Mister or Doctor? What's in a name?

Department of Urology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW. Clair Whelan, MB BS, Basic Surgical Trainee; Henry H Woo, MB BS, FRACS(Urol), Urological Surgeon, and Clinical Senior Lecturer, Department of Surgery, University of Sydney. Reprints will not be available from the authors. Correspondence: Dr Henry H Woo, Department of Urology, Ward C3a, Westmead Hospital, Darcy Road, Westmead, NSW 2145. [email protected] The Medical Journal of Australia ISSN: 0025729X 5 July 2004 181 1 20-20 ©The Medical Journal of Australia 2004 www.mja.com.au The Profession – 90th Anniversary of barbers had given them opportunities for surgical practice, and “surgeons” at that time seldom had formal qualifications. Whether the two professions united for financial reasons or to bolster their numbers after the Black Plague of the 14th century is unclear. By the beginning of the 18th century, book asia. head urolo by co phon attain he “M tor T tradition of addressing surgeons as ister” or “Miss” rather than “Doc” is firmly entrenched in English surgical practice. This tradition is generally thought to have had its origins in the days of the “barber-surgeons”, after the Company of Barbers united with the various guilds of surgeons in 1540. The blade-wielding skills