The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons is phasing out the use of sexist and elitist titles such as Mr or Ms, in favour of ‘Dr’.
The RACS says it will now adopt the title ‘Dr’ to refer to surgeons and is encourage its members to make this change in their private or personal practices.
The College says the use of the titles intended to distinguish between surgeons and physicians is an archaic and snobbish practice that does not have any relevance to surgical practice today.
“Surgery is the only profession that continues to use gendered titles in Australia and New Zealand,” said Dr Christine Lai, Chair, Fellowship Services Committee.
“Gendered titles can be confusing for patients because they create the perception that Dr X and Mr Y have different qualifications, despite both being surgeons specialising in the same field.”
“The gendered term somehow started to become attached to a certain prestige of being a surgeon and has carried forward to surgical practice today,” said Dr Lai.
Gendered titles could contribute to implicit bias against female surgeons, with many patients still questioning the qualifications of a ‘Ms’ surgeon, said Dr Lai.
“While overt discrimination is no longer legally tolerated, there is still a subtle implicit bias that can be perpetuated by gendered titles.”
“We are all doctors, and there is no reason for differentiate ourselves by including a reference to our gender in our title.”