is there a doctor on board? -- points for signing up, but how comfortable are you at helping out?

scott from hack my trip had posted about potentially getting better service using professional titles. in his post, he writes about how he changed all of his reservations to "dr." after he had graduated from grad school just this last year. he then talks about how there was a flight attendant who had given him extraordinary  service, and what felt like extra deference to him as well. the comments derail about whether he should have listed himself as a dr. with a phd, not an md. some suggested that it was misleading in the case of a real medical emergency. others defended his right to do so. i won't step into that one.

i've never personally felt comfortable putting my name as "dr." on any of my reservations or titles. partially, i continue to have that first year medical school imposter syndrome. to let everyone know that i have an m.d. seems too flashy for what feels like a giant accident in the medical school ranking process. i am still convinced most days that when ranking the candidates, they accidentally misplaced the decimal in my score. so it is because of guilt that i can't put the "dr." title in front.

i remember a flyertalk thread about being able to register as an MD for a one-time bonus on lufthansa. i couldn't find the thread, unfortunately, but a quick google search revealed lufthansa's doctors on board program. turkish airlines has a similar program. it makes sense for the airline to be able to have knowledge about who the medical doctors are on board in case of a medical emergency. by signing up for the program, you can still decline to participate in such an emergency (e.g., if you've already had a few drinks).

in the case of actually helping in an emergency, i know that my brother has received various gifts from air canada in the form of 10,000 status vs. 15,000 non status miles. i have yet to be on a flight where there was such an emergency.

and in the case of an actual emergency in the future, even after my medical residency training is over, i have decided that it will be unlikely that i volunteer my services first. i was on call last weekend and a patient on the ward had an altered level of consciousness. oh.my.gosh. it has been 2-3 years since i've done any acute care medicine, and 1-2 years since i've had to write the american medical licensing exams. i knew the basics but nothing more. luckily, the basics were all i needed to fix this situation. i also felt reassured knowing that there were other services that i could consult if things became tricky.

things never did become tricky with the patient; she was fine in the end. but i can't possibly imagine being in that tin can in the sky without any form of support for a patient with a medical emergency. i don't think i would be able to function. i don't think i'd be able to help. i think i'd be more of a hindrance if anything. let the other doctors on board take over. they can have the extra miles, and i won't end up killing someone in the process by accident. it feels like everyone wins this way.

(edit: that all being said, i assume that the basics for such a situation remain the same: assess, apply what you know given the scope of your training, then call for help if needed. and in a case like an airplane in the sky, calling for help is synonymous with landing the plane. which, incidentally, is what i'm sure the crew would do if there weren't a doctor on board anyway.)