Glossary entry (derived from question below)
German term or phrase:
alt Landarzt
English translation:
former rural doctor
German term
France
Industry standard in pharma translation
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, Italian to English, German to English
alt Landarzt
In an ethics committee letter I am translating, one of the members of the committee is said to be an "alt Landarzt", like some are chief physicians and others are interns, etc. I have never seen this before. What would be an appropriate translation?
| 4 +11 | former rural doctor |
Thomas Pfann
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David Hollywood
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Non-PRO (1): Edith Kelly
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Proposed translations
former rural doctor
In Standard German this would actually be "Alt-Landarzt" or "Altlandarzt" (although in Germany it would be more common to say "ehemaliger/früherer Landarzt"). In Swiss German it is common to write the prefix "alt" (without connecting it to the main noun). Either way, the prefix "Alt-"/"alt" means "ehemaliger" or "früherer" (as in Altbundeskanzler, Altdirektor or similar).
See Duden:
"Alt-
Wortart: Präfix
Beispiele: Altbundespräsident; in der Schweiz gewöhnlich so geschrieben: alt Bundesrat"
Some more usage examples from Switzerland:
"Rudolf Stüdeli, alt Direktor VLP-ASPAN, gestorben
Am 12. Juni 2014 ist Rudolf Stüdeli, der ehemalige Direktor der Schweizerischen Vereinigung für Landesplanung VLP-ASPAN, im Alter von 87 Jahren in Küsnacht ZH gestorben. Er leitete die VLP-ASPAN vom 1. Januar 1960 bis 31. Dezember 1989."
http://www.vlp-aspan.ch/de/aktuell/rudolf-stuedeli-alt-direk...
"Bruno Bischof, alt Chefarzt Spital Wattwil, wird 80
Heute feiert Bruno Bischof, der von 1971 bis 1994 Chefarzt am Spital Wattwil war und die Geriatrie und die Kurzzeitalkoholtherapie begründete, seinen 80. Geburtstag."
http://www.tagblatt.ch/ostschweiz/stgallen/toggenburg/tt-ne/...
Und "Landarzt" ist vermutlich sowieso klar:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landarzt
| agree |
Inge Meinzer
3 mins
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Danke.
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David Hollywood
: was thinking the same thing and I think this is spot on
15 mins
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Thanks. Initially I was just going to write a comment to ask for more context since "alt Landarzt" didn't seem to make much sense. But then it dawned on me and research confirmed meaning and usage.
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Johanna Timm, PhD
: A+ :-)
31 mins
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Danke, Johanna. ;-)
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Andrea Garfield-Barkworth
: Nicely put.
1 hr
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Merci.
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writeaway
: or former country doctor
9 hrs
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Yes. Thanks.
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Harald Moelzer (medical-translator)
9 hrs
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Danke.
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Steffen Walter
9 hrs
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Danke.
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Ramey Rieger (X)
: It's a landslide!
10 hrs
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Indeed. And it all started with me thinking that "alt Landarzt" doesn't make any sense at all (never heard of it and, if at all, spelled wrong). So I learnt something new myself.
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Edith Kelly
11 hrs
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Dankeschön, Edith.
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Kristina Cosumano (X)
11 hrs
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Thanks. "Altbürgermeister" and similar phrases are common in Germany, too. But the spelling "alt Bürgermeister" is exclusively Swiss - this wouldn't be correct in Austria or Germany.
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| agree |
Tatijana Kostovska
4 days
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Reference comments
worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
Discussion
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altbundeskanzler
So, I guess you can use it for doctors as well;-)