Is someone really a doctor if they use M.D. after their name. Is there a way to check if they are really an M.D. I don't see any certificates or that they've completed medical school, etc.

In the USA Doctors are licensed State by state. Inquire with the State medical board.

You can also look them up with your local Licensure Verification for any medical professional.

The following resource allows you to check your doctor by name for licensure in the many states:

AIM DocFinder (http://www.docboard.org/docfinder.html)

Thank you all for the good information. We live in California and my wife has been having permanent makeup done by a woman who has an M.D. after her name. According to the Medical Board of California (mbc.ca.gov), she can use the M.D. without being licensed as long as she attended medical school. Permanent makeup (cosmetic tattooing) is no longer regulated and anyone performing this procedure doesn't need to be a doctor -- it was required at one time. Sure confusing, though, since there's no way of knowing if she has been to med school, but she can still call herself Dr. ___ ______. Well, so much for knowing if you are really going to a doc, unless you do the research.