The 4 differences between doctor and professor

The term “doctor” is controversial, as it is often misused in the social environment. When a person says “I am going to the doctor”, he is generally referring to a family doctor, but he does not necessarily have to have a doctorate.

Thus, the word is associated with the world of health, but there may be a chemical doctor, biologist, sociologist or political scientist. A doctor is any person who is pursuing a doctorate.

So a doctor can be a doctor if he is pursuing a doctorate in medicine and surgery (for example), but no if at the end of the degree and after completing the relevant stays he begins to practice as professional. Surely this linguistic error comes from English, because to complicate things even more, in Anglo-Saxon culture, every doctor is included under the term "medicine doctor" or merely "doctor".

Once we have clarified that a doctor is a person who has done a doctorate in any of the knowledge sources that offer it (it does not have to be a doctor), it is time to advance to the next step:

the differences between doctor and professor. Here we break down both terms and show you the practical distances between these figures.

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What are the differences between a doctor and a professor?

As you will see in later lines, a doctor (doctorate) and a professor are much more alike each other than a doctor (physician) and a doctor (doctorate). Stay with us, because although it may seem confusing, we assure you that you will understand perfectly what we mean by so much abstract terminology in a moment. Let's start with the differences.

1. A doctor needs a doctorate, a professor requires something more

According to the Oxford Languages ​​dictionary, a doctor is a person who has obtained the last academic degree from the university, after having defended a doctoral thesis. This great work is preceded by a training period known as a “doctorate”, lasting 3 years, extendable to a maximum of 5. If the person in question wants to complement his doctorate with another job, he can study it part-time, expanding the period up to 5 years (with a maximum extendable of 8).

On the other hand, The Royal Spanish Academy of the Language defines the professor as a professor who has the highest category in secondary or university education. Within the university environment, a professor is a person who has done a doctorate, has fulfilled certain requirements throughout his training career and has passed a selection test at his host university.

Let's keep things simple:

• Doctor: 4 years of university degree +1 year of master's degree + 3 years of doctorate + defense of doctoral thesis.
• Professor (of university): 4 years of university degree + 1 year of master's degree + 3 years of doctorate + thesis defense + 3 years' seniority as university professor + accreditation + proof selective.

These are the standard requirements in countries like Spain, but as we will see later, some professors need even more qualifications to reach this position.

2. There are different types of professionals in each category

There are different types of doctors, depending on the doctorate they have completed and the focus of their research. Let's see some of them:

• Doctorate in research: requires the defense of a doctoral thesis, based on original research with a normal duration of 3 years.
• Higher doctorate: it is the doctor who does a thesis to be a professor. This figure is established in Germany and other countries, but not in all.
• Professional Doctorate: Doctorates that align with a job specialty. For example, a doctor of physical therapy or dental medicine. These charges are typical in the United States.

In any case, it is necessary to clarify that a doctorate in research does not only encompass physics, mathematics or chemistry. The term "original research" can also be applied to sociological or political studies. Contrary to what people usually think, not all doctors are eminences in pure sciences: from philology to astrophysics, any field of knowledge that lends itself to original research is a candidate to generate a thesis.

On the other hand, There are also different types of professors, although the one that comes to mind automatically is the university in all cases. There are also high school and high school professors, although we are not going to focus our attention on these positions.

• You may be interested in: "The 15 types of research (and characteristics)"

3. It is much more difficult to be a professor than a doctor

Completing a doctorate is already a challenge in itself, as many students just out of the master's degree decide to embark on this project without any funding. If the novice researcher does not receive a grant from the state, he will not be paid during those 3 to 5 years that the training stage lasts. For this reason, only 1.1% of the European population holds this title.

In any case, reaching the position of professor is a much more difficult task. Below you will find the general requirements in Spain to achieve this status:

• To have been a university professor (or university professor). A university professor is a professional who has full teaching and research autonomy. He is a state official who teaches classes and at the same time investigates.
• Be in possession of a doctorate, that is, have completed a doctorate (in research).
• Have a minimum of 3 years of seniority in the university environment.
• Present an accreditation of the curriculum by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation.
• Pass the selective test at the destination university.
• Not having any kind of criminal record or problem with the law.

As you can imagine, very few people meet all of these requirements. Also, to make the process even more difficult, some fields of science also value the productivity of the teacher as a researcher when evaluating its validity.

For example, to be a professor specialized in Physics or Chemistry, the full professor must have participated during his period as a teacher in a minimum of 50 original investigations in internationally recognized journals international.

4. The tasks of both positions are very different

A doctor is a person who has carried out original research and, therefore, at the end of the doctorate is usually dedicated to research. Studies carried out in the USA show that 57% of doctorates remain combining teaching with research at their home university (full professors), while only 4% go to entities public.

In other words, a doctor can remain in the university environment and teach, but can also decide to dedicate himself entirely to research If you compete for a place in a public body dedicated to it. In Spain, doctorate scientists who do not continue in the university usually go to centers governed by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC). In these organizations, their work will continue to be to generate knowledge in the form of research.

The professor, for his part, is like a tenured professor who goes one step further. In addition to teaching and research spread throughout their working day, a professor must be in charge of various administrative issues that concern the university where he works. For example, they usually prepare university courses, hold lectures, supervise the professors who have their position, conduct research for other teachers, disseminate common findings, and communicate with other entities.

Resume

As you can see, the terminological hodgepodge that has formed between the terms "doctor", "physician" and "professor" can be clarified if we go to the baseline definitions of each of these professionals and the tasks that perform.

A doctor is a person who has completed and approved a doctorate, by defending a doctoral thesis. A doctor can be a doctor, but also a biologist, geologist, sociologist, political scientist, philologist and many other things. To achieve this position, they must complete 4 years of bachelor's degrees, 1 year of masters and 3 to 5 years of full-time doctorates.

On the other hand, a university professor is a person who researches and teaches in the environment university, but also directs other professors and manages logistical issues of the institution. A professor needs, in addition to everything mentioned in the case of the doctor, a specific number of years as a teacher, a minimum number of original research, an accreditation of your curriculum and pass an entrance test concrete.