Problem in translation of acronyms edit

I am trying to translate this in Italian wikipedia, but there are some abbreviations i don't understand. E.G. "Ph. D" ; also i am not 100% sure about "M D" (master degree??) please, can anybody tell me the whole words behind the acronims? (Italian or English). Please contact me in my page of discussion (clic on the " + " near the word "modifica" and write normally, italian or english). thanks! -- Francescost 22nd/05/2008