Editing Doctor (title) (section)

===Asia===

====Bangladesh====
In [[Bangladesh]], use of the title of doctor (or Dr) is permitted for PhD degree holders and registered medical practitioners. For registered medical practitioners, only MBBS and BDS degree holders are allowed to use the title and be called "medical doctors".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/bangla_all_sections.php?id=1065|title=Bangladesh Medical & Dental Council Act, 2010. |language=bn |at=29 |publisher=Govt. Of The People Republic Of Bangladesh|access-date=16 December 2016}}</ref> Registered veterinary practitioners may use the title after earning a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree. However, registered homeopathic practitioners also use the title of doctor even though, according to the Homeopathic Practitioners Ordinance 1983, they are only permitted to use "homeopath".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/print_sections_all.php?id=649|title=THE BANGLADESH HOMOEOPATHIC PRACTITIONERS ORDINANCE, 1983 (ORDINANCE NO. XLI OF 1983). |publisher=Govt. Of The People Republic Of Bangladesh|access-date=16 December 2016}}</ref> Physiotherapy has no separate council and no act of parliament at present permits the use of the title for physiotherapist, but the [[High Court of Bangladesh|High Court]] has given an interim order that permits physiotherapy graduates to use the title, pending the formation of a separate council.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/physiotherapy-bangladesh-ailing-all-along-1991573|title=Physiotherapy in Bangladesh: Ailing all along|date=9 November 2020 |publisher=The Daily Star|access-date=15 June 2024}}</ref> According to the Bangladesh Unani & Ayurvedic Practitioners Ordinance 1983, practitioners of the Unani system are called  "Tabib" or "Hakim" and practitioners of Ayurvedic system are called "Vaid" or "Kabiraj"; both are prohibited from using the title of doctor.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/print_sections_all.php?id=645 |title=BANGLADESH UNANI AND AYURVEDIC PRACTITIONERS ORDINANCE, 1983 (ORDINANCE NO. XXXII OF 1983) |publisher=Govt. Of The People Republic Of Bangladesh |access-date=16 December 2016 }}</ref> Currently, medical practitioners having an MBBS degree or dental surgeons having a BDS are legally permitted to use Dr as a prefix; its use by other medical practitioners remains controversial.

==== Hong Kong ====
[[Hong Kong]] follows British practice in calling physicians "Doctor" even though many of them hold only a degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS or MBChB). An attempt by their professional body to prevent [[chiropractors]] from calling themselves "Doctor" failed in the courts, in part because it was pointed out that practicing chiropractors may hold an academic doctorate in their discipline, and it would be anomalous to prevent them using the title when holders of doctorates in non-medical disciplines faced no such restriction.

====India====
In [[India]], [[medical practitioner]]s are legally referred to as ''registered medical practitioners''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Registration of Medical Practitioners and Licence to Practice Medicine Regulations, 2023 |url=https://www.nmc.org.in/MCIRest/open/getDocument?path=/Documents/Public/Portal/LatestNews/DOC-20230514-WA0038_230514_120545.pdf |agency=[[The Gazette of India]] |access-date=21 May 2024 |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130192010/https://www.nmc.org.in/MCIRest/open/getDocument?path=/Documents/Public/Portal/LatestNews/DOC-20230514-WA0038_230514_120545.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The title of doctor is frequently used by qualified professional medical practitioners in the fields of [[Allopathic medicine]] (MBBS) and [[dentistry]] (BDS), as well as by other practitioners like [[Siddha medicine|Siddha]] (BSMS), [[Yoga as therapy|Yoga]] and [[Naturopathy]] (BNYS), [[Ayurveda]] (BAMS), [[Unani medicine]] (BUMS) and [[Homeopathy]](BHMS), [[Veterinarian]]s (BVSc) and holders of doctoral degrees, including [[PhD]]s and pharmacists with [[PharmD]]s.<ref>{{cite news|title=Pharm D degree holders can use 'Dr' prefix|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/69528007.cms|work=[[The Times of India]]|date=28 May 2019|author=Chaitanya Deshpande}}</ref> [[Physiotherapy|Physiotherapists]] (BPT) use 'Doctor' as a suffix accompanied by the prefix PT.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sarvgyan.com/courses/medical/physiotherapy|title=Physiotherapy|date=18 February 2022 |accessdate=5 July 2022|publisher=Sarvgyan}}</ref>

The usage by pharmacists is legally disputed,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.healthissuesindia.com/2019/06/07/supreme-court-could-hear-pharmacy-council-fight-over-use-of-the-title-doctor/|title=Supreme Court could hear Pharmacy Council fight over use of the title doctor
|date=7 June 2019 |author=Kerean Watts|work=Health Issues India}}</ref> while the [[Supreme Court of India]] has ruled against the use of the title as a prefix by physiotherapists.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/dr-dhruva-prasaf/physiotherapists-continue-to-put-dr-prefix-illegally-4559/|title=Physiotherapists continue to put 'Dr' prefix illegally|author= Dhruva Prasad|date=9 July 2019|work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Can physiotherapists be called doctors?
|date=30 August 2019 |author= Shipra Suman|url=https://www.shiksha.com/medicine-health-sciences/articles/can-physiotherapists-be-called-a-doctor-what-does-the-law-say-blogId-23049|work=Shiksa}}</ref>

====Indonesia====
The Indonesian titles "dr." is used in front of the name of medical doctor who holds a specification as general practitioner, also when the doctor already holds his specialization to ___, such as "Sp.THT" or "Spesialis Telinga, Hidung, Tenggorokan" (ENT or Ear, Nose, and Throat Specialist).

Dr. is used in front of the name as the title "Doktor" for doctorate title, the same level as PhD title.

====Pakistan====
In [[Pakistan]], the title of Doctor (Dr.) can be used by [[PhD]] degree holders as well as medical, dental, optometry and veterinary doctors with [[MBBS]], [[dental degree|BDS]], [[Doctor of Optometry|OD]] and [[veterinary education|DVM]] degrees respectively.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://tribuneonlineng.com/are-medical-doctors-against-optometrists-being-called-eye-doctors/|title = Are medical doctors against optometrists being called eye doctors?| newspaper=Tribune Online |date = 21 November 2019}}</ref> Usage by [[physiotherapists]] [[doctor of physical therapy|DPT]] degree respectively is disputed, with the [[Pakistan Medical and Dental Council]] saying they should not use the title, but the [[Pharmacy Council of Pakistan]] (the regulatory body for pharmacists) and the [[Higher Education Commission (Pakistan)|Higher Education Commission]] permitting and encouraging its use.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1198927|title=PMDC divests pharmacists, physios of doctor title|work=[[Dawn (newspaper)|Dawn]]|author=Asif Chaudhry|date=7 August 2015}}</ref>

====Philippines====
In the [[Philippines]], titles and names of occupations usually follow [[Spanish language|Spanish]] naming conventions which utilize gender-specific terms. "''Doktór''" is the masculine form, which retains the abbreviation ''Dr.''; the feminine form is "''Doktóra''", and is abbreviated usually as "''Dra.''"; others, however, some being [[English language|Anglophones]] who wish to sound modern and Westernised (or were raised in an almost exclusively English-speaking family environment), or some who advocate gender equality, would dispense with the distinction altogether. There does exist in [[Filipino language|Filipino]] an equivalent, gender-neutral term for the professional that carries the more general notion of "healer", traditional (for example, an ''[[albularyo|albuláryo]]'') or otherwise: ''manggagámot''. Contracted "Dr" or "Dr.", it is also used as a designation for a person who has obtained a doctorate degree (e.g. PhD, [[Doctor of Education|EdD]], DPA).

====Sri Lanka====
In [[Sri Lanka]] the title doctor "Dr." is used for PhD holders and medical practitioner such as physicians, surgeons, dental surgeons and veterinarians. However, when addressing in native [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] a medical practitioner is addressed as "Vaidya" (වෛද්ය) or "Dosthara" (දොස්තර) while a PhD holder is addressed as "Aacharya" (ආචාර්ය). It is a common practice for married female medical practitioners to use the title "Dr (Mrs)" in a both professional and social capacity.

====Thailand====
The usage of Doctor (ดอกเตอร์) or Dr (ดร.) has been borrowed from English. It can be seen as a title in academic circles and in the mass media. In contrast to other academic titles (Professor, Associate Professor and assistant professor), the use of Doctor as a title has not been recognized by the [[Royal Institute of Thailand]]. Therefore, this title, in theory, cannot be used officially. For example, in court of justice where strictly formal Thai language is used, Dr cannot be mentioned as a person's title.