@politifact: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers has challenged Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s medical bona fides in recent weeks, saying El-Sayed has misled voters about his credentials. “He’s not really a doctor,” Rogers said during an Oct. 8 debate. “He says he’s a physician. As a matter of fact, if somebody came into his office and he tried to treat that patient, he’d go to jail.” El-Sayed leans on his medical training in his campaigning to signal authority on healthcare policy. During the debate, El-Sayed pointed to his medical degree from Columbia University and said Rogers can “take it up with them.” El-Sayed has a doctor of medicine degree, which requires four years of medical school after college. He didn’t pursue residency and has never held a medical license in Michigan or New York. Because he doesn’t have a license, he’s not legally allowed to treat patients or write prescriptions. His degree makes him a doctor. Whether he is a “physician” depends on who’s defining it. Dr. Michael Genovese, the chief medical adviser at Ascendant, a rehabilitation facility in New York, told PolitiFact that state laws and professional organizations define physician differently. “Under the AMA’s definition, 'physician' refers to someone with an MD, DO, or recognized equivalent physician degree,” Genovese said. “So, the clearest way to think about it is this: all physicians are doctors, but not all doctors are physicians.” Click "Read more" for our full breakdown of the differences. #abdulelsayed #michigan #mikerogers #doctor #physician

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Wednesday 14 October 2026 12:43:15 GMT