Sir, – I am in full agreement with your correspondent Joseph Terry (Letters, July 26th) who is critical of academics "who cite their position when writing outside the expertise that justified their appointment".
Indeed I often wonder about the appropriateness of the prefix “Dr”, used by some of your correspondents – and included by you Sir – when you publish their letters. What is the point of this? Is it to suggest some special form of insight or expertise arising from the title? Surely it would be far more appropriate if it came in the form of, for example, PhD, DD, or DSc after the name, which might indicate to your readers the nature of the qualification that merits such a prefix, if not the extent of the “expertise”.
If used by a correspondent who holds a Bachelor’s degree in medicine, but for whom custom allows use of the prefix, let that be clear also.
And please correspondents, do not use the prefix at all if it is not appropriate to your topic. Let the points you are making stand or fall on their merits.
– Yours, etc,
PATRICK O’KEEFFE
Portlaoise,
Co Laois.