씨? or something else? Meeting someone who has a PhD (Dr)!

[puduhepa5393]

Hi, I'm meeting someone on Saturday who has a PhD and therefore has the title Dr, not Miss or Mrs. Do I say 씨 after her name to be polite, or is there something special for Dr?

Thanks! ^_^

[trutherous]

Medical Doctor: name+ 의사님
Phd: name+ 박사님 (pak-sa-nim)

예 (example):
김 박사님 - Dr. Kim (Phd)
김 의사님 - Dr. Kim (MD)

[timandyou]

Thank you for your question.
George, thank you.
cheers,

Tim

[trutherous]

Thanks for checking the forums and staying on top of things Tim.

[puduhepa5393]

Thanks!! Would you ever use 의사님 after the full name, e.g. 김수한 의사님 ? Is it ok to say 씨 at all for a person with a title like that?

[manyakumi]

Thanks!! Would you ever use 의사님 after the full name, e.g. 김수한 의사님 ? Is it ok to say 씨 at all for a person with a title like that?

If you were not sure what to use for addressing someone,
"선생님" would be the master key.

We prefer to use 선생님 than 의사님 for addressing MD.

However,
You better not to use ~씨 when you were younger than the person you call.
It sounds kinda rude.

[trutherous]

Haha -- while I was typing Sean 선생님 beat me to it! Have to start calling him Dr. Sean

Would you ever use 의사님 after the full name, e.g. 김수한 의사님 ? Is it ok to say 씨 at all for a person with a title like that?

I have heard the title 의사님, 박사님, and 선생님 used after a full name, mostly when there is a possibility of confusion about which person is being referred to. For example, if there are two Dr, Kim s at that particular hospital or university.

I'd say take Sean's advice on the 선생님 thing, he knows best. I personally wouldn't use 씨 or other honorific title (e.g. 선생님) to address someone with a doctorate degree unless they were being addressed with a title for a higher position, such as the director (원장) of the hospital/wing/ward etc. in that case you might address him/her with the title 원장님. Another example might be a person with a doctorate degree who is serving in an high government position, such as ambassador (대사) then we could say '대사님.' I figure they worked hard for that degree or position and I want to respect that even if I sound a bit awkward.

The Korean snack shop I frequent is inside a market in a building with a lot of other businesses, and there is a regular customer of the snack shop that is a doctor of Korean/Oriental medicine, we could address him as Dr.Lee, but everyone calls him 원장님 because he owns the building.

Oddly enough, dentists 치과 의사 are commonly called '선생님' --I guess it sucks to go to school for that long and get a degree in dentistry only to find out you are not a 'real' doctor --maybe it's the pain they inflict.. I dunno

A great Korean drama to recommend here would be 솔 약국 아들들 -- there's plenty of addressing doctors in that drama.

[puduhepa5393]

Wow, thanks for all the detail! Really appreciate it. ^_^

I should probably say that I have a PhD too but she is maybe 8 years older than me. We haven't met before but we have exchanged some emails and both reside in England, so I am not too worried if I make a big mistake (I'm sure she is not expecting my Korean to be in any way perfect)!

So what I really want to know is - when I say hello how should I say her name to be polite?

[trutherous]

puduhepa5393 박사님 만나서 반갑습니다.

Above should be a hint as well as my greeting to you

George

[puduhepa5393]

Cool! Thanks. (^-^)

[timandyou]

"What a great work guys~~!"
Thanks for your question, puduhepa5393!"
(by the way, what's your name? what's your nationality? what's your Korean level?... )
(I am Tim from KoreanClass101.com and I'd like to know you better... (if you let me...))

"Thanks for your response, trutherous (영훈님), manyakumi (감독님)~~!!!"
Can't say "thank you" enough to both of you!!!
cheers,

Tim

[puduhepa5393]

Hi, thanks everyone for your help. Wish me 화이팅 for my meeting tomorrow!

Next week I am meeting a professor visiting from a university in Seoul... how do I address a professor in the same way?

[manyakumi]

Next week I am meeting a professor visiting from a university in Seoul... how do I address a professor in the same way?

OOO 교수님 or OOO 선생님 would be good.