When should a person use the title ‘doctor’?

An Alberta professor is suggesting that only practicing doctors be allowed to refer to themselves as such. That’s because the current rules around the use of the title can be harmful to patients, said University of Alberta Professor Timothy Caulfield, according to a CBC report.

"There's so much health misinformation out there. There's so many fraudsters out there, and I think the public needs some clarity when someone uses the title doctor. I would like it to mean something," he said.

Currently, individuals who obtain a medical degree are allowed to call themselves doctor or indicate they have an MD, CBC reported, citing the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.

This is the case even if those who use the title are not actively practising.

"They may not, however, imply or mislead the public into thinking that they are licensed to practise medicine," the college said in an email to CBC News.

The rules are deceptive, said Caulfield.

"You know, when they see that title doctor, they assume often, especially in the health space, that they are medical doctors, that they're licensed medical doctors, and are surprised when they find out that's not the case," Caulfield said.

"So it's very misleading."

Physicians who have retired or lost their licence should have to indicate they are unlicensed, said Caulfield.

Recently, Canadian Forces health doctors and nurses were deployed to the Yukon to work in critical care, emergency room, operating room, and medical-surgical roles throughout the territory.

‘M.D. provided electrical muscle stimulation’

The same CBC article detailed how a woman with a medical degree continues to conduct business using the MD title. Monica Kehar was expelled from the University of Manitoba residency program in 2020 and censured by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba after an investigation, according to the report.

She registered a company called Prestige Body Lab in Vancouver.

According to the business card, posted on social media, the company offers “M.D. provided electrical muscle stimulation,” according to its Facebook page.

The business also guarantees that clients, on the first session, will lose two to five inches or there will be no charge.

A competing business lodged a complaint against Prestige with the Fraser Health Authority, raising concerns that Kehar was representing herself as a doctor, according to the report.

The business has closed, according to the report.

The number of cases of employee fraud among city workers in Toronto has skyrocketed in 2023, according to a previous report from the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario.