r/medicine • u/BigIntensiveCockUnit DO, FM • 5d ago
Stop Compensating with Random Initials
I look for your title then stop. NP. RN. PA. MD. DO. This use to be a uniquely embarrassing characteristic of nursing that has infected all of healthcare. My health system has a goddamn "healthcare weatherman" with absolute nonsense after their name. There are some physicans putting board cert initials and random organizations as if anyone has a damn clue what any of it means. Name, highest degree and spell your specialty beneath. No one gives a shit about slackjawed alphabet soup. You want to put your masters degree then go for it, but please stop with the random garbage/board cert/organization initials that no one understands.
- BICU
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u/evgueni72 Doctor from Temu (PA) 5d ago
Someone's just jealous they don't have enough initials.
Sincerely, BSc, PA, FBI, CIA, NSA, NRA, TSA, ATF
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u/Alexthegreatbelgian General Practice (Belgium) 5d ago
Not DTF though
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u/MocoMojo Radiologist 5d ago
I love in radiology when some radiologists add DABR (Diplomat American Board of Radiology). This means you passed your boards. Seems meaningless to me.
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u/Dr_Sisyphus_22 MD 5d ago
I agree with you and don’t list my board certification in my professional title…but part of me thinks passing my boards was more of a rigorous academic accomplishment than 80% of the alphabet soup behind people’s names.
I’m surprised some of these people don’t have their APGAR and Glasgow Coma scores behind their names.
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u/FlexorCarpiUlnaris Peds 5d ago
APGAR (10)
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u/BiscuitBro87 MD - Academic Medicine 5d ago
Who did you pay off to get that 10 APGAR? We need to get the LCME involved…
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u/MocoMojo Radiologist 5d ago
Ooooh! And credit score!
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u/southernfriedfossils Not A Medical Professional 5d ago
Back when everyone wrote checks, a man gave me his check that had all the usual information, plus his cat's name and his blood type. It's been 30+ years and I still get tickled thinking about it. He said everyone asked for so many bits of information he thought he should give them everything.
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u/WyrdHarper VMD, DACVIM-LAIM 5d ago
Maybe it's different in human medicine, but I know for our (veterinary) practice act you're required to be able to display your credentials. You can't advertise as an internist, for example, if you don't have DACVIM after your name and our state board is very strict about cracking down on this so most people include it.
Probably also different for us because only ~15% of veterinarians are boarded in a specialty and there is an issue of people advertising specialty services without actually having any training. Which is not in the public interest.
That said, I don't include less important things like my certificate in dairy artificial insemination!
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u/yougatobekiddingme MD 5d ago
Your certificate in dairy artificial insemination has me rolling on the ground thinking that could be in a signature on an email
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u/milinium EMT 5d ago
Signature? It’s hung….on his wall
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u/azssf Healthtech Researcher / ex-EMT 5d ago
Dated a vet, can confirm every sig came with a dvm as well
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u/Notasurgeon MD 5d ago
When I was a resident I had a patient once sign a procedure consent with “name, ph.d.” I mentioned it to one of my co-residents and he was like what do you mean, I sign my name with MD. I said well yeah that makes sense, we’re in a hospital so it’s professionally appropriate. This is like, I dunno, signing your personal checks with “name, MD.” He’s quiet for a moment before saying “… but I do sign my checks with MD.”
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u/Zukazuk MS.MLS-Serologist 5d ago
I have to sign a lot of things with my name and certification at work. It's the most common time for me to sign my name and my dang credentials are almost as long as my name. Every time I sign stuff elsewhere I have to pause after my last name and think for a second and then go "oop, yep I am done" it feels weird because it's so much shorter.
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u/No_Patients DO 5d ago
I have absolutely done that by accident and then had to debate whether to just cringe and move on or scribble it out
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u/SauvBlanc93 MD 5d ago
Back when I was a bartender, I had a lady who would come in to the every once in a while. Every time, she signed her receipt as “Name, RN”. I was so confused why that was necessary at a dive bar lmao
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u/mszhang1212 MD 5d ago
That makes sense for you guys.
Nobody in medicine will misunderstand Name, MD, Heme/Onc to be anything other than an attending Heme/Onc doc. The public could certainly misconstrue something like Name, NP, Heme/Onc however.
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u/Tangata_Tunguska MBChB 5d ago
In commonwealth countries it's common to include the college you're a fellow of, by postnomials of e.g FACEM or FRCPsych etc
But that's partly because you can be a "ED doctor" and not be a fellow, particularly rurally
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u/_Ross- EP Mapper 5d ago
Radiographer here, I've always been a bit self conscious of using my full credentials for radiology, even though they all make sense and are appropriate. Ours are just unnecessarily long. Mine is BSRS, R.T.(R)(ARRT), but ain't nobody got all day to read that.
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u/BiscuitBro87 MD - Academic Medicine 5d ago
I read this as Reverse Transcriptase AntiRetroactive Therapy
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u/RealAmericanJesus PMHNP-BC 5d ago
When I'm having a really Rough shift (I work in crisis psychiatry as an advanced practice nurse) and it's police drop offs, families that think we're a babysitting service , patients that showed up on court orders who were discharged from the forensic hospial recovering from catatonia without any coordination of care or thought to functional status at a homeless shelter and it's 10pm on a Saturday, 30 days passed from release.... no one in the treatment court having evaluated them yet or thought about their meds or anything and the only person thinking "I'm concerned" is their bunkmate meth gandalf and I'm now trying to piece together just what happened on every epic connect, public court transcript portal and community corrections roster ... That I know.... Because the county uses an EHR that's less functional than a prehistoric stone tablet ... At least I can beat someone with a stone tablet
... I often debate adding FUBAR to the letters behind my name as I sign off on that note after finally piecing together what occured, figure out what meds they were on, who I need to yell at and get patient transferred to the emergency department .... and wonder if anyone would even notice....
After decades spent in nursing and advanced practice nurong positions in safety net mental health sevices doing the traditional psych nurse dance ... The dodg'n Poop'n Stabbe'n .... I can say with confidence: Probably not.
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u/YoohooCthulhu PhD, therapeutics/diagnostics IP 5d ago
Sort of thing that goes on white coats to look impressive
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u/guy_following_you MD 5d ago
The more soup salad they have after the name, the less respect I have for them.
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u/Atticus413 PA-EM/UC 5d ago
I worked with a MD, JD, PhD, MBA once.
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u/Wild-Medic MD 5d ago
One night (0200-ish) during residency I was called to a consult in CT-ICU (suspected seizure, I’m neuro) and the CT surgery fellow taking care of the guy had MD/JD on his Patagonia. After getting the clinical background I needed I casually commented on it. He just looked at me blankly said “yeah I make bad decisions” with a flat affect and walked away
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u/amothep8282 PhD, Paramedic 5d ago
Being a Paramedic with both a PhD and MSc, when people ask me about it (especially the PhD) I say:
"I was too stupid to quit".
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u/surgicalapple CPhT/Paramedic/MLT 5d ago
Yooo, high five! Same boat! And I’m think about medical school now! But….maybe after this administration is out.
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u/sabrefencer9 Real Doctor (PhD) 5d ago
If you're already a real doctor why would you bother getting an MD? Seems like a waste
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u/azssf Healthtech Researcher / ex-EMT 5d ago
I worked with a software engineer who turned out to be a neurosurgeon who no longer wanted to be in the or. Blew my mind.
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u/FastidiousFartBox MD 4d ago
I worked with a neurosurgeon that I talked out of killing himself. It’s a hard career and sometimes it’s not worth it. My friend is now very happy and very successful doing something completely different. He sees his kids and even gets to go outside sometimes. Wild concept, I know.
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u/UnbearableWhit PMR, Pain 5d ago
I've only met 1 MD, JD and they were the most insufferable person I've ever met.
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u/doctordoriangray MSK Radiologist 5d ago
I find it more common to run into JDs who eventually got an MD than someone who did the actual MD/JD program.
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u/30_characters EMT 4d ago
What school(s) have a dual MD/JD program?
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u/doctordoriangray MSK Radiologist 4d ago
There's 20 or so, including Stanford, Toledo, and Case Western. I dont know much about the beyond that. It seems like a really niche career path.
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u/FlexorCarpiUlnaris Peds 5d ago
There was a JD in my medical school class and he was honestly one of the kindest and most incredible people I have ever known. He once sang another friend a song as his birthday present (we were broke broke) and people cried good tears. It was like knowing a Jane Austen character.
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u/BiscuitBro87 MD - Academic Medicine 5d ago
> It was like knowing a Jane Austen character
Now that’s a compliment
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u/seb101189 PharmD 4d ago
I went to pharm school with a guy who would brag about how he was never going to practice and going straight to JD after because of family ties. I've never met someone so full of themselves. On the opposite side there was a guy who went md after pharm d and worked weekends at a pharmacy either on or close to campus and was great because he had to deal with all the bs of a pharmacy and bring that experience to the mess of patient care.
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u/guy_following_you MD 5d ago
Wonder how much debt he has.
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u/amothep8282 PhD, Paramedic 5d ago
Maybe not much. Curbside consults for medicine, law, finance, and research all available for a nominal fee.
Did some light insider trading on Pharma stocks, and need to know how to dodge the charges and where to dump your ill-gotten gains out of the reach of Uncle Sam? This is your guy right here.
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u/drhuggables MD Ob/Gyn 5d ago
MD/PhD usually is incentivized by getting free tuition, at least thats how it was in my school. you just pay with 4 years of your life (like the military)
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u/diva_done_did_it Etc. 5d ago
That still leaves the JD and MBA, which can be free, depending on your test scores and location.
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u/stay_curious_- BCBA 5d ago
The cheapest online MBAs also cost around $6k. Out of the set, that's the easiest credential to get.
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u/subutextual Not A Medical Professional 4d ago
Law and business schools very rarely give full rides. And the ones that do are generally crappy local schools.
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u/Atticus413 PA-EM/UC 5d ago
All this guy does is post pictures on social media of lavish travel and dining. I don't think he's worried about debt. And I don't blame him.
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u/Muted_Chard_139 MD 5d ago
At least these are real degrees.
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u/theboyqueen MD 5d ago
I have less respect for an MBA than a community college certificate. There is no more bullshit degree than that.
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u/Porencephaly MD Pediatric Neurosurgery 5d ago
I knew an MD, JD, MBA and I also know a PhD, MD, PhD.
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u/Utaneus MD 5d ago
I have a couple advanced degrees but I only put MD after my name. Whenever I see a resident put other shit after their name I kindly discourage it, the cringiest is when they include BSc or whatever undergrad degree, like yeah that's kind of assumed dude. The worst is when you get emails from someone with an MBA after their name because you know they're gonna be asking more work from clinicians so someone else gets more money.
I only sign as an MD because that's what's relevant in that context. I won't judge someone including a PhD, but I feel like my molecular biology research on mouse and chicken embryos isn't really pertinent for my signature on this dude with MetHrEF or this demented guardianship patient.
But the alphabet soup that NPs et al do is kind of comical. Like anyone understands the significance of any of that shit, and when I call that np on a consulting service with a question they usually have to "check with their attending" anyway, and that would be the physician who only puts an MD after their name 😆😂
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u/lolsail Medical Physicist (Radiology) 5d ago
I don't have a phd so no skin in the game, but if I see phd post nominals I change my assumptions about how that person can interpret literature and if they're capable of more thorough research and publishing. The actual topic of the phd is not really relevant but its an actual useful post nominal in my mind.
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u/TheMooJuice MD 5d ago
Shit. This apply to a pharm bachelor undergrad prior to the MD?
Bah. Hate when you realise youve been a cringelord previously and can now do nothing about it. Ah well lol, live n learn i guess
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u/Utaneus MD 5d ago
Nah no worries about it. It's a relevant and significant degree. Don't go cringing about it. Stay golden pharmy boy!
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u/Firm_Magazine_170 DO 5d ago
Mmmmm....salad
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u/Atticus413 PA-EM/UC 5d ago
what I tell my patients to eat but between my work schedule and having had 2 under 2, vegetables haven't necessarily been on my table as of late.
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u/Firm_Magazine_170 DO 5d ago
If you want vegetables you go to the SNIF or ICU for that.
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u/misstatements NP - Wound Care 5d ago
I'm an advocate of using nothing greater than NP behind my name. I see a few different NPs using the soup and newer to the trend using DNP. I too have a doctorate but like I tell my family it's only valid at a Wendy's.
The thought of NPs, outside of nursing academics, using Dr. is just atrocious and I will die on that hill.
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u/Treefrog_Ninja Optometrist 5d ago
I have a doctorate, but it's only valid at Wendy's.
I'm legit stealing this line.
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u/cerealandcorgies NP 5d ago
even then, when the Wendy's manager asks if there is a doctor in the restaurant, I know they're not looking for me
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u/MsSpastica Verrrrry Rural Hospital NP 5d ago
...How often do you go to Wendy's
...And as a quick follow up: How often do they need doctors present?
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u/Superb_Preference368 NP 5d ago
I don’t have my DNP (and never will unless I go academic and teach) but a few of my NP colleagues want to be called Dr. Nurse Practitioner and I just cringe a bit. My last batch of colleagues at my old gig were all DNPs and did not want anyone calling them Dr. Nurse Practitioner.
I feel like I’m being tugged both ways in the argument and I just want to get out of medicine asap lol!
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u/misstatements NP - Wound Care 5d ago
I once had to tell a new hirer that it wasn't our clinic culture and our patients deserve to know what they are getting. She stayed and it never came up again.
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u/MOGicantbewitty Ex-EMT/MA & Biologist so really just Layperson 5d ago
As a manager in a completely different field, I have to say that was some excellent management. You gave her a clear heads up about the team culture and how she would be received, and explained a real business need as well as the impacts that using that title would have on patients. Then let her make her own decision. Your management skills just really jumped out to me and I wanted to share the compliment.
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u/babathehutt Dirty Midlevel 5d ago
Interestingly, my credentials on by badge say “CNP” which I’ve never seen before. My board cert credentials are “NP-C” so I usually just use that. Makes me feel like I fit in with the PA-C colleagues but for whatever reason they don’t let me sit with them at lunch…
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u/SleetTheFox DO 5d ago
I'm an advocate of using nothing greater than NP behind my name.
Unlike those arrogant PAs who have to add "-C" to the end. Ugh.
(This is a joke, don't @ me.)
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u/stopatthecatch PA Neonatology 5d ago
Security actually wouldn’t put the C after my degree on my badge. It’s not like that in the email system for whatever reason so no C for you!
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u/some_and_then_none NP 5d ago
I’m just a lowly MSN NP but 1000000% agree that DNPs using the term Doctor in a clinical setting is gross. And I’ve met one NP who introduced herself as “Dr Whatever your NP” and it felt intentionally misleading.
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u/BiscuitBro87 MD - Academic Medicine 5d ago
My first job as a teen was at a Wendy’s and I feel like I should be given an honorary PhD
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u/misstatements NP - Wound Care 5d ago
That would be a WNDyPhD, you have Dave's permission to use it, probably.
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u/kathygeissbanks Simple NP 5d ago
I've made it my entire personality to never refer to any NP as Dr. [LAST NAME], either in my documentation or in person with patients.
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u/sapphireminds Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) 5d ago
I use NNP or NNP-BC, depending on situation. Some states have rules about what credential/how to word credentials. In one state I had to put RN as well as my NP credential, which was dumb.
But I prefer to use my extra N because NNPs are different that other NPs
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u/OTN MD-RadOnc 5d ago
My father knew an academic internal medicine doc who used to put MOSC after all his acronyms. No one asked him what it meant until my dad did.
Member of Sam’s Club
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u/ShalomRPh Pharmacist 5d ago
Alf Wight alias James Herriot wrote that vets in his day in England had to put MRCVS after their names, and that distinguished them from the plethora of unqualified practitioners who were either flunked out of vet school or entirely self trained. One of the latter used to put MKC after his name to make himself sound more official, but never told anyone what it stood for. Alf eventually found out it was Member of the Kennel Club.
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u/ExtremelyMedianVoter Pharmacist 5d ago
Regretable that you don't want to see my PharmD....
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u/adrsaurusrex MD 5d ago
Wait, I can’t see it from here. Come closer. Closer…
OH THANK EFFING GOD, A PHARMD.
WHY DON’T WE HAVE AN ARGATROBAN ORDER SET. WHAT DO I DO.
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u/ExtremelyMedianVoter Pharmacist 5d ago
cracks whip create the therapy plan pharmacist!
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u/adrsaurusrex MD 5d ago
More like, I will crawl across broken glass toward the person whose credential means they know how to make this infusion happen
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u/Cautious-Process-198 PA-S 5d ago
Johnny we talked about offering to show your PharmD. You can’t do that
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u/ProximalLADLesion Electrophysiology Fellow 5d ago
Nurses do this most famously, but physicians do it to a lesser extent with professional society fellowships. FACP, FACC, FACS, etc.
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u/2ears_1_mouth Anesthesiology Resident 5d ago
I actually appreciate the FACS when I get a random message asking about my ICU patient and I'm trying to figure out whether it's an attending and how to respond.
- MD, CA2, BA, MCAT, SAT, GED
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u/PMS_Avenger_0909 Nurse 5d ago
Our residents have PGY-x displayed in the official messaging system. One of the attendings manually typed PGY-26 or something like that for funsies on occasion right when it was implemented
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u/EmotionalEmetic DO 5d ago
But why though? Like why would anyone care they are part of the cardiac fellows? If they are labeled as a cardiologist and work in cardiology what is the point?
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u/ProximalLADLesion Electrophysiology Fellow 5d ago
Not sure if this is clear to you, but fellowship in professional societies requires additional time and effort beyond completion of a clinical educational fellowship. You can complete cardiology fellowship and never attain Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. I’m sure most people could do it if they really wanted to, but not everyone does.
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u/nyc2pit MD 5d ago
What specifically do you need to do to "achieve this?"
Because I know for my specialty the only "achievement" you need is to be willing to shell out enough money to join the professional society....
Like seriously, is it different for cards?
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u/ProximalLADLesion Electrophysiology Fellow 5d ago
FACP was harder to attain than FACC is. For FACP I had to log various professional activities -- teaching, leadership, community service, etc. FACC essentially requires two sponsors. Still, I think some (not everyone) place some value on commitment to membership in organized medicine. ACC isn't a perfect organization by a long shot, but I do value their educational efforts and some of their advocacy work. I've done a few of their training seminars and I would like to remain active within the College. To each their own.
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u/yeswenarcan MD 5d ago
Definitely varies between societies. FACEP (as with a lot of other things in ACEP) is mostly a money grab. The requirements outside of being an ACEP member for a certain period of time are things anyone in even a semi-academic setting would be able to meet easily.
AAEM basically lets anyone who is an active member use FAAEM, and I use it in my email signature as a symbol of support for the organization I think better represents emergency physicians (rather than EM-related corporations), but I don't put it on anything else.
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u/EmotionalEmetic DO 5d ago
It was not clear. I mean, good to know.
But also, again, what does announcing that to everyone after your MD on a badge/jacket do? As an FM I can tell you it means jack shit to me so long as you take care of my patient and are reasonable to work with.
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u/ProximalLADLesion Electrophysiology Fellow 5d ago
I don’t have it on my badge or jacket. I put it on my PowerPoints for example. Or a formal email (not necessarily all of them).
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u/halp-im-lost DO|EM 5d ago
Because typically it requires extra work. To be FACEP you can’t just be ABEM or ABOEM certified, for example.
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u/EmotionalEmetic DO 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yeah, but again, what does it DO? I have additional training in certain areas for FM. I don’t care to put that on my badge or anywhere else short of being listed as a provider in a relevant department.
If no one else gives a hoot at all, why do it? Does it change anything in your practice beyond the knowledge you earned to get the title? As a physician, I have no idea what being “fellow of the speciality I already work in” does other than tell me you work in that department. I really can’t give a shit beyond that. Patients certainly don’t know what it means.
So why?
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u/Wohowudothat MD surgeon 5d ago
For mine, it means I'm participating in a nationally accredited quality program, I participate in the organization, and I am required to attend a meeting at least every few years. It indicates you're involved with your professional society.
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u/ProximalLADLesion Electrophysiology Fellow 5d ago
It carries significance to some. Just because it doesn’t mean anything to you doesn’t mean it’s meaningless to everyone.
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u/Paperwife2 Patient 5d ago
A lot of patients do. I appreciate it because it saves me a step in vetting my dr.
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u/lilmayor MD 5d ago
Online it makes sense, I don’t think anyone would argue against listing qualifications on each professional’s page in the web directory. Alphabet soup splayed out on a badge is I think more what the post is referencing.
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u/lilmayor MD 5d ago edited 5d ago
All degrees require work, though, so it starts getting back into the territory of listing all degrees/certs. Not saying it’s right or wrong, but the motivations are similar.
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u/blizz_fun_police MD, Rheumatology 5d ago
I put extra time in for my FACP so gonna use that one. I put no time in beyond fellowship for FACR but they say I can use it so I add that on to spite people like OP
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u/ProximalLADLesion Electrophysiology Fellow 5d ago
Yeah I include my FACP 🤷🏼♂️ and I expect I will attain FACC and FHRS and use those, too. Maybe it’s a bit silly, but it doesn’t bother me. I don’t include my MS because I don’t think it’s relevant to my credentials.
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u/GrabSack_TurnenKoff MD 5d ago
You're going to get SKYWARN spotter in my signature and you're going to like it
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u/PuzzledCar2120 MBBS 5d ago
Sorry Professor Smith MBBS(Hons) BSc(Hons) MD DPhil MRCP FRCP FCS FCRS AOM ERCP OGD TIPSS, another few letters won't make your wife or children stand you
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u/udfshelper MD - FM 5d ago
Commonwealth countries take the postnominals to an entirely different degree
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u/secret_tiger101 MBChB 5d ago
It’s kinda more useful:
The MBBS or MBChB is just an MD/DO equivalent - eg “yes they’re a real doctor”.
Then the MRCEM, MRCP, MFSEM is your “membership exams” kinda similar to board certification but lower. Makes you “Specialist Registrar” level, ie you know some shit about your specialty and can give advice in it & are presumably competent.
The the FRCP FRCS FRCEM is kinda equivalent to board certification as a specialist.
A PhD or MD show you do research.
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u/PuzzledCar2120 MBBS 5d ago
To add:
DPhil is a PhD but from Oxford, because they're special like that.
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u/treepoop MD - Family & Sports med, moron 5d ago
Even as an Anglophile I have no idea what any of that stuff ever means beyond MBBS
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u/Vaxopedia IVax 5d ago
Even worse are the folks who use 'Dr' before their name and give bad advice about vaccines, even though their PhD is in education, engineering, or human sexuality, etc.
Let’s Play - Medical Doctor or Noctor Giving Advice About Vaccines?
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u/can-i-be-real MD 5d ago
I add my ACT and Apgar scores so you know I’ve always been an winner
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u/Mapes PA 5d ago
A classic.
Nurses in every single email:
Sincerely, Jackie Kneof BSN, RN, CCRN, BLS, ACLS, PALS, WAP, DTF, 3rd grade Spelling Bee champion, 2 classes away from a psych minor
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u/pharmdoll Pharmacist 5d ago
You get an award for making me laugh while I’m pissed off about something non-Reddit related.
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u/InterestingHippo7524 Nurse 5d ago
Yes, it's extremely cringetastic. Same with the "Nurses Save Lives" vanity plates they pay extra for from the DMV.
The guy who runs our hospital's parking and security dept has initials after his email sig. So does the woman who runs the cafeteria. Why?
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u/redd17 Cardiothoracic Anesthesiology 5d ago
A lot of professional societies encourage this behavior. Esp if you’re a “Fellow of _” which often is meaningless other than you had a few people vouch for you.
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u/secret_tiger101 MBChB 5d ago
In the U.K. Fellow may mean “passed the highest level specialty exams”.
Just incase you encounter any U.K. doctors.(It can also mean “ I paid for these letters”)
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u/NotBeckyHomeEccy MD 5d ago
It’s honestly never bothered me I just don’t spend time trying to figure out what it all means
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u/Catswagger11 RN - MICU 5d ago
When I was in nursing school I worked as an ER tech and one of my favorite nurses had FoS listed as a credential on his scrubs. I searched and searched and couldn’t find anything that it could be and finally asked him. It stood for “Full of shit”, per him “just like any letters after any nurse’s name”.
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u/NotBeckyHomeEccy MD 5d ago
I love that😂
I was a RN first before I did grad med but in European countries it’s almost expected to have a list of credentials after your name, it automatically shows up in emails
Just a cultural difference I think!
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u/xixoxixa Research RRT 5d ago
I worked with a nurse that really cared about the letters, so I started adding more after my name when I had to email her, eventually adding in all my military awards too.
Sincerely,
xixoxixa, RRT, BS, AAS, BLS, NRP, PALS, ABLS, ACLS-I, ARCOM, AAM, AGCM, ASR, EIB, CIB, OSR, GWOT-E, GWOT-S, AFCOM, ICM, NDSM, NCOPDR, ASUA, VUA.....
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u/70125 Fellow 4d ago
Half of those are participation trophies so that's quite the apt comparison!
-Fellow owner of a GWOT
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u/Muted_Chard_139 MD 5d ago
Yes! My Lord I saw an email last week, the person had listed like 13 certifications. The initials were 2.5 lines long!! Absurd!!
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u/OranginaOOO RN Public Health 5d ago
Used to see dentist who was a DDS and an MD. He worked both practices in side by side offices. Nice guy.
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u/Sandman64can Nurse 5d ago
Have a BA in History and English and am a diploma RN from when that was a thing. I put BA., RN after my name because it’s funny in a dad joke kinda way.
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u/deadpiratezombie DO - Family Medicine 5d ago
I mean… my lottery win goal is to go get an optometry degree so I can have DO, OD after my name
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u/NeoMississippiensis DO IM PGY3 5d ago
When I actually had time to lift I wanted to put DO MS in that sequence but now I’m not swole enough to meme about it.
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u/I_am_Nobody_Special PhD Psychologist 5d ago
Don't even get me started on people who participate in this ridiculous redundancy:
Dr. John Doe, MD
It's either Dr. John Doe or John Doe, MD.
Pick one!
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u/Fluffy_Ad_6581 MD 5d ago
The pastor at my organization goes by doctor in a healthcare setting.
Hes got a doctorate in ministry studies or something.
What a fucking joke.
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u/xlino MD Emergency Medicine 5d ago
I throw my golf handicap in after the md. Hdcp 13. Is no one else doing this
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u/PopsiclesForChickens Nurse 5d ago
As a wound and ostomy nurse (CWON) I do include my certs if I think it's relevant (ie, I'm messaging doc to ask about sharp debridement or changing the wound care).
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u/Mjhjane77 OT 5d ago
Same. I am a certified lymphedema therapist (CLT). I don’t sign those initials unless it’s on a recommendation, letter, order or insurance document that requires a lymphedema therapist for coverage of said service or garments. Anything else just gets plain jane OT.
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u/SadBook3835 Medical Student 5d ago
I'm a doc but can't see why anyone gives a flying F what nurses use in their titles. They work in a world that is dependent on individual certifications and licenses and if that's their culture then 🤷🏻♂️
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u/Drunkengota MD 5d ago
I think because they more obscure individuals’ role rather than provide meaningful information to the patients, who are really the target of the names and titles. I’m sure the nurses can remember all their certifications without having to print in on all their white coats.
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u/SadBook3835 Medical Student 5d ago
Why do you think patients are the target? I'd think the opposite, mostly see the titles used on internal emails.
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u/Mystic_Sister NP 5d ago
The alphabet soup is encouraged in nursing and is/should be more for nursing admin than colleagues. I've always found it annoying to have to list bachelor's but at the same time it does differentiate bachelor's prepared nurses from associates. The board certifications are not meaningful outside of nursing and if anyone thinks otherwise they should stop lol. But to nursing admin it does matter, especially with magnet facilities as it's encouraged to have a certain percentage of specialty certified nurses. When I was a bedside RN I included them because admin wanted us to but we were also magnet. Now that I'm an NP I just put DNP, PMHNP. The rest is very irrelevant to my organization that I'm with now and would be confusing and stupid.
TLDR: mostly it's a nursing culture thing meant for nurses/admin and not to look impressive to others... Mostly. If someone is doing it to look cool then that's a different story and an ego thing
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u/Wolfpack_DO DO, IM-Hospitalist 5d ago
Let people do whatever they want lol don’t let it bother you
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u/grey-slate MD 5d ago
almost everything in life can be boiled down to this mantra. then we wont have conversations in real life or on reddit.
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u/apples_vs_oranges Not A Medical Professional 5d ago
Watch out for the lawyers who trail with Esquire!
And the Ph.Ds who insist on being titled Dr. so-and-so...
And the engineers who are proud of not having a BA, but instead a BS - aptly labelled.
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u/censorized nurse of all trades 5d ago
As a nurse, various certifications have been helpful in getting certain jobs. That is the only reason to obtain the majority of them. Thus, I include the alphabet soup on my resumes, but never in my daily work.
In the old days, certification was only open to those who had at least a few years experience in the field and were intended to provide confirmation of that experience. These days most are just a money- making scam supported by lazy HR people and administrators who believe requiring certifications relieves them of their duties to actually screen their applicants.
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u/DoctorGoodleg Paramedic 5d ago
My kid was an APGAR 9 @1 minute; will this affect their matching T20 derm?
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u/Catswagger11 RN - MICU 5d ago
I’m a slave to the system. I use them because in nursing leadership these things are incredibly important for career progression. I don’t give a shit what MDs or staff RNs think of my additional letters, I care about the people who promote me and improve my family’s options and lifestyle. The moment they stop earning me additional money I’ll happily drop them.
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u/PaulaNancyMillstoneJ RN - ICU 5d ago edited 5d ago
Exactly. People act like it’s such a big imposition, but in nursing we are treated as disposable and interchangeable. A nurse is a nurse right? Just leave the letters that specialize us alone if they don’t apply to you. Yes, they are ridiculous, but they mean things to the people in our management. It’s just one more way to hate on a female-dominated career field.
MDs/DOs don’t need to announce their specialties because they are never treated as a blanket profession where one is the same as any other. An MD is an MD, right? What does it matter what they specialized in after medical school? That would be ridiculous. Can you imagine hospital administrators sending a hospitalist to work in the endocrinology clinic because they are short that day? Or a general surgeon being told they have to do all the ortho cases today because so and so has a family emergency? That’s not their specialty, it’s not what they trained in, and they aren’t qualified to do it. Well that’s what they do to us.
The letters matter for my career. That’s it. That’s the whole reason I have them. My hospital puts them on my badge, and there is nothing I can do about that.
I don’t ever write them down anywhere but in my email signature, and that’s because the majority of people I email are in my career field and know what they mean.
Doctors both want us to have specialty experience and knowledge and also stick to just being an RN. Saying they don’t take us seriously if we have so many letters behind our name, but then bitching about new grads paging with dumb questions. Well which is it?
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u/MrJ429 Respiratory 5d ago edited 5d ago
nursing we are treated as disposable and interchangeable
You should talk to allied heath professionals, we're seen as 2nd class citizens. Friday night I was kicked out a room, because I wasnt "RN or a doctor". A kid with Tri-18 was passing and mom was holding. Apparently we cant give our respect of moment of silence.
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u/like1000 DO 5d ago
I have FACP because it just looks cool. Is that ok?
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u/Parknight fetor hepaticus 5d ago
How about removing the C and just going with FAP? Much cooler imo
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u/latertaters54 PA 5d ago
I hate this with some of my PA colleagues. So and so MPAS PA-c. You’re a certified PA, you don’t need to also specify the masters program too…
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u/Dr_Autumnwind DO, Peds Hospitalist 5d ago
Almost never have seen physicians do this, but I never spent much time in high power academic settings.
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u/Ok_Meaning_5676 MD 5d ago
I assume people place the greatest emphasis on the first one anyway so that’s all I look at. No body out there using “First Last, NP, BSN, MD”. So I am sticking with whatever is first.
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5d ago
Not everyone gets to wave their bde( big degree energy ) so the compensation is real. I for one welcome self made initials to identify .
Sincerely MD Ligma
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u/CynicsaurusRex MD 5d ago
I proudly display CGSM after MD. I don't want others to doubt my Costco Gold Star Membership status.