Guyana suffers from a bad case of "doctoritis"

Guyana suffers from a bad case of “doctoritis”

Oct 19, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

In his letter “In support of Dr. Bhagwan on ‘Doctor’ Titles and Funding” (Oct. 9), my friend “Vishnu Bisram (PhD)” makes a fair point about academic pretensions. But his claim that “those with honorary doctorates (like Bharrat Jagdeo, Priya Manickchand, etc.) are also entitled to use it as they ‘earn’ it for their accomplishment” is astonishing — and frankly, misguided.

No serious university — not Harvard, not Oxford, not even UG — authorizes honorary recipients to use “Dr.” as a title. It’s an honour, not a qualification. You didn’t endure years of coursework, research, exams, and dissertation defences; you sat through a ceremony, shook a hand, and got a photograph.

Yet doctoritis thrives all over – especially in Guyana. Across the internet, one can buy a “doctorate” from quackademic factories for a few hundred U.S. dollars — no lectures, no reading, no research. Just click, pay, and presto: “Dr. So-and-so” in 24 hours! Or give a handsome donation from a relatively unknown/questionable entity and ‘ta da – you got that dacta thingy in front of your name!’

Several public figures — politicians, religious leaders, and other wielders of influence — are especially guilty of this self-anointment. It’s high time they be asked, respectfully but firmly, on what grounds they use the title “Doctor.” If their claim rests on an honorary paper or a dubious online degree, then the public deserves honesty, not hollow prestige. The craving for borrowed academic glory says more about insecurity than achievement.

Worse still, the disease spreads through polite society. Friends and admirers start calling each other “Doctor” — not from accuracy but from affection, flattery, or plain ignorance. Before long, the title means everything and nothing.

An honorary doctorate recognizes contribution, not scholarship. To parade it as an earned title doesn’t elevate the recipient; it cheapens the honour — and mocks those who actually went through the toil!

Devanand Bhagwan

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Devanand Bhagwan, doctoritis, honorary doctorates, Letters

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