When it comes to doctors, titles, and designations, it’s easy to be confused about capitalization and grammar usage. Depending on the title of the person and the usage, the capitalization rules can differ.
Table of Contents
The short answer is no, physical therapist is not capitalized, whether referencing the job position or a specific person.
While you would capitalize “doctor” in instances such as Dr. Brown or Doctor James, you wouldn’t capitalize “physical therapist Amy.” One exception to the rule, however, is the abbreviation. If you shorten physical therapist to PT, then that would be capitalized, as you would with all acronyms. To put it in perspective, let’s take a look at some examples to answer the question: is physical therapist capitalized?
Examples
- My appointment with the physical therapist is on Monday.
- She’s going to school the become a physical therapist.
- One of the staff members, physical therapist Danny, has bright pink hair.
Here are some incorrect examples that show how physical therapist should not be capitalized:
- She is my favorite Physical Therapist.
- Danny has been a licensed Physical Therapist for 50 years now.
- The Physical Therapist school has been open for quite some time now.
In each of these instances, “physical therapist” should be lowercase.
Titles and Exceptions
The other exception, as with all words, is in titles as in headlines. The general rule of thumb for titles is that words over four letters, in addition to words of importance, are capitalized. While different style guides have different rules, the words physical therapist would be capitalized in a title. Here are some additional examples.
- The Physical Therapy Clinic of Boston
- Danny’s Journey with Physical Therapy
- The Physical Therapist of Today: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners
In each of these examples, physical therapist would be capitalized, as would be physical therapy. Other specialized medicine fields follow the same rules, including neurosurgeon, oncologist, or even personal trainer.
