13 Things Non-Fans Always Get Wrong About Doctor Who

9. The Doctor Is An Actual Doctor

The question of precisely what The Doctor is a doctor of has persisted for fifty years. Over time, references to his doctorate have ranged from merely "honorary" to a legitimately achieved academic rank, while The Doctor has variously described himself as a doctor "of everything", "of many things" or of "practically everything". As a general rule, The Doctor has aligned himself more closely with science than medicine and, despite his name, has often described himself as a scientist. He's never described himself as an actual doctor. The Second Doctor once mentioned that he studied for a degree in medicine at one time. It was never confirmed on-screen whether he actually attained a medical degree, although the Eighth Doctor did utter "physician heal thyself" as he was about to regenerate. There's also never been any on-screen reference to The Doctor having practiced medicine in the traditional (or any other) sense. Since the series was revived in 2005 it's been established that Time Lords choose their own names and that The Doctor chose his to represent the kind of man he wanted to be. So in a nutshell, all the evidence points towards the inconclusive conclusion that the Doctor might've started a medical agree at some point and may have completed it but probably never practiced medicine and probably isn't really a doctor of anything at all. Possibly... maybe.