Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)
These and many other titles are used indiscriminately in the martial arts and karate communities but what I often ask is, “Are they actually meaningful titles?” What I mean is to ask, such as the title Doctor, a title earned at least through education by the Doctorate Degree and in what subject matter or discipline such as medicine or the doctorate in philosophy, etc.?
Humans have a strong drive and urge toward status and that comes directly from our species drive toward survival. Status matters in the group dynamic and the group dynamic matters as to a collective with a fundamental goal of survival. Our species only survived these hundreds and hundreds of years because we had the capacity to collect together for strength of numbers and to collective work together to provide those survival needs necessary to continue the species.
Regardless, I cannot fathom why one would use a title just to stroke the ego and self-sooth one’s apparent limited diminished levels of self-esteem. Is it also about an inability to grasp the need to do the work, the effort to get-r-done over time and the discipline of hard work and sweat equity? Is it because our modern way of life is more about ego, gratification and ease of effort, i.e., the least amount of effort and cutting of corners to satisfy a egoistic need to please and impress others?
I have a degree, so what, it provided a means to show that I took the effort and did the hard work to gain a bit of formal education but in truth that degree only got me in the door to interviews and it was me, the person who is judged on character, personality and the ability to socially connect and communicate that got the job.
Yes, sometimes it takes such “EARNED TITLES” to get in the door especially since todays modern society has gotten wise to the false or paid for title and degree, etc., making the Bachelor’s Degree more in line with the original High School Diploma or the GED to show you at least completed the first twelve years of mandatory schooling. I remember an associate who would receive resume’s from freshly graduated Engineers who at one time would take the simple earning of said degree and interview the person. I also know that recently he said that such degrees now are given out and that the GPA’s associated are no longer valued as they were in the past and he wanted experienced people with the same degree to interview. He said if they have not gone the distance in the work environment of their degree, they could not get an interview. A two-sided sword of Damocles?
I felt that urge to have a title from my peer community of karate but I also felt a strong urge and need to warrant that symbol of effort, discipline and sweat equity in training and experience. Paying for it like many do or just making it up doesn’t seem - right somehow.
In a recent article on a blog a person was referenced as a Doctor. The background given even on the person’s web site was kind of sketchy resulting in my emailing for clarity - to date, no response. The person talked about completing a pre-med and biology degree, four years, but said nothing of either the medical school attended or the internship completion often necessary to be allowed the honor of being a Doctor. There simply was not even enough educational information to say, this person has a doctorate thereby warranting the title of Doctor. Yet, the person uses it on the site and in all his publications, etc., yet not with a PhD on the end but an MD and that means medical school for at least three years beyond the four years for pre-med and an additional set of two or three or four years internship necessary to earn the honor to use Doctor, MD. Even with a degree in biology you still need a PhD, at minimum, to use the title Doctor of Biology.
Anyway, I am still puzzled as to why someone needs to use such titles, possibly not valid, to inspire and mislead those who would follow his or her lead. After all, viewing the persons site along with other perceived abilities, since his site is exclusive to martial arts/karate, would have impressed me enough, and I have over forty years in karate and martial arts, to seek the person out for additional vetting toward accepting their teachings.
Ok, as my fact check efforts continue, I actually pulled up the place that awarded his degree and here are the lists of the Colleges that provide degrees:
- College of Arts and Letters
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Health and Human Services (Exercise & Nutrition Sciences; Nursing; Public Health; Social Work; Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences are the schools provided here)
- College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts
- College of Sciences (Astronomy; Biology; Chemistry & Biochemistry; Computer Science; Math and Stats; Physics; Psychology are the academic departments here) (Degree’s are: Bioinformatics & Medical Informatics; Computational Science; Environmental Sciences; Homeland Security; International Security & Conflict Resolutions; Math & Science Education; Regulatory Science are provided)
- Fowler College of Business Administration
- Weber Honors College
As can be seen above the actual programs vs. degrees don’t actually speak to a pre-med program, at least that is easily discerned by my non-medical and academic eyes (even tho I work at a major university in the IT department and who works with student systems, etc.). Now, there is another section in the academic listings that actually says, “Pre-med.” Here is the issue, it is listed under their “Preprofessional Programs” as Premedical.
Then I had to check out that program and another rub hits my skin with trepidation, the page that supposedly has the premed information now says, “Server Message: The page you were looking for does not exist, please make a selection from the menu on the left.” That simply takes me back to the above page with the list of Colleges above.
If I have to make a decision as to validity of the use of Doctor with the limited information provided I would say the use of Doctor, unless honorary and awarded as such, is not valid and should not be used without some validation and ability to verify. Add in that some of the Pre-professional Programs are there and some show the above message tells me it is not just some server glitch yet it may be … I went further to look at the majors available and could not find anything that said medical, biology yes, medical no. I also look for things premed, no.
Here is a list of anything that remotely indicates medical or possibly premedical: Kinesiology; Microbiology; Nursing; Nutrition; Physical Science; Psychology; Public Health; and nothing else.
My conclusion, the Doctor is not in and the person is not a Doctor until they come up with a more comprehensive and completed resume that spells out who, what, when, where, how and why they awarded the person the title of Doctor, M.D.
Nuff said, an example of what efforts are needed to ensure news is not faked. Know this, the ability to verify and validate titles and honors in the martial arts and karate communities is almost impossible, you have to be willing to accept those who say they are the governing bodies and that their requirements are valid and useful. Know this, none of them have the credentials some major accepted governing body would back up and validate like the educational systems or a government entity we all, as a society, would accept - guardedly.
p.s. Granted, my efforts are not exactly extensive as news sources should and must be but if my limited efforts barely pull out valid data and proof then something is hinky don’t you think? I may find that the good Doctor has all the credentials but has not provided them but I would expect at least a response saying where his degree for medicine came from, not some small island in the South Pacific either, and where they did their internship, etc.
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“In order for any life to matter, we all have to matter.” - Marcus Luttrell, Navy Seal (ret)
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