1. The reason I used "mister" is because the three people I was
referring to (and actually some others who one or those three used as
references but who also panned out to not be what they were depicted as
being) were all male. I am sure there are women out there who also
misrepresent themselves but the ones I mentioned in this situation are
males.

2. It is NOT the lack of a higher education to which I object. After
all, my own final completed degree is also only a bachelors, and I
strongly believe in continuing to learn after leaving school.

What I object to is when people pass themselves off as experts and then
deliberately mislead people with misrepresentations. When that is done
then a person has to wonder what else the person is writing and saying
that is stretching the truth or maybe is even pure invention.

This is something I learned about the hard way. I will not say in what
list or what topic nor exactly when, but in a list and a topic in which
we shared an academic interest long ago a man became a distant friend
of mine. At least i thought he was a friend. Privately, in emails and
phone calls he gradually led me to believe that he was better educated
and had done more research than he actually had done. he also led me
to think that some work of other people was his (which is how I first
began to catch on). Then he sat back and let ME state publicly what
he has said to me about his own qualifications. That made it seem
like someone had verified him. No, I had not verified but had blindly
believed because I really did think he was a friend and I tend to
trust friends greatly. Well, he was just using me to help misrepresent
himself, and that is not being a friend. Since then I learned the truth
but stayed mum by choice because I figured at the rate he was going
either enough people would catch-on, or he would do some real work, or
both. I won't say which of those three things was what happened. BTW,
when he realized I knew the truth he bad-mouthed me from here to the
next geological era and then told people that i was bad-mouthing him
even though I didn't. Oh, well, live and learn, or live to learn and
learn to live... It all usually works out in the end, and I learned
an important lesson or three.

Should you want to refer someone as "doctor" just because the person is
in a medical field, whether the person's degree background is as having
a NON-doctorate in vet med, or in vet tech, or in nursing, or in PT,
or whatever then don't let yourself be used the way that I was. If the
person has not earned an actual doctorate ADD ON WHAT THE PERSON'S
ACTUAL DEGREE IS if you want to use the word "doctor" so loosely.
Otherwise, not only will people who find out better wonder why you
are "awarding" the gent a doctorate, but down the pike you will kick
yourself the way I kicked myself for being used. Sad to say, I have
still not fully forgiven that person for pretending to be a friend,
though I have made progress in that regard.

It doesn't matter how a person misrepresents in a major way, whether
it is taking credit for someone else's work, or pretending to have a
doctorate when there isn't one, or referring to award nominations (even
nominations the person made for his or her own work) when no award was
won, or... It is still a big misrepresentation. So, when you look at
CVs of some of the people who are making profit from what they are
promoting remember that when you encounter things like that keep around
not just a grain of salt to take with their writings, but a full
boulder of salt.

And THAT is the point: people who misrepresent themselves in one way
are too often misrepresenting themselves and their work in other ways.

If you look at the sites of such people who are making a profit from
their claims they sometimes try to cover their butts legally by putting
their CVs in hard to find places, like among recommendations, or in
other spots so they can say it is really is there for those who want to
look. So, do look. It takes a little while, but is well worth the time
to avoid being used.

And that is my gift to you to prevent you being as hurt and misused as
I was...

Sukie (not a vet)

Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html

[Posted in FML 5630]