MD+PD/PhD

[Kenny同志]

Hi folks,

 

I am translating a document for a medical conference. It contains a letter and the last section of this letter says:

 

[doctor's name] MD PD

Director Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery

[name of hospital]

 

[another doctor's name]MD PhD

Chief of Plastic Surgery Department

[name of another hospital]

 

My first thought was that MD meant managing director instead of doctor of medicine as 'PD' [Pharmaciae Doctor] and 'PhD" follow right after it. Am I correct?

 

Thanks.

 

[889]

My first, second, and third thought would be that MD means doctor of medicine in this context and that PD is a typo for PhD.

 

But my fourth thought was to Google this, and I see a few people in this field do have PD after their names.

[lips]

Agree with 889. Google PD and you may find two possible relevant meanings.

MD Ph.D. is a common program in U.S. medical schools.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you very much, 889 and Lips.That's very helpful. 

 

Then there's another problem: how should I differentiate MD from PhD in Chinese? Well, er, I don't have time to do any deep research at the moment. If anyone could enlighten me on the difference between MD and PhD in this context, I would be grateful.

[889]

It's not unusual for medical doctors, especially those who are researchers not practicing physicians, to also have a PhD in a relevant field of science, like microbiology.

 

(Actually, I think it mainly works the other way: researchers in the medical field, who could work well in their field with just a PhD, get more cachet when they've got that medical degree as well.)

[abcdefg]

Agree with 889. It should almost surely be "James Chen, MD, pHD."

 

Then there's another problem: how should I differentiate MD from PhD in Chinese?

 

Kenny, you don't need to differentiate them. Just need to realize that the person in question has both of those degrees and needs the abbreviations for them to appear after his name.

 

But people are always touchy about things like this. If you get it wrong, it's a very big deal. ("I spent 8 years of my life sweating through that hugely difficult program, and now they can't even get it straight in the program notes! Grumble, grumble."

 

I would definitely ask the client for clarification and not just make an educated guess. The risk of getting it wrong is too great. And, furthermore, these abbreviations differ according to where one obtained his or her professional education. US, England, and Europe are not the same.

 

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My first thought was that MD meant managing director instead of doctor of medicine as 'PD' [Pharmaciae Doctor] and 'PhD" follow right after it. Am I correct?

 

Nope. Not correct. At least not in the US. That plastic surgeon is very unlikely to also be a pharmacist. He is much more likely to have a second degree in a related basic science subject, such as anatomy.

[lips]

It is, or was, quite common for a US medical school to offer a MD PhD prgram whereby a student get both degrees for completing all medical training as well as doing research and writing a thesis. It is more work and takes longer.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks everybody and particularly abcdefg for your comments . I appreciate your help. : ) 

 

Well, after hearing all that you’ve said, I have decided to leave these terms in English. This meeting is for specialists of breast surgery after all, so it should be OK.

[abcdefg]

Well, after hearing all that you’ve said, I have decided to leave these terms in English.

 

Agree with leaving the terms in English. Don't translate titles. But I would also suggest asking whether or not "[doctor's name] MD PD" was a typing mistake. I think they probably meant "[doctor's name] MD PhD."

 

The latter would definitely be true if those doctors are American. Less definite if they are European. 

[Kenny同志]

Thanks again, abcdefg. The doctor with the title 'MD' is British and the other doctor is from Spain.

 

I would have liked to check if 'PD' was a typo but with an agency between me and the end client, I was a bit reluctant to do so.

 

Anyway, I have handed in the work...

[Flickserve]

There is no PD as far as I am aware.

MD for a British doctor means a Doctor of Medicine by research equivalent to a Doctor of Philosophy. For someone in America and other countries, an MD represents the basic medical degree.

Very confusingly, some British doctors refer themselves as MD to indicate their basic medical degree when facing an international audience.

I think that is what happened here. This british doctor has his basic medical degree, called it MD for the international audience, and has also completed a PhD.

[Kenny同志]

Many thanks for your input, Flickserve. 

 

So PhD is 臨床醫學博士(學位） and MD could be either a (研究型）醫學博士(學位)  or a basic medical degree?

 

When MD refers to a basic medical degree, is it still the abbreviated form of doctor of medicine? If not, what does it stand for? Also, how would you say it in Chinese in this context?

 

These are all for learning purposes and not anything urgent. If you could help me with these questions in your spare time, that would be great. : )

[gato]

Medicine is an undergraduate degree in the UK, just like it is in China, whereas in the US, it's a graduate degree. Therefore the difference in naming convention. People in the UK start specializing much earlier in their academic life. To justify the longer schooling, American schools like to call graduates of professional schools doctors: MD and JD.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks for the information, gato. : )