To be honest, when I changed careers from writing about medical research to graphic design, I had to hide my PhD on my resumé; the only valued academic certificate in that field is an MFA. After the Twitter thread about Epstein, a lot of women on that platform, including me, put our credentials in our profiles. Why should we hide our light under a barrel, as a college professor I had used to encourage me not to do?

I hesitate when “actual” doctors, like radiologist Scott Atlas, write about fields they know nothing about, like epidemiology. Having been a medical reporter at JAMA years ago, I met many non-MD reporters who knew a ton about what they were writing about, sometimes even more than the doctors they interviewed. I hesitate when anyone, medical degree or not, PhD or not, writes about something they have no apparent knowledge in, and doesn’t acknowledge the limits of their knowledge.

As to Dr. Jill Biden, frankly, I encourage her to use Dr. in her role as FLOTUS. Our country should be celebrating advanced education, instead of denigrating it. I still think if she were John Biden, no one would be calling her “kiddo” and telling her not to use a title she earned.