Dr. Oz, Secretary Oz or the Wizard of Oz?

Television personality Dr Mehmet Oz has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump Jr to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The position will oversee Medicare and Medicaid services, as well as plans under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Here's what you should know about him.

If Mehmet Oz is confirmed by the Senate, how will the press and other government officials refer to him? I wonder since:

1. These days everyone wants to be called the doctor in medicine
2. Maybe we should refer to him as Provider Oz, sort of like when you are called comrade Oz, since that's what most medical doctors are called now.
3. There are many doctors in the US Congress. How many can you name and why doesn't Wolf Blitzer refer to them as "Doctor" instead of "Congress person", unless he's talking to Sanjay Gupta?
4. Being a media doctor, like Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz, is a better media fit. They certainly make a lot more money than seeing patients, even if you are a cardiothoracic surgeon.
5. Many people think that if you have an MD, DO, or other medical degree that you are no longer a "real doctor" is you stop practicing medicine to do something else.
6. If you are in a non-clinical career, it's not like you have to appear before your state board of medical examiners where they tear off your epaulettes and make you give back that white coat the Dean gave you the first day of medical school and make sure it's laundered for the first time.
7. Medical doctors are losing the branding wars so what difference does it make what they call them
8. You have to tread lightly when the President's wife has a PhD
9. There are more "doctors" due to scope of practice creep and terminal degree escalation in pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and audiology
10. There are so many faceless sick care bureaucrats hiding behind the curtain, maybe the good doctor should be called the Wizard of Oz

The phrase “what’s in a name?” literally asks a question: what significance or intrinsic value does a name hold? This can be applied to anything, from people’s names to the names of objects or concepts. It suggests that a thing’s true nature or value is independent of its name. A rose, for example, would smell just as sweet regardless of what we call it. This highlights the limitations of language and emphasizes the importance of looking beyond superficial labels.

It depends on whether you are a Capulet or a Montague, practiced Blue medicine or Red medicine, or work as a FoxDoc or on CNN.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs on Substack