Hi everyone,

What is the correct way to title a medical (non-PhD) doctor in writing in Switzerland? I am looking at: "Dr med.", although there is "Herr Dr." is that reserved for PhDs?

Thanks for the quick response.

I'd say Herr Dr. med or Frau Dr. med if you know the gender, otherwise Dr. med

May I tag on to to this thread with a question that's been bugging me for a while?

When speaking with my medical doctors (Dr. med.), veterinarians (Dr. med. vet. or PD Dr.) and dentist (Dr. med. dent.) I address each as 'Doctor So-and-So'. This is how I would automatically address a medical professional of any stripe in the US. Yet I notice that most Swiss I've overheard speaking with the aforementioned tend to use 'Herr or Frau So-and-So'.

Have I been committing a faux-pas all these years?

Titles are not this important in Switzerland.
"Herr Doktor" or "Frau Doktor" with or without Lastname is OK as well
as "Herr Lastname" or "Frau Lastname". Only if the person insists on the title you are supposed to say it.

Some Doctors don't want to have their titles on flighttickets as they could be asked to help on the plane in case of an emergency.

In dealing with countless medical doctors last week I noticed this. In talking about each other they'd say Herr or Frau so and so. But in correspondence it seems that Dr med with or without Herr/Frau is used.

Could it be like in the UK where surgeons are not refered to as Dr but as Mr or Ms/Mrs?

Germany is probably a bit more formal in terms of titles than Switzerland, but I would do as Meloncollie does, and address them as Herr (or Frau) Doktor. For the sake of brevity, I tend to leave off the family name, unless speaking *of* them to someone else.

For correspondence, there are very clear rules:

* Anyone with a Dr. title should be addressed (in writing) as Herr (or Frau) Dr.
Note that the type of Dr. is not added, i.e. med. or med. vet. or med. dent. - just Dr. In writing addresses, the first line is Herrn/Frau and the second line is Dr. <FirstName> <LastName>

* If somone has multiple titles, these are used in the address, but only the "highest" title is used in the salutation.
E.g. Prof. Dr. Dr. Meier: Sehr geehrter Herr Professor Meier

* The title used is written out in full in the salutation, as long as it is NOT a Dr. title - this is abbreviated.
E.g. Sehr geehrter Herr Dr. Meier

* If the titleholder is a woman, the female form can be used. An exception is the doctor title, where the male form is the norm
E.g. Frau Professorin Meier, Frau Dr. Meyer

And a note....

If you write to a Doctor, they may charge you for reading your letter.
That's what happened to me.

Charged for writing a letter of complaint for losing a testicle.

Nice work if you can get it.

Thanks for the help, everyone.

where is the WTF! button when you need it?

just a sidenote: in German speaking countries, there's no qualitative distinction between Dr. med. and the other doctors (at least formally), like there is between PhD and MD. It's all Dr.

You can use the "med" or "jur" etc in postal addresses, but you in speaking will say "Herr Doktor" (in dialect "Härr Tokter")

You are not to use the abbreviation in talking or when writing to the person, and you do not address the person as "Doktor Meier" but either as Herr Doktor or as Herr Meier (Herr Meier only if you are personally acquainted with him). In case it is a women it simply is "Frau Doktor" (in dialect either "Frau Tokter" or "FräTokter") .