Virgil's Aeneid is, of course, Roman but rarely can a major work have been taken more directly from much older sources, in this case Homer's Illiad. The link is completely intentional, the upstart Roman empire "needed" a root in the old Grecian civilisation. Yet apparently Virgil hiself was rather unhappy with his "masterpiece."

Ah... the "Dr." title... It irks me. In America, physicians have monopolized the use of the term, and paradoxically they are probably the only "doctors" out there who do not need to write a doctoral dissertation to be called so. I insist in calling them "physicians".

Furthermore, the use of "doctor" when dealing with patients puts distance between physicians and their clients. (I hate the term "patient" too, which means that you have to be passive and obedient when dealing with The Doctor.) Physicians should introduce themselves as "Hello, I am Mike/Susan/fill-in-the name, and I will try to help you feel better, if that is okay with you." That would improve communication with only positive outcomes, but "doctors" like to impose hierarchy and keep the upper hand in dealing with the "patient".

As always, a well reasoned and convincing argument. Both my Mom and my Sister were nurses and they couldn't stand doctors. Apparently they are even more condescending when you work with them.

Nowadays, there's an entertaining phenomenon known as "Internet-inspired Doctor Harrassment."

I did it myself not a week ago.

Here's how to play:

1. Research what might be wrong with you.

2. See your doctor.

3. When your doctor starts acting like he's "in charge" of your case, start peppering him with questions.

protip: this doesn't work unless you actually do good research and know what you're talking about.

How do you know if you've succeeded?

Every time you leave your Doctor, he/she will say "The most important thing to remember is stop reading the internet."

Finally,

I have a dentist who politely but firmly insists on being called by his first name.

You're actually never off duty are you?

I don't know what to say about Dr Who and Dr Seuss! The Daleks are awesome, though. "Exterminate!"

<OCF> Good point... which reminds me of another one of my pet peeves.

The overwhelming majority of times that people see a doctor, they are not saving anyone's life. They are just providing some help to improve people's (strictly biological) quality of life, hopefully extending life spans, but so do potable water, good nutrition, a good job, a clean environment, low levels of stress, exercise, a supportive network of friends/family/community/church, etc.

The overwhelming majority of times doctors do not save lives in any clear way, and I would venture to say that saving a life in a clear way (emergency! here's the doctor! life saved!) is probably a rare occasion for the large majority of doctors (exception made of ER doctors, military doctors, and few others).

When this happens, when a doctor saves a life, I think it is a most respectable and noble thing. Yet, 1) with few exceptions they are paid very handsomely to do this, and 2) they run no risk whatsoever of injury to themselves.

When a fireman goes into a building on fire and saves someone, that is heroic. The fireman puts himself at risk. Same can be said for the police officer who gets into a shootout. Those people are saving lives while putting their own at risk, and they are not exaclty paid handsomely to do so.

I really have no problem calling a physician doctor, and I surely do so, but it annoys me when they downgrade me to "Mr. Sana", which seems to happen often as soon as I step in a doctor's office. And they know what I do for a living, since they know your demographic info right away. That suggests to me that they love to impose hierarchy.

My experience with the Vanderbilt Medical Center, however, has been quite nice. One of their physicians called me professor right away. My dentist does the same.

Korchnoi vs Spassky, 1956.
YOU ARE PLAYING THE ROLE OF KORCHNOI.
Your score: 63 (par = 55)