Do you use honorifics like Mr. or Ms. to address your neighbors, friends’ parents, doctors, bosses and the people who work at your school?
What rules have you been taught — by parents, grandparents, teachers or others — about how to address adults? Do you always use honorifics, such as “Mr.,” “Ms.” or “Dr.,” or do you usually call them by their first names? Does it depend on who you are talking to or the way you are communicating with them, for example in person versus via email?
Do you ever find this issue confusing or nerve-racking?
In “‘Kind of Awkward’: Doctors Find Themselves on a First-Name Basis,” Gina Kolata writes about a study that investigated how patients of all ages addressed their doctors in email. The article begins:
Dr. Yul Yang, a dermatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., addresses all of his patients with an honorific — Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. — even if they ask him to use their first names. It is a sign of respect and a way of distinguishing his professional role as a doctor from a more personal role as a friend or confidant. But many patients do not reciprocate, calling him Yul instead of Dr. Yang.
He finds that “kind of awkward,” he said, though he lets it pass. But Dr. Yang and his colleagues began to wonder: How often do patients call doctors by their first names?
It wasn’t easy to answer this question, but Dr. Yang and his co-authors found a way — by studying tens of thousands of emails that patients sent to doctors at his institution. The results, published last week in the journal JAMA Network Open, appeared to illustrate a few themes about which doctors find themselves on a first-name basis with the people they care for.
Female doctors were more than twice as likely as male doctors to be addressed by their first names, as were doctors of osteopathy when compared with doctors with an M.D. behind their name.
Men were more likely than women to address doctors by their first name. Patients were more likely to address general practitioners by their first names than specialists.
The study found no difference based on age, whether of patient or physician. And the researchers did not examine the race or ethnicity of the patients or doctors.
The results, wrote Dr. Lekshmi Santhosh and Dr. Leah Witt of the University of California, San Francisco, in a commentary that accompanied the study, show “a subtle but important form of unconscious bias” against female physicians, general practitioners and doctors of osteopathy.
“Use of formal titles in medicine and many other professions is a linguistic signal of respect and professionalism,” they added.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
Does anything in the article surprise you? Does any of the information echo what you have experienced with doctors or with other adults?
When — if ever — do you call adults by their first names? Do you do so automatically or only when asked? Have you ever been unsure about how to address an adult? How did you sort it out? The study took place in Arizona. Do you think manners, or the behaviors that are deemed polite, change from one place to another? How are most young people expected to address adults in your region of the country or world? Have you found that these expectations differ when you visit other places?
The study’s authors wrote, “Use of formal titles in medicine and many other professions is a linguistic signal of respect and professionalism.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
The article states that the study’s results show “‘a subtle but important form of unconscious bias’ against female physicians, general practitioners and doctors of osteopathy.” What is your reaction to that finding? Do you recognize that unconscious bias in your own behavior, or in the behavior of other young people you know? For example, are you more likely to use honorifics instead of first names when addressing adults of certain genders or those who hold certain kinds of jobs? Why do you think it is important to recognize this bias?
The article also mentions that some doctors prefer to use honorifics when addressing their patients, as well. Do you like when adults call you “Mr.,” “Ms.” or the gender-neutral term “Mx.”? Why or why not? The study looked only at email messages, not face-to-face interactions. Do you think the results may have been different if it had examined in-person interactions? Does your use of honorifics change depending on the mode of communication, for example talking to someone in person versus sending an email or a direct message?
Do you ever find this issue confusing or nerve-racking?
In “‘Kind of Awkward’: Doctors Find Themselves on a First-Name Basis,” Gina Kolata writes about a study that investigated how patients of all ages addressed their doctors in email. The article begins:
Dr. Yul Yang, a dermatologist at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., addresses all of his patients with an honorific — Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. — even if they ask him to use their first names. It is a sign of respect and a way of distinguishing his professional role as a doctor from a more personal role as a friend or confidant. But many patients do not reciprocate, calling him Yul instead of Dr. Yang.
He finds that “kind of awkward,” he said, though he lets it pass. But Dr. Yang and his colleagues began to wonder: How often do patients call doctors by their first names?
It wasn’t easy to answer this question, but Dr. Yang and his co-authors found a way — by studying tens of thousands of emails that patients sent to doctors at his institution. The results, published last week in the journal JAMA Network Open, appeared to illustrate a few themes about which doctors find themselves on a first-name basis with the people they care for.
Female doctors were more than twice as likely as male doctors to be addressed by their first names, as were doctors of osteopathy when compared with doctors with an M.D. behind their name.
Men were more likely than women to address doctors by their first name. Patients were more likely to address general practitioners by their first names than specialists.
The study found no difference based on age, whether of patient or physician. And the researchers did not examine the race or ethnicity of the patients or doctors.
The results, wrote Dr. Lekshmi Santhosh and Dr. Leah Witt of the University of California, San Francisco, in a commentary that accompanied the study, show “a subtle but important form of unconscious bias” against female physicians, general practitioners and doctors of osteopathy.
“Use of formal titles in medicine and many other professions is a linguistic signal of respect and professionalism,” they added.
Students, read the entire article, then tell us:
Does anything in the article surprise you? Does any of the information echo what you have experienced with doctors or with other adults?
When — if ever — do you call adults by their first names? Do you do so automatically or only when asked? Have you ever been unsure about how to address an adult? How did you sort it out? The study took place in Arizona. Do you think manners, or the behaviors that are deemed polite, change from one place to another? How are most young people expected to address adults in your region of the country or world? Have you found that these expectations differ when you visit other places?
The study’s authors wrote, “Use of formal titles in medicine and many other professions is a linguistic signal of respect and professionalism.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
The article states that the study’s results show “‘a subtle but important form of unconscious bias’ against female physicians, general practitioners and doctors of osteopathy.” What is your reaction to that finding? Do you recognize that unconscious bias in your own behavior, or in the behavior of other young people you know? For example, are you more likely to use honorifics instead of first names when addressing adults of certain genders or those who hold certain kinds of jobs? Why do you think it is important to recognize this bias?
The article also mentions that some doctors prefer to use honorifics when addressing their patients, as well. Do you like when adults call you “Mr.,” “Ms.” or the gender-neutral term “Mx.”? Why or why not? The study looked only at email messages, not face-to-face interactions. Do you think the results may have been different if it had examined in-person interactions? Does your use of honorifics change depending on the mode of communication, for example talking to someone in person versus sending an email or a direct message?
