Daily AncestorPhysician
A physician was a medical doctor; in American records it is the standard word for any doctor, while in Britain it once meant one who treated with medicines, not surgery.
In North America physician is the general word for a medical doctor. The original British sense was narrower: a physician treated disease with medicines, as opposed to a surgeon.
The 1910 to 1930 census instructions use physician as the first example of a proper occupation entry. From 1920 enumerators were also told to add the class of practice, such as medical, osteopathic or chiropractic, so later entries may read physician, medical.
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Daily Ancestor. "Physician." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/occupations/physician. Last checked 2026-10-10.