This PhD vs MD fight is so weird, because it completely misses the point. Being anally retentive about your honorifics is the problem, not whether or not your degree is valid. PhD’s are absolutely doctors, but correcting people when they don’t use your special title, regardless of what that title is, is a bad move. If my physician refused to talk to me unless I said “doctor” before their name, they’d be an asshole, even when they’re universally regarded as doctors. Leave the honorifics for formal settings, not everyday conversation.
This PhD vs MD fight is so weird, because it completely misses the point. Being anally retentive about your honorifics is the problem, not whether or not your degree is valid. PhD’s are absolutely doctors, but correcting people when they don’t use your special title, regardless of what that title is, is a bad move. If my physician refused to talk to me unless I said “doctor” before their name, they’d be an asshole, even when they’re universally regarded as doctors. Leave the honorifics for formal settings, not everyday conversation.