On one hand you have pharmacist, dentist, anethsacist, psychiatrist, etc. One the other you have cardiologist, urologist, neurologist, etc.
Is there a rule for this, or just what sounds better? Could you have a neuralist or a psyciatrologist?
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Interesting question. -ologist still ends in -ist, so the only difference is the -olog(y) part, which simply refers to the ‘study of’ something. And since we know that doctors ending -ist definitely study within their field, I wonder where the distinction is made, or if there even is one.
Notably, re: anesthesiologist vs (nurse) anesthetist, the former have a doctorate but the latter can get by with a masters. Re: psychiatrist vs psychologist, the former has a MD and can prescribe meds while the latter is a PhD and requires additional certification to dispense meds. That’s all the notable differences I can think of off the top of my head, and some of those things may have changed over the years. In fact, it may be that differences between -ists and -ologists have changed or muddied over time. I hope you get more discussion here, or maybe try a sub like r/etymology?
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