Addressing fellow and attendings in the same email

[frankg1401]

I am a MS2, and I need to send an email to a fellow along with two attending physicians. In my daily interactions, I call the fellow by first name, and the attendings by Dr. Last name. But if I write: "Dr. Last name 1, Dr. Last name 2, and First name" in the same line, making the differential treatment obvious, would it make the fellow feel unhappy?

After some thoughts, I actually deleted the first line altogether. So now I am writing emails to superiors without even addressing them. Would this be a good solution or even worse?

Thanks...

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[SurfingDoctor]

If it is a formal email, why not address them all as "Dr." so as not to offend anyone?

Heck, I've been an attending for some time and unless I go and have beers with a colleague on a regular basis, they get the "Dear Dr. ..." headline. You never know how people can perceive the little things.

Another piece of advice, address people in the order of seniority, just like the authors on a publication.

 

[frankg1401]

If it is a formal email, why not address them all as "Dr." so as not to offend anyone?

Thanks for the advice. I thought about this, but it seems a bit weird to me to call the same person by first name sometimes, and then by Dr. Last name some other times, just because I was addressing him along with other higher ranked people. Maybe I was overthinking?

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Yes. Again, unless you are buddy-buddy with everyone on that email, address it formally. Even if I great friends with someone and not the other on an email, I would address both of them the same way.

 

[frankg1401]

Yes. Again, unless you are buddy-buddy with everyone on that email, address it formally. Even if I great friends with someone and not the other on an email, I would address both of them the same way.

That is sound advice. Thank you!

 

[Psai]

Yes. Again, unless you are buddy-buddy with everyone on that email, address it formally. Even if I great friends with someone and not the other on an email, I would address both of them the same way.

Op don't forget to say you appreciate their recs and thank them for allowing you to see their patient.

 

[Crayola227]

Thanks for the advice. I thought about this, but it seems a bit weird to me to call the same person by first name sometimes, and then by Dr. Last name some other times, just because I was addressing him along with other higher ranked people. Maybe I was overthinking?

You need to get used to doing this disparity. Emails in a professional setting should always be addressed professionally.

Another example, you are in the workroom calling the Joe. Still needs to be Dr. So and So in front of patients and staff (maybe not other docs).

 

[jw3600]

Op don't forget to say you appreciate their recs and thank them for allowing you to see their patient.

and thank them for the interesting consult.

 

[Affiche]

I thought about this, but it seems a bit weird to me to call the same person by first name sometimes, and then by Dr. Last name some other times, just because I was addressing him along with other higher ranked people. Maybe I was overthinking?

Meh, it's how you handle professional emails. I worked with one PI before medical school (I'm non-trad) who became a personal friend of mine, but I would always address her as "Dr. ____" in front of patients and in any email that involved a third person, but emails/texts/conversations that were private between the two of us were incredibly informal. It is what it is.

 

[mehc012]

Context always matters...if you and one of your colleagues regularly bro out on weekends, you're probably still not going to walk into the patient's room and, in front of the attending and your friend, greet them as "yo Chaz, what is UP bro?!" Chaz probably wouldn't be too appreciative of that, even though if you called him Dr. Broman on the weekends he'd laugh at you for being weird. Why? Because you address people the way they would prefer to be addressed in front of the person in the situation whose opinion matters most. Odds are, that isn't you...it's their boss or their client/patient. In this email, it's their boss. Address them accordingly and with respect (because it reflects on you AND him.)

 

[username456789]

It's threads like this that help me understand how professionally-stunted a lot of my colleagues can be.