Does medical doctor need to be capitalized?
A career like “doctor” is only capitalized when it is used as a title, as in the following example. In this sentence, the first “doctor” refers to a type of career (as in the last example) and should not be capitalized. The second “doctor,” however, is used as the title of a specific person: Doctor Simons.
Only capitalize a job title or position when it precedes the name of the job holder. I interviewed Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Owusu.
As part of a title, such as “John Smith, Medical Doctor,” Yes, it should be capitalized, but as part of descriptive text, such as “He is a medical doctor,” then No, it should not be capitalized.
Specialties and subspecialties, such as neurology and interventional cardiology, are not formal names and should not be capitalized.
Capitalizing Doctoral Degrees
Use Dr. as a formal title on first reference to individuals with degrees in medicine, optometry, dental surgery, osteopathic medicine, podiatric medicine or veterinary medicine. For individuals with doctoral degrees in other disciplines, you may use Dr.
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Proper Nouns.
Capitalize | Do not capitalize |
---|---|
Dr. Kellogg | physician, doctor |
Nurse Freeman | nurse, registered nurse, advanced practice nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant |
When creating professional documents, there may be instances where you include your job title or address someone else by theirs. You should capitalize job titles correctly to ensure you're being respectful to the person you're addressing and to show professionalism when mentioning your own role.
Typically, job titles that come before names are capitalized (unless there is punctuation separating the title from the name). In these cases, the job title functions as part of a proper noun formed by the title and name: President Biden has won the election.
It should always be capitalized when abbreviated to Dr., as in Dr.
- He has a dangerous medical condition.
- The report was published in a leading medical journal.
- Her recovery was a medical miracle.
- He opened his own medical practice.
- an important advance in medical science.
Should medical oncologist be capitalized?
Capitalization. Medical specialties should not be capitalized in text.
academic degrees
Observe the following capitalization for these Manchester University degrees: Associate of Arts, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Doctor of Pharmacy. Degrees abbreviated in all capital letters do not need periods.

Review: In general use, do not capitalize when you “informally” refer to the degree & its subject area (e.g. master's in education, associate (without apostrophe), master's or doctorate. Capitalize when you specify the actual degree (Associate of Arts, AA, BA or Bachelor of Arts, PsyD, PhD).
A physician is a general term for a doctor who has earned a medical degree. Physicians work to maintain, promote, and restore health by studying, diagnosing, and treating injuries and diseases. Physicians generally have six core skills: Patient care.
They both mean the same thing—your dentist graduated from an accredited dental school. The DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) and DMD (Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry or Doctor of Dental Medicine) are the same degrees.
Different fields of medicine are common nouns, and there is no need to capitalize them.
Titles and Exceptions
Here are some additional examples. 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.
Addressing a Doctor in Writing
Place the title of “Dr.” before the name of a person who is a doctor of medicine or psychology, doctor of dentistry, or doctor of veterinary medicine. For example Dr. George Ross. Always write the word “doctor” in its abbreviated form when it goes before the person's name.
The noun 'doctor' can be used as both a proper and a common noun. When 'doctor' is used as a title that is part of a specific doctor's name, it is a proper noun and should be capitalized.
To summarize the capitalization of job titles, you should always capitalize the job title when it comes immediately before the person's name, in a formal context, in a direct address, in a resume heading, or as part of a signature line.
When not to capitalize job titles?
- Rule: Capitalize job titles immediately preceding the name when used as part of the name. ...
- Rule: Titles immediately following the name do not ordinarily require capitalization. ...
- Rule: When the appears in front of the job title, do not capitalize. ...
- Rule: Capitalize titles in signature lines.
Professional Titles
Both words are capitalized before the name, lowercase after the name, and set off by commas. President is capitalized before the name, lowercase and set off by commas after the name.
In English, a capital letter is used for the first word of a sentence and for all proper nouns (words that name a specific person, place, organization, or thing). In some cases, capitalization is also required for the first word in a quotation and the first word after a colon.
Write out their first name and surname, then add an “M.D.” suffix at the end, which notes the formal nature of whatever you're filling out. When writing something official, only use “M.D.” to address your doctor, and not the “Dr.” prefix.
You won't know for sure until he is evaluated by a medical doctor. Before making drastic changes in any food or exercise plan, consult with a medical doctor. A psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specializes in treatment and diagnosis of mental illness.
Example Sentences
Noun He needed medicine but refused to go to a doctor. She was under doctor's orders not to return to work. I saw her at the doctor's last week.
A doctor is someone who is experienced and certified to practice medicine to help maintain or restore physical and mental health. A doctor is tasked with interacting with patients, diagnosing medical problems and successfully treating illness or injury.
Nurse practitioner is a term that can be used in lowercase form and uppercase form. When referring to a specific individual who is a nurse practitioner, you should capitalize the first letter of each word.
Direct Address
We can all agree that doctor should be lowercase here and Doctor McCoy should be capitalized. The first is simply an ordinary noun and needs no special treatment: a doctor, the doctor, my doctor. The second is an honorific in front of a name, and as with Captain Kirk, Mr.
You can address people who hold a doctorate as 'Doctor' or 'Dr' (without a full stop). Today, it is acceptable to use 'Dear Dr Name' for both formal and informal correspondence. When writing 'Dear' without the person's name in emails and letters, write the title 'Doctor' in full.
Is doctor and Professor capitalized?
Academic titles are capitalized when they immediately precede a personal name and lowercased when following a name. Examples: Associate Professor John Doe; Jane Smith, assistant professor. When an academic title is used in apposition before a personal name as a descriptive tag, it is lowercased.
The Doctor of Education (EdD) is degree oriented towards professionals who want to learn to leverage educational leadership skills.
The two degrees reflect different types of medical school training. MDs attend allopathic medical schools, while DOs attend osteopathic medical schools.
The Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree is a five-year graduate program intended to teach students the essentials of being a Medical Doctor. The program consists of three years of academic instruction, one year of clinical clerkship and one year of post-graduate internship.
The PhD, or Doctor of Philosophy, is the highest graduate degree awarded by our universities. Health professionals receive undergraduate degrees in medicine. These are professional degrees, and not really doctorates.
Answer: unless medicine is at the start of a sentence, you should not be using a capital 'M'. Even when referring to the course, it is not a capital m.
To review, eponymous diseases are named after people or places (Alzheimer's, Hantavirus) and should be capitalized as proper names. Other disease names and terms, like diabetes and virus, are common nouns and should be lowercase.
Etymology. Initialism of mort de rire (literally “dead of laughter”).
By the way, most professions are not capitalized. That includes physician, doctor, nurse, nurse practitioner and dietitian to name a few.
Morbidity and Mortality meetings (M&Ms) or clinical review meetings allow departments/ specialties/ facilities to review the quality of the care that is being provided to their patients.
What part of speech is medical doctor?
noun. a person licensed to practice medicine, as a physician, surgeon, dentist, or veterinarian. a person who has been awarded a doctor's degree: He is a Doctor of Philosophy. Doctor of the Church.
Registered nurse is a term that can be used in lowercase form and uppercase form. When referring to a specific individual who is a registered nurse, you should capitalize the first letter of each word.
Job titles, whether formal or informal, are not capitalized unless the title is used as part of a person's name, and they are addressed using the title.