Professor Joseph Chikelue Obi backs the use of 'Doctor' Title by Qualified Dentists and Dental Practitioners . . . Warns of Medical Comeuppance . . .
Reacting to News that the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has barred Dentists from using the word 'Doctor' in their Promotional Materials, Professor Obi said:
" The Term Doctor (which had it's origins in the Latin Verb 'Doceo' meaning 'to Teach or To Mentor') was used for very many generations for Multidisciplinary Academic Professionals (of Top University Standard) , long before Physicians were even college-educated.
A Revolutionary Bunch of Snobby Physicians literally hijacked the 'Doctor Title' sometime in the 14th century even when they were still Trained via an Apprentice Licentiate System.
So , for Medical Practitioners to now claim that they should be the only people allowed to use that designation is absolutely absurd (to say the very least).
The General Public are highly well-informed these days , and will clearly understand the various differences in Clincial Roles if Professionals clearly introduce themselves properly and if we do a good job of explaining who we are and what services we provide.
For example , I could say , My name is Joseph , and I am an Alternative Medicine Doctor. I could also describe myself as Doctor Joseph Chikelue Obi - a Consultant in Evidence Based Alternative Medicine.
The recent ASA Ruling in relation to Dentists is Fundamentally Flawed , and I hereby advise all UK Dentists to defiantly drag the Advertising Standards Authority through every Named Court on the Planet .
Dentists all over the world universally use the 'Doctor' Title ; and it is exceedingly foolish for the ASA to bullishly attempt to demean the Dental Profession , via such a highly uninformed decision.
While the General Dental Council of the United Kingdom (and the British Dental Association) are gracefuully ruminating on this issue , I would hereby like to assure all Dentists in the United Kingdom that the Medical Licensing Commission fully recognizes Dentists as 'Teeth Doctors' , and will continue to do so irrespective of the ASA Ruling.
In addition to that , all Dentists in the UK who wish to Register with the Medical Licensing Commission , are perfectly free to do so - with immediate effect ; thus appropriately making them lawfully eligible to additionally avail of the Brand New Alternative Medicine Doctor Prefix Designation Title in addition to their conventional 'Doctor' Honorific.
As a Fully Qualified International Medical Doctor , I wish to publicly rebuke those Shameless Medical Graduates who are ruthlessly terrorizing Dental Surgeons , Chiropractors , Podiatrists and other 'Unseen Doctors'.
Such abominably divisive attitude will one day end up wrecking the British Medical Profession itself , as most Medical Practitioners in the United Kingdom technically only just have a Bachelors (First) Degree , not a Medical Doctorate ; thus equally making most of them Totally Non-Eligible to use the 'Doctor Title'.
As we in Alternative Medicine now have our very own Professional Prefix Title , I strong urge Registered Medical Practitioners to expediently get their very own Title Prefix too - instead of foolishly harassing Qualified Dentists and other Clinical Brethren in the Healthcare Arena. "