Physiotherapists use of Dr Prefix: IN a significant decision, the Kerala High Court has held that medical professionals have no exclusive right to the prefix ‘Dr’ in their title and that Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists too can be permitted to use it.
A Single Bench of Justice V G Arun said this while dismissing petitions that challenged the powers and status given to Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Profession Act, 2021 (NCAHP Act) as well as the Competency Based Curriculum for Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy. They petitioners had contended that the provisions “run contrary to the provisions of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019, which is the final word as far as the practice of modern medicine in the country is concerned”.
What the High Court said on the claim in respect of ‘Dr’ prefix.
Justice Arun said, “the challenge against the use of prefix ‘Dr’ by Physiotherapists will not…hold good since the NMC or the allied statutes does not provide for the use of the prefix ‘Dr’ by qualified medical professionals. Here it will be interesting to note that the term ‘Doctor’ originated from the latin word ‘Doctor’, which means teacher or instructor. Research reveals that, around the thirteenth century, the term Doctor has evolved into an academic title in European Universities and was used for referring to someone who had achieved the highest level of learning and had received license to teach in fields like theology, law and philosophy. Thus, the term Doctor originally meant a learned person qualified to teach.
Gradually, with the advancement of medical science, University trained Physicians (holders of degrees in medicine) began to be called Doctors. The usage became much more common for physicians by the nineteenth century, as medical education formalised and the public increasingly associated the title with healers. Therefore the contention that the title ‘Doctor’ exclusively belongs to medical professionals is a misconception since even now, like in the olden times, persons with higher educational qualifications like PhD are entitled to use the title ‘Doctor’.”
The court upheld the contention of the respondents, that “the NMC Act does not contain any provision for conferring the title Doctor on qualified medical professionals.” It also said that “the expression title used in Section 40 of the Kerala State Medical Practitioners Act cannot therefore be understood as statutorily entitling the qualified medical professionals to prefix ‘Dr’ to their names. In the absence of such provision, the petitioners cannot claim exclusive right to use the prefix ‘Dr’.”
