a doctorate is included in a the professional degrees. For Ex: a JD(juris Doctor) is a doctorate and also a professional degree

A professional degree is generally a college degree that allows you to work in a certain profession. There are some types of employment that are not open to people without a professional degree. For instance you can’t be a doctor, a nurse, a physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner without obtaining the appropriate degrees first. In most cases, some fields require a professional degree before you can even be considered for hire in your chosen career. Further, many licensing agencies, may not agree to give testing or licensing to those who don’t have a degree.

Frequently, the professional degree is a master’s level or doctorate degree. There are a few professional degrees that require only bachelor’s degree training, and even a couple that require only an Associate of Arts or Sciences(A.A. or A.S.) degree, essentially two years in college. Typically, most professional degrees will require a fairly extensive education. Some require training after education is finished in order to become licensed.

The professional degrees that require doctorate level training include the following:

* MD or medical doctorate
* DO or Doctor of Osteopathy
* JD or Juris Doctor
* Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
* Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)
* PhD in fields like psychology or pharmacology

Professional degrees include M.D, J.D., Pharm.D., Psy.D., M.Div., M.Ed., etc.