[quote]
Doctors it seems have really made it up the tree
when they become consultants and are then now by
the prefix MR (no sexism intended ladies).
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Surgeons, rather than consultants, revert to Mr. by tradition once they qualify - in the dim and distant past a surgeon did not do a degree in medicine. However, at least in the UK, calling a person with a batchelor's degree in medicine 'Doctor' is actually an honourific (much like calling the chap in the left hand seat Captain), and so a surgeon is not actually giving anything up - he or she doesn't actually have the title in the first place. An actual medical Doctorate is a postgraduate degree taken by medics who already hold a batchelor's degree in medicine and, I think, surgery.