Putting the issue of using the title of “Dr.” to rest

People who have pursued terminal degrees in academia and earned a bona fide doctorate from an accredited institution of higher education, e.g., M.D., Ph.D., possess the right and privilege to be given the title of “Dr”. Within academic circles, i.e., universities and colleges, the titles of people holding doctoral degrees are attached to their names because it signifies their level of knowledge in a specific discipline and it has always been a tradition since the inception of higher education in the United States, as well as throughout the world. Moreover, students and members of the community are showing deference for individuals who hold the highest academic degree possible by addressing those individuals with the title that precedes their name.

It was never stated directly or suggested indirectly in my response to Howard Cole that the title of “Dr.” be placed before my name. The recent assertion by Joan Muna Flores of Tinian indicated that I was “offended” by Howard Cole not using the title is her own subjective perception and was not the reason for discussing the use of title in my letter to the media.

The explanation of the importance of the title was brought up not because I took offense, but rather because Howard Cole’s mindset of insisting on using “Mr.” or “Ms” in lieu of a title earned was outside of the norm of the way people in contemporary society address individuals with earned doctorates.

Joan Muna Flores’ defined “real doctor” to be a person who earns the degree because he or she is compassionate about learning and willing to use that expertise for the advantage of others”. She would understand fully what a “real doctor” is if she acquired the experience of going through the entire process to obtain one. It is apparent that she has not earned a doctorate.

The only doctors that Joan Muna Flores’ definition applies to are the ones in the category of “quacks” who obtain their degrees via the Internet with an organization not possessing any bona fide accreditation, or people who go to a “diploma mill” and pay for the degree without any strings attached. The only thing “real” about the people with these doctorates is that they are plastic and superficial masquerading as professional academics.

What Ms. Flores’ fails to comprehend is that earning a doctorate is not correlated with compassion about learning and helping others. Although compassion about learning is important, there is no doctoral committee in any established university worldwide that will grant a doctorate to someone because they happen to be compassionate about learning.

In order to earn a doctorate, one must successfully pass all of the doctoral seminars, pass an extensive qualifying examination subsequent to taking all required courses, be approved by a committee to advance to candidacy, and successfully research, write, and defend, a doctoral dissertation. The attrition or dropout rate for doctoral students in American universities is over 50 percent. The majority of these individuals who do not complete their doctoral degrees get close to completion but, for whatever reason, are not able to complete the dissertation. These individuals fall into the category of “all but dissertation” or ABD.

The only way to ascertain just what the island community thinks about the use of the title “Dr.” is for the media to perhaps conduct a poll and see what the residents in the CNMI consider appropriate verses inappropriate. This will be the proof of the pudding whether Howard Cole and Joan Muna Flores have a following on the use of Dr. as a title.

To be sure, if the poll by the media were conducted in any state in the mainland, the percentage of people agreeing to respectfully use the title earned would prevail over those who think otherwise. The only way that Howard Cole and Joan Muna Flores would be able to come to grips with this reality is for both of them to travel to the mainland and find out for themselves that their mindset is in the minority and does not reflect the norm and/or mindset of contemporary society. Or, they can stay in Tinian and always be a part of the minority in terms of their views on titles.

Dr. Jesus D. Camacho
Delano, California