New online form for veterinary surgeons to change their title to ‘Dr’
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has launched a new online form to allow veterinary surgeons to change their Register title to Dr.
Veterinary surgeons can make the change by logging into the ‘My Account’ area of the RCVS website (www.rcvs.org.uk/login) where they can access the form. Usernames and passwords for the My Account area were sent to all veterinary surgeons in February as part of the annual renewal process.
An email confirmation will be sent once the form is completed and changes should take effect immediately in the My Account area. However, it may take up to 24 hours before the title appears on an individual’s Register entry.
The use of ‘Doctor’ as a courtesy title was approved by RCVS Council at its March meeting, following a public consultation which garnered more than 11,000 responses. The majority of responses were in favour of the change.
Use of the title is optional and veterinary surgeons who choose to use ‘Doctor’ or ‘Dr’ should use it in conjunction with their name and either the descriptor ‘veterinary surgeon’ or the postnominal letters ‘MRCVS’. This ensures that they do not mislead the public by suggesting or implying that they hold a human medical qualification or a PhD.
