title: The "doctors" will see you now: a pharmacist's take on the "Truth in Advertising" campaign.
abstract: In response to this growing movement of allied health "doctors," the American Medical Association (AMA) launched its "Truth in Advertising" campaign in 2011, which aims to pass legislation regarding use of the "doctor" title. As a result of this initiative, several states have enacted laws that require any nonphysician practitioners who evoke the "doctor" salutation with patients to immediately identify their profession. Although designed to prevent confusion among patients, this initiative is misguided, and we as pharmacists need to use our professional organizations to open a dialog with the AMA and address this issue.
authors.affiliation: Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA University of Miami Jackson Memorial Hospital, FL, USA djennings@nova.edu.
authors.forename: Douglas L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Jennings
mesh_terms: D000574:American Medical Association; D006801:Humans; D010595:Pharmacists; D010820:Physicians; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014481:United States
keywords: Truth in Advertising; doctor of pharmacy