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> Is a Doctor of Philosophy a real doctor?

Actually, a Doctor of Philosophy is the only real doctor.




Well also Doctor of Engineering etc.


That's a PhD (in engineering).

Non-phd doctorates I'm aware of would be MD, Psy. D, JD.


No it's an EngD. Maybe it's a Commonwealth thing.


They exist in the US too. There ain't nothin' wrong with an EngD, it's a great terminal degree. But the Doctor of Engineering is not a doctor in the sense being discussed here. Why? Because the definition of a doctor is (or was) someone with a license to teach at an institution of higher learning. That's not the aim of an EngD, at least in the US and many other places: its goal is explicitly to produce an engineer who will use his knowledge in the real world.

The same thing goes for EdD, DPA, etc. These are professional degrees, not teaching/research degrees.




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