Thread by @aroradrn

Over the last few months, I’ve been asked by a few overseas colleagues why UK surgeons are addressed as Mr once they become Members or Fellows of the @RCSnews @RCSEd or @rcpsglasgow

And discovered many surgeons didn’t know either!

Here’s a short explanation (thread) 1/x

If you have read the Hippocratic oath, you’ll remember the bit where it says
‘I will not use the knife...’
2/x

This was apparently taken very seriously until the last 300 years or so... and physicians, who were trained academically, treated patients, took the Hippocratic oath, and promised to teach others, were given the honorific ‘Dr’ (Doctor from the Latin Docere- to teach)
3/x

So until recently, there were Barber surgeons... barbers that would cut hair, had access to and were used to razors; and also lanced boils/abscesses, and did battlefield dressings. (Originally they were monks, but laypeople were also admitted)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barber_su…
4/x

In the 1540s, the ‘fellowship of surgeons’ who had an apprenticeship rather than scholarship model of training, merged with the ‘company of barbers’ to form the
‘Company of Barber Surgeons’

Which was the main group of surgeons for the next nearly 200 years
5/x

In the 1700s, there were increasingly internal as well as external pressures on the ‘Company of Barber Surgeons’ resulting in a split... in 1745

Into the ‘company of barbers’ and the ‘Company of Surgeons’

In ~1800 this became the ‘Royal College of Surgeons’ london.

6/x

The story in Edinburgh was similar- Barber surgeons craft guild around 1500; and a Royal College of Surgeons, Edin in the 1770s
7/x

In contrast, the College of Physicians, London was founded in 1518. And quickly received a royal charter.
8/x

Surgery remained a bloody, risky affair until after modern anaesthesia started

over the last 150 years or so, we’ve seen how in the public perception, surgeons have become more prestigious than Drs - most medical drama on television tends to focus on surgeons.

9/x

So from a mark of non-academic status, and being disparagingly called ‘Mr’;

‘Mr’ has become a status symbol for surgeons

And surgeons in the UK are still addressed as ‘Mr’ once they’re members of the surgical royal colleges

10/10

Please let me know in the comments if this made any sense...

@iceman_ex @browofjustice @MarkThomHudson

Of course, I’ve used the traditional Dr v Mr explanation

Female surgeons are addressed as Ms/Miss/Mrs

Apologies for missing this one!

I remember reading a Jack Ryan book in the 80s... probably Patriot Games, which got this wrong. Jack Fyan explained the Mr surgeon thing as stemming from the navy where junior officers are addressed as Mr

That’s the incorrect explanation