Dr, Mr, MBBS, MD, MRCS: it can look like alphabet soup.
In the UK, titles and letters follow traditions that differ from other countries. This independent guide explains a few of the common ones, and how to check a doctor's registration on the General Medical Council's public register.
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.
MR a surgeon's old badge
Read the letters
Know the traditions
Check the register
Titles, explained
THE SHORT ANSWER
Different letters, different stories.
Three things that often surprise people. Each comes from a professional or official source.
MR, NOT DR
Why surgeons drop 'Dr'
Calling surgeons 'Mr' or 'Miss' is an English tradition traced to the barber-surgeons. After surgeons split from the barbers in 1745, the title came to mark completion of formal examinations.
At UK universities such as Warwick, the MD is a research degree on a par with a PhD, open only to people who already hold a medical degree such as MBBS.
The GMC's public register shows a doctor's registration type, licence to practise, GP or specialist registration and any fitness to practise history since 20 October 2005.
General information only, not medical advice. For advice about your own health, speak to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified health professional.
DECODE A TITLE
Which letters did you see?
Pick a title or set of letters to see what it means. The bar shows roughly how far beyond the first medical degree it sits.
Based on the GMC, the Intercollegiate Committee for Basic Surgical Examinations, the University of Warwick and the Medical Journal of Australia. General information only, not medical advice.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
A shared exam, a public record.
One number from surgical training, one from the GMC's register.
4 colleges
Surgical royal colleges sharing one membership exam
MRCS is intercollegiate: the same examination for the four surgical royal colleges of the UK and Ireland. Trainees are expected to pass both parts to progress to higher specialty training.
MRCS · ICBSE
2005
Fitness to practise history shown since
The GMC register shows any fitness to practise history since 20 October 2005, along with the year and place a doctor gained their main qualification.
THE REGISTER · GMC
The GMC also registers physician associates and anaesthesia associates. Where someone has been on both registers, each entry carries a note linking to the other.
HOW THE REGISTER WORKS
Four things the register tells you.
The GMC says anyone can search its registers to see a doctor's registration status and other useful information. Here is what an entry includes.
Type of registration
Which kind of registration the doctor currently holds, and whether they hold a licence to practise.
GP or specialist
Whether they are registered to work as a GP or specialist consultant.
Training and appraisal
Whether they are in further training, and which organisation looks after their performance and appraisal.
History
The year and place of their main qualification, and any fitness to practise history since 20 October 2005.
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.
WHY 'MR'?
From barbers to surgeons.
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.
The Company of Barbers united with the surgeons' guilds in 1540, at a time when surgeons seldom had formal qualifications. By the early 1700s physicians and a few surgeons had university degrees; the other surgeons were called 'Mister'.
When surgeons separated from the barbers in 1745, the title was kept and came to be seen as a mark of status. Female surgeons in the UK have traditionally been addressed as 'Miss', with 'Ms' and 'Mrs' now also used.
Questions
Questions people ask
Why is my surgeon called Mr instead of Dr?
It is an English surgical tradition. The Medical Journal of Australia traces it to the barber-surgeons, and says that after surgeons separated from the barbers in 1745 the title 'Mr' marked completion of formal examinations.
Does MD mean the same in the UK as in the US?
Not usually. At UK universities such as Warwick, the MD is a research degree on a par with a PhD, open to people who already hold a medical degree such as MBBS, and assessed by thesis and viva.
What does MRCS mean?
Membership of the Royal College of Surgeons. It is the same exam for the four surgical royal colleges of the UK and Ireland, and trainees are expected to pass both parts to progress to higher specialty training.
How can I check a doctor is registered?
The GMC says anyone can search its registers to view a doctor's registration status, whether they hold a licence to practise, and whether they are on the GP or Specialist Register.
Does the register show complaints?
The GMC register shows whether a doctor has any fitness to practise history since 20 October 2005. For questions about your own care, speak to the practice or hospital concerned.
