History Main / NotThatKindOfDoctor

* Dr. Zev Cohen from ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': "I am ''a'' doctor but not ''the'' doctor. My specialty is microbiology. Not first aid."

* Lots of characters in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', including but not limited to:

*** One of these creates an odd inversion of Not That Kind Of Doctor. During [[spoiler:the suicide mission, Mordin is a candidate for the Tech Specialist position. Try to use him in that regard, however, and he's guaranteed to die.]] ''I'm a doctor, not a [[spoiler: hacker]]''.

* Lampshaded, played with and kicked to death in ''TopGear'', of all programmes. Jeremy revealed that he had obtained a cheaper quote for insurance because he called himself 'Doctor', rather than a journalist - the two pay vastly different rates of Car Insurance. He ignored the other two's protestations that HONOURARY doctorates don't count.

Certain professions blur the line. A psychiatrist or forensic pathologist will necessarily have a medical doctorate, but their main occupation isn't taking care of people's cuts and sniffles. If they're suddenly forced to act like that kind of doctor--like, say, they're on hand when someone gets hit by a car--expect them to act awkward and unsure before they save the day.

* {{Inverted}} in ''TheSantaClause:'' When people refer to Neil as a doctor, Scott sarcastically replies "He's not a doctor, he's a ''psychiatrist.''"

* The [[TheDCU female Dr. Light]] started out as NotThatKindOfDoctor, being an astrophysicist. Then, she was later shown as That Kind of Doctor, working in a hospital and healing a fellow hero. Thus began her upgrade to OmnidisciplinaryScientist...

** Another episode has Carter, O'Neil, and Jackson step out of the Stargate to find a woman in labor. After Jackson says he's NotThatKindOfDoctor, O'Neil and Daniel look at Carter.

* Dr. Rodney [=McKay=] of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' is most certainly NotThatKindOfDoctor - he's an astrophysicist, and considers medicine to be no more scientific than voodoo, as pointed out in "Search and Rescue", where he has to [[spoiler: deliver Teyla's baby]].

** While Jackson does state the trope title verbatim, in this instance he's being confused with another type of NotThatKindofDoctor, not a physician.

* Dr. Mary Albright from ''ThirdRockFromTheSun'' has a [=PhD=]. in Anthropology, but Viki Dubchek, the white trash woman who's the daughter of the Solomon's landlady and Harry's on-and-off GF, thinks she's a medical doctor. The gag actually carries to the point where Viki asks Mary to deliver her baby, and ignores Mary's outright statements of "I'm NotThatKindOfDoctor", believing that Mary doesn't want to do it because she doesn't have medical insurance.
* ''{{CSI}}'': Dr. Gil Grissom is a [=PhD=] not an MD as he is quick to remind someone who asks him how to treat an animal bite. Although, as an entomologist, he's pretty good with bug bites.

* In ''Doonesbury'', Alex goes into labor while at a graduation ceremony surrounded by PhDs; those around her naturally start shouting for the help of a ''real'' doctor.

*** One of these creates an odd inversion of NotThatKindOfDoctor. During [[spoiler:the suicide mission, Mordin is a candidate for the Tech Specialist position. Try to use him in that regard, however, and he's guaranteed to die.]] ''I'm a doctor, not a [[spoiler: hacker]]''.

** In other words, not only is she NotThatKindOfDoctor, she's not actually any kind of doctor.

** PlayedWith, however--his knowledge of physics allows him [[TheIncredibleShrinkingMan to shrink down]] and pull off a FantasticVoyage to save {{Batman}} anyway.

* Dr. Ross Geller of ''{{Friends}}'' has that title on the basis of a [=PhD=] in paleontology.

-->'''Ross:''' Please. You're a doctor of gums. How did medical school go? Day one: Floss. Day two: Here's your diploma.
* Dr. Temperance 'Bones' Brennan of ''{{Bones}}'' is an anthropologist, and she is quick to correct anyone who refers to her as anything but Dr. Brennan.

This trope stems from a modern convention: in the past, "Doctor" had a purely academic connotation -- the word itself derives from the Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher". At some point, the word (in English, at least) began to shift from being the title of a learned person/a person with a doctorate to meaning the same as "physician". Originally, the M.D. was a doctorate in medicine, but in some places, like the US and Canada, it became the first professional degree. (In the UK and Ireland an MB [=ChB=] -- bachelor of medicine & surgery -- are the first ''undergraduate'' degrees; holders are addressed as "Doctor" regardless. While Surgeons -- which require a graduate degree, equivalent to a North American MD in length of education -- are only addressed as Mr, Mrs, or Miss in a form of reverse snobbery[[hottip:*:Historically, being a doctor (the equivalent to GP today) was considered a more upper-class and gentlemanly career than surgery, as they do not have to get their hands dirty. Most surgeons were simply working-class barbers. However when the modern era rolled around and surgery become a more specialized and prestigious line of work than ''mere'' doctoring, the surgeons refused the title of Doctor as a sort of passive-aggressive middle-finger to the snobs who denied them the title 300-ish years previously.]].) It is easy to see how the term "doctor" was slowly divorced from its academic roots. This has gone so far that it is common for it to be thought that "real" doctors are physicians... which brings us to this trope. And MDEnvy to boot.

** Also shows up in one of the show's CrowningMomentsOfAwesome, where President Bartlet tears a conservative radio personality to shreds. At the beginning of their conversation, he asks her what exactly her doctorate is in (it's English literature).
* [[MadMen Dr Faye Miller]] is not that kind of doctor, but her father has a heart condition so she knows the symptoms.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' has most of the main and recurring characters have Doctorates in ''physics'', with others in microbiology and neurobiology. The character Howard has a Masters in Engineering, which leads to plenty of jokes at his expense for ''not'' being a doctor. Of course there are a few occasions where people mistake their title as being medical doctors: "A doctor doctor or a ''you'' kind of doctor?"

* In one of dialects of my language 'physicist' meant physician. Nucleus shares the word with kernel. So when female presented herself as nuclear physicist... (given -- it was in time when nuclear physics what esoteric area of physics and 'no one' heard of it).

* Doctor Mother in ''Literature/Worm''

* Doctor Mother in Literature/Worm

--> '''Dr. Mother''': To answer your question, I’m a doctor, but not one that works in this hospital. I’m more of a researcher and scholar than anything else. And I came to make you an offer

* Chef Erin Burke, one of the founders of the Floribbean Cuisine movement in the 1970s, has two PhDs to her name: one in history, the other in biology, and indeed she worked as a college professor for a time. She also has a Bachelor's Degree in Culinary Arts, and these days prefers to be called "Chef" rather than "Doctor".

* In Booster Gold's episode of JusticeLeagueUnlimited, he comes across a woman giving birth and tries to pass responsibility to Doctor Simmons, who informs him that she's a physicist.
* There was a related exchange in an episode of the old animated [[TheRealGhostbusters Ghostbusters]] cartoon between TheChick and the PluckyComicRelief on an episode with weird weather. "Besides, we're not meteorologists. We are scientists." "A meteorologist ''is'' a scientist."

* Subverted in {{Archer}}:

*** In addition, physicians couldn't even become physicians without Ph.D-holding professors (Biology, Chemistry, and/or Physics knowledge needed for MCATs/Med school)

* DoctorDoom dropped out of school after his FreakLabAccident and then proceeded to learn magic and take over a country. He never actually finished his Doctorate. No one would argue that he doesn't deserve one, but he simply never finished the coursework. Ordering the [[{{Ruritania}} University of Latvaria]] to give him a degree (what the fanon suggests he did) doesn't count, even though the thesis defense would have been...interesting.

* Darcy in ''Film/{{Thor}}'' is a scientist interning with a team of astrophysicists, but is not very helpful to them, being a ''political'' scientist.

* Dr. Zev Cohen from VideoGame/MassEffect: "I am ''a'' doctor but not ''the'' doctor. My specialty is microbiology. Not first aid."

* ''Series/DoctorWho:'' In addition to the title character, River is a doctor (and, someday, Professor) of archaeology.

* In ThatGuyWithTheGlasses fourth year anniversary, ToBoldlyFlee, Sad Panda is named the ship's doctor.

* [[AustinPowers Dr. Evil]], of course, went to Evil ''Medical'' School, after spy school with Austin and Number Two.

* At the end of ''Film/IronMan3'', we find out Tony has been narrating the entire story to his impromptu therapist, [[spoiler:Bruce Banner. Who fell asleep halfway through the prologue. He complains that he's "not that kind of doctor," and he doesn't have the right "temperament." Tony starts again from an earlier spot, and Bruce immediately falls asleep again]].

* TheStinger for Film/IronMan3 has [[spoiler:Dr. Bruce Banner]] say the line verbatim to [[spoiler:Tony Stark, who has been telling the entire story of the movie to him as if Bruce were his psychotherapist.]]