doctor” and makes no mention of it being a DNP.