Is there a polite way to correct those who omit my doctor title in a professional setting?

Giving a midwest US based answer... may not apply as well in other circumstsances.

I do think it's a bit petty to request the "doctor" honorific, and further seems quite silly to stress if "I literally don't want anyone to call me that, nor do I care if anyone actually calls me that".

Yes, I think that there is an underappreciation of clinical training for non-MDs(/DOs). I don't think that's really fixed by adding "Dr." at the front without causing some confusion among patients (some US states even ban those with doctorates from being referred to as "doctor" with patients unless they have specifically a medical degree), you'll just have people snickering about not being a "real" doctor, etc - I think it's the wrong focus and not really worth it. I'd have a stronger and very different opinion if we were instead talking about disparities in using the honorific for the same qualifications (e.g., the problem of dropping the "Dr." for a woman MD where it would always be used for a man).

If you're going to insist on something, I'd focus on the PsyD, PhD, or APRN-CNP sorts of letters instead. If I were personally doing the introducing of a speaker, I'd spell those credentials out verbally as well, e.g. "Firstname Lastname has a doctorate in clinical psychology"; for a research degree I might add the general subject of research as well if it were at all relevant. I think it would not be petty for asking that those credentials be listed in the future.

It can be dangerous for a PhD to call themselves "Doctor" in a medical context

Whilst your concern about the recognised status of your profession is valid, a countervailing issue in a hospital/medical context is that Dr/Doctor is used as an indicator that a person has medical training that can be used in an emergency. If you go around calling yourself "Doctor" in this context (when you are a doctor only in the academic sense) then there is a danger that people will call on you for medical assistance in an emergency, thereby wasting valuable time and possibly causing a death or other adverse medical outcome.

Imagine you're at a party and someone collapses clutching their chest and a bystander yells, "Is there a doctor in the house?" You would not pipe up and engage in a semantic discussion in that context. For roughly the same reason, it is probably reasonable to let this one go when in a hospital context. (Incidentally, this is one reason why I never select the "Dr" title when booking into a plane flight; if there is an emergency medical problem on the plane I don't want any of the attendants mistaking me for someone with medical training.)

There is a difference between being asked to be called "Doctor" in your day to day work vs. having your degree shown on professional training materials such as slides, agendas, or cover sheets.

While the former might seem petty, I wouldn't fault anyone who asked for it. No more than I would fault people who ask that others who don't know them personally address them as "Mr," "Miss," "Ms," or "Mrs." It's still a title.

But if your name is printed on an agenda, a slide presentation, or a cover sheet of printed training materials, it's standard practice to include your degree. That helps establish credibility to those attending the meeting who don't know you. That's not petty at all. That's an important part of any formal presentation. That helps establish the tone. Whoever prepared the material that was sent out, dropped the ball by either assuming you don't have a degree, by not asking, or thinking it wasn't important.

I am admittedly assuming that the physicians who are presenting do have their M.D. or D.O. degrees listed after their names on training materials. If that is not the case, then the style of this meeting is very different from what I'm used to, and you should probably disregard the rest of this post! Also, in the US medical field where I am from, only terminal degrees (and sometimes Masters degrees) are typically listed.

If I read the post correctly, you're not asking for anyone to address you as "Doctor." Just to include your degree in the printed material. And possibly to address you as "Doctor so-and-so" when they introduce you as a speaker. Again, that helps establish tone and credibility and isn't petty at all.

I disagree with the other responses that say it's dangerous to call you "doctor" in a medical setting. The actual degree shown after your name on slides or printed materials should be enough to make the distinction clear for this particular meeting.

What to do about it? I would ask the responsible person "Is it too late to include my degree on the slides/agenda/cover sheet/etc.?"

• Even if it is too late, at least the person who omitted your degree will know that maybe they messed up by not including it to begin with. That should also let them know what your preferences are for any future presentations.
• On top of that, by referring to "my degree" without actually stating what your degree is, you're also putting that person in the position of having to ask what your degree is. Which may help them realize that maybe they incorrectly assumed you didn't have a terminal degree, and that the professional thing to do would have been to ask to begin with (or research your credentials in some other way).

[Answer from an external angle, being Germany]

Your situation sounds very similar to a peculiarity of the German language which means that we've solved it for a very very long time.

In German we have "du" and "sie" both as a translation of "you". The first being colloquial, being used among children, teenagers and friends or colleagues (and increasingly managers & bosses as well) but between adults "sie", the more formal address is the default. It's what students address their teacher by, it's how two random adults (especially in formal settings) address each other until one "offers the 'du'" (if there is a hierarchy the superior has to be offering it), thereby deformalizing your relation (to some degree) intentionally.

It's not as strict anymore as I made it sound but I think it still very very neatly fits to your case: you have a valid claim to the default formal title of doctor (or as Bryan Krause points out maybe only PhD) which you may choose to waive in social interactions (though your behavior can, as it seems you wanted to imply a company- or station-wide waiver), but never, ever, would an official buisness email (unless it's restricted to a close circle that the sender knows you're all "per du" with) use the informal "you", especially not when some other people (of the same organization) are referred to formally.

Tl:dr: from a German perspective it's a noticeble fauxpass of the email writer to not at least include your PhD. Depending on what age and/or social group you'd ask demanding a correction may still be seen as petty (though some older folks would also consider it adequate). Simply asking for it to be respected in the future is very valid though.

Especially when there is (occasional/frequent even?) discussion/uncertainty about your (implied lack of) formal training, leaving it out in an organization-wide (plus more) invite to a presentation you provide (while others have their title included) is completely inacceptable and would be seen as a grossly negligent or an intentional transgression. In larger organisations contacting HR about it would be at the upper end of "adequate" response (and would be perceived petty by some) but would still be seen as reasonable by many.

Small note: Because we have this delineation of formal and informal addressation, titles aren't as important to a lot of people (because leaving out a doctor while using "sie" still definitely reads respectfully) but it still tracks, and when some in an email invitation had theirs included, omitting them for others (unless they're completely unrelated titles) would be a mistake at best.

It is not petty or inappropriate to request people use the appropriate title when it is appropriate to use it.

Fact is, a clinical psychologist in practice is very much a medical professional and should be treated like one, including deference to and recognition of their proven qualification and expertise.

The suggestion that a practising clinical psychologist "is not a real doctor" whether meant directly or as shorthand for excusing a shallow misrepresentation of how people act in emergency situations, is frankly offensive. ●

You are well within the bounds of professional courtesy to request the correct letters in front of your name (Dr.) and behind it (DClinPsych or the correct variant). This is especially true in the context of a presentation in which you are, at least presumably, the expert on the subject.

As much as the evidence for best practice stands on its own, the heuristic approach is still the default, and fronting your expertise enables the audience to know quickly how well they can trust what you say and why you are the person saying it to them - the foot in the proverbial public speaking door.

They may feel confused by your choice to not use it when it is still appropriate, but not necessary.

The choice to not enforce the title in casual or everyday reference is a different matter, but if it is desirable to have people be implicitly aware of the importance of the expertise, then it is important enough to have people be explicitly aware of the title.

This doesn't have to mean waving it around all the time. A simple understanding that you should be introduced as "Doctor Shay McGuire, in clinical psychology" on first meeting new colleagues and work partners, and always referred to as "Doctor McGuire" when clients are hearing it, is something you can communicate to those colleagues and work partners you already have a connection with.

How to communicate that preference, exactly, is better suited to Interpersonal Skills Stack Exchange.

● I have never heard of a recommendation or actual situation to be asking for "a doctor" in medical emergencies. Asking for "someone who knows first aid" or "someone who can handle X" is what gets the correct message across.

There may be a middle ground wrt. the colleagues:

I expect that the formal presentation involves slides.

So you could list your flavor of doctorate on the author information of the title page of your presentation. And you make sure that slide is already displayed when you are introduced.

If I understand correctly, you are also still rather new there, and this is your first such presentation? If so, that presentation may be a valid occasion to take half a minute and the first "content" slide to tell people who you are, professionally speaking. Where you got your training, what research you've done or potentially other professional specializations or special trainings and on which topic your PhD (or whatever flavor of doctor you hold) was.

Wrt patients, if you are introduced incorrectly I'd think it appropriate to take anyone who did so aside and tell them unambiguously that you need them to introduce you properly to patients.

For future situations, one way may be to include your degree in an email signature. This will inform of your degree without it coming across as petty, since it is rather common practice to put such degree and license information there.