Yes. Why? Well, the mandatory criteria are that any medical professional who is a doctor must have these very crucial items:
1) a medical doctorate diploma from a US medical professional school-mandatory
2) an active state medical license – mandatory
3) post-graduate training (internship, residency and/or fellowship) in a US teaching hospital-optional (yes, optional believe it or not, for those who graduated from a US medical professional school only) Mandatory for those who graduated from a foreign medical professional school and/or had post-graduate training in a foreign country and want to practice medicine/surgery in the USA.
4) Board qualification and board certification – optional for graduates from US medical professional schools. Mandatory for graduates from foreign schools and foreign post-graduate training programs.
5) malpractice insurance – mandatory
6) A DEA number: this unique ID number, which costs $551 to apply for, is good to prescribe medications for illnesses and injuries. The DEA number gives the authority to prescribe medications. The Drug Enforcement Agency of the US federal government issues this ID number and approves a doctor to prescribe medications.
mandatory
7) Medicaid and/or Medicare Number: this ID number is only given to those medical professionals who, in the professional opinion of Medicaid and Medicare, are considered doctors. These ID numbers are used for getting paid for any medical/surgical services done on patients who pay through Medicaid or Medicare.- mandatory
8) NPI number: This number is an ID number that gives a doctor the ability to file a claim for payment for any medical/surgical services done on a patient. HMOs, PPOs, HPOs, Medicare, and Medicaid all need this ID number in order to approve, process, and file claims for payment to a doctor. – mandatory
9) Be a provider with a managed health insurance carrier, such as Medicare, Medicaid, HMOs, PPOs, and HPOs.
mandatory
10) Take CMEs (Continuing Medical Education) credits to renew their state license. This is mandatory or else the license will not be renewed. Any doctor cannot earn income and be employed without the minimum of an active state medical license from the State Medical Board. CMEs are seminar courses that help keep the doctor updated with the latest knowledge and skills in their fields. – mandatory
Never listen to what politicians say. Only listen to what the State Medical Board, health insurance carriers (HMOs, PPOs, Medicaid, Medicare, HPOs) and the DEA says. If a medical professional does not have 8 to 10 of the mandatory items above, then that person is not a real professional medical doctor in the LEGAL sense!
So who are the doctors who have all these items? The allopath (MD and MBBS), the osteopath (DO), the podiatrist (DPM), the chiropractor (DC), the dentist (DMD or DDS), and the optometrist (OD).
That’s the OBJECTIVE LEGAL definition of a doctor in the USA: the 10 criteriia mentioned above in the LEGAL sense!
