What is a physician? 

The Concise Oxford Dictionary’s definition of a physician is: ‘n. 1. a.person legally qualified to practise medicine and surgery b. a specialist in medical diagnosis and treatment c. any medical practitioner 2. a healer (“work is the best physician”)’.

Physicians are specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions. They are trained in acute (internal) medicine and/or one of the 26 specialities (such as cardiology, neurology or oncology). Physicians carry out a range of investigations and procedures (such as biopsies and endoscopies) give advice, and prescribe a variety of treatments from simple drugs to more complex regimes such as stem cell (bone marrow) transplants. They are not surgeons and do not perform operations.

Do the public understand the word ‘physician?’

In October 2007, the RCP commissioned social research company Ipsos Mori to survey a representative sample of the public on their understanding of the word ‘physician’.

The ‘What is a physician?’ survey took place shortly before the RCP’s annual survey on ‘Trust in professions’ which compares public trust in different professions. The full 2007 report on both surveys can be found at:

  • The full report

For further information on the RCP’s work on trust in the medical profession:

  • Medical professionalism

The results

Over three-quarters of people know what a physician is

When adults were asked what they understood by the term ‘physician’:

  • Seven in ten people (69%) spontaneously said a physician is a doctor
  • One in ten (10%) said that they are GPs
  • One in twelve (8%) that they are hospital doctors.

All these descriptions of a physician are correct. Combining the mentions of these three categories (and excluding any overlap) reveals that 77% of adults are aware that a physician is either a doctor, a GP or and a hospital doctor.

However, 6% incorrectly said that a physician is a surgeon while 2% erroneously feel it is someone who has studied, taught or has a degree in physics. In total, 7% gave one or both of these incorrect answers.

What does a physician do?

When respondents were asked what they think a physician does:

  • Two in five (40%) simply said a physician is a doctor
  • One in three said it is someone who practices medicine.
  • One in twelve, were more specific - saying that a physician is a hospital doctor (8%) or consultant (7%). A tiny proportion said that it was someone who conducts or carries out research (2%).

      • All these descriptions for a physician are correct. A small proportion gave answers which could also be deemed as correct such as, a physician conducts or carries out research, teaches medicine and only deals with non-surgical medicine.

      Are physicians surgeons?

      In order to probe the general public further about their knowledge of physicians, half the respondents were asked whether they believe physicians are doctors, GPs and/or surgeons or not:

      • Four in five adults said that physicians are doctors.
      • However, 1 in 5 either says they are not or that they do not know.
      • Almost seven in ten (69%) said that GPs are physicians.

      However, one in three incorrectly believe that physicians are surgeons (37%).

      Half of the respondents were probed on whether they think a physician is another type of doctor, a scientist or someone who has a degree in physics. Almost three in four respondents (72%) mentioned that a physician is another type of doctor.

      This large percentage perhaps indicates that people are unsure as to what type of doctor a physician really is. One in three (34%) say a physician is a scientist. However, one in five (19%) incorrectly say that a physician has a degree in physics - indicating that there is some confusion over the word.

      All those who mentioned that a physician is another type of a doctor were then further probed and asked what they understood by the term ‘physician’.:

    • One in four were able to correctly pinpoint that a physician is a non-surgical doctor of medicine
    • One in seven say physicians are GPs
    • One in ten that they are specialists or experts in a particular field.

        TABLE 1 – WHAT IS A ‘PHYSICIAN’?

        Q1. What, if anything, do you understand by the term ‘physician’?

        Base: All respondents who mention that a physician is another type of doctor (738)

        %

        Doctor/Doctor of medicine (non-surgical)/qualified doctor

        26

        GP/General Practitioner

        15

        A specialist/expert in the field

        9

        A surgeon/does operations

        6

        Diagnoses/treats medical/physical problems

        6

        Hospital doctor

        4

        A consultant

        3

        Higher/More than a doctor

        1

        Medical/research

        1

        Mental health/Psychological doctor

        1

        Works with bones and muscles

        1

        Scientific doctor

        1

        Belongs to the Royal College of Physicians

        *

        Diet/Nutrition based

        *

        Other

        2

        None of the above

        *

        Don’t know

        29

        Source: Ipsos MORI