Addressing physicians/residents

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Do most residents call their attendings Dr. So-and-so or go by a first name basis? Likewise, do most young/new physicians (who have just finished residency) call more seniors physicians "Dr. ____"? What about physicians meeting each other for the first time? I'm just curious how people in the medical field like to address each other.

 

[officedepot]

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[typhoonegator]

When I was a resident, the only person in my department I called Dr. _______ was my department chair. Everyone else insisted that I call them by their first name. Senior people in other departments, particularly surgeons, I always called Dr. _______. That's at Harvard hospitals, though, and it varies from place to place.

Once you're an attending, you can choose whether or not you are still going to call senior people by their title. It shows respect, but you need to be careful that you don't appear too meek and deferential.

 

[jace's mom]

I always call attendings and residents Dr. _________ until instructed otherwise. All but one resident has asked to be called by their first name right away, but I've never had an attending ask me to use his or her first name.

And agree with above - in front of the patient, everyone is called by the correct title.

 

[SlickNickMD]

I call all attendings and residents Dr__________. With interns it depends, I call interns I'm not familiar with Dr______ but I'm on a first name basis with most interns I've worked directly with this year.

 

[bassvp]

One of our RNs is in an NP program. He/she's rotating in our hospital and wearing a long, white coat and calling all the physicians by their first names. Kinda rubs me the wrong way.
</tangent>

 

[Skinceutical]

I call all attendings and residents Dr__________. With interns it depends, I call interns I'm not familiar with Dr______ but I'm on a first name basis with most interns I've worked directly with this year.

Why are you drawing a rather arbitrary and artificial distinction between interns and residents? In the grand scheme of things, there isn't much of a difference in terms of where they fall on the totem pole.

In any case, the only people more obnoxious than residents who insist on students referring to them as "Dr." are the ones who introduce themselves to other residents as "Dr."

 

[ensuii]

I've never called an attending by their first names, even newly minted ones. I usually try to refer to residents by Dr. unless instructed otherwise as I've experienced some instances where residents really did not like being referred to by their first name by medical students.

 

[Skinceutical]

...I've experienced some instances where residents really did not like being referred to by their first name by medical students.

Just out of curiosity, were those residents American graduates, or people who trained abroad? At least in my experience, only residents who attended medical school in India and the like tend to harp on these things.

On the very first day of my first rotation as an MS3, I initially addressed my intern and resident as "Dr." and was told that was completely unnecessary and that I never needed to do that again. That said, virtually all of the residents our university hospital were American MDs. As a resident, I've rotated through hospitals with more IMG residents, and from what I've seen, they're the ones who have their students calling them "Dr." and introducing themselves to me as "Dr." as well. Perhaps hospital culture is just more formal in Asia? Who knows?

 

[nitemagi]

The typical rule is you can call someone within 1 step by their first name.
Med student -->resident
resident-->attending
Attending-->Chair

But med student -->Attending is a no no

Or resident -->chair.

At least in my experience.

 

[ensuii]

Just out of curiosity, were those residents American graduates, or people who trained abroad? At least in my experience, only residents who attended medical school in India and the like tend to harp on these things.

On the very first day of my first rotation as an MS3, I initially addressed my intern and resident as "Dr." and was told that was completely unnecessary and that I never needed to do that again. That said, virtually all of the residents our university hospital were American MDs. As a resident, I've rotated through hospitals with more IMG residents, and from what I've seen, they're the ones who have their students calling them "Dr." and introducing themselves to me as "Dr." as well. Perhaps hospital culture is just more formal in Asia? Who knows?

Every instance I can recall involves American graduates. Normally I don't feel as if things like this ever get out of hand but the worst situation I've ever encountered was a few months ago (I'm not sure if I should mention specific institution or what service I was on) where I happened to be around a MS3 who referred to his PGY2 by his first name and the PGY2 made some negative comment to the attending about respect and such. The attending replied that the MS3 was probably just accustomed to referring to residents in such a way and I don't think anything was ever made of it. I was a visiting student at the time so I don't really know what the norm at that particular institution was...of course the resident could have just been having a really bad day. 😛

 

[pkwraith]

I will call everyone above me Dr. initially. If they say "Call me XXX", I'll do it. Usually, most people tell me to call them by their first name, but I don't make any assumptions before.

 

[colbgw02]

I am junior staff at a teaching program, and I can tell you that the residents call me Dr. X even after I explicitly instruct them not to. Similarly, there are a handful of senior staff that I will always call Dr. Y. Otherwise, it's first names only, except in a formal setting, like during a lecture, for example.

 

[colbgw02]

Also, as others have indicated, start formal and adjust accordingly. My boss pointed out to me (correctly, I believe) that formality can be a barrier to communication. Accordingly, residents really should go by first names with medical students. If they insist on the title, then take that as a marker of their overall dooshiness. And, by the way, not correcting you when saying "doctor" is different than insisting on the title. Often times the former is a function of unfamiliarity or even apathy, rather than hubris.

 

[TACMON]

I've found that most residents go by first name basis, even the chief resident who I interact with. But it's a person-to-person preference. Best to start out formal.

 

[Kevin Baker]

If in front of a patient, the term Doctor So and So is always used. It doesn't matter if it is a resident or an attending. In my experience, if you're a medical student, one is introduced as a student and if a patient refers to you as a doctor you aren't supposed to correct them. But the residents and attending won't refer to you as doctor and generally refer to you via your first name, though I've read Mr./Mrs used.

If not in front of a patient, it depends on what the person likes to be called. Most attendings I've met want to be called Dr So and So if they are in a professional setting. If this is a lab setting or a nonprofessional setting, first name basis is possible but it is best to default to formality unless explicitly told to refer to them on a first name basis. Most residents/interns I've met go by first names and I lazily default to this.

 

[K31]

When talking to patients, I always refer to any physician, resident or attending, as "Doctor." When not in front of patients, in my experience the residents always want to be on a first-name basis with the students--my impression is this may vary by the region of the country. Always "Doctor" with faculty in a clinical setting.

In a research setting, it is obviously more relaxed, although interestingly the only MD (actually MD/PhD) faculty member that I'm on a first name basis with is my PhD advisor. I use first names with plenty of PhD faculty though--not quite sure what to make of that.

 

[vandyam]

Most of the attending I work with go by their first name to all staff. Same with the resident. Although this is in an ED, which tends to be much more laid back and team-oriented. Most exceptions include those with funny/unusual/cool last names, older attendings who are more conservative, or douches.

When you are first meeting someone, do not make assumptions. Always call them Dr ____. It's just polite, and you don't want to rub someone the wrong way.

 

[Bacchus]

It's just a respect thing. Until instructed otherwise, Dr. ______ is the way to go. Now I wish I could remember this 100% of the time in front of patients. I've referred to residents a few times by their first names. Patients didn't seem to catch on as long as I didn't repeat it, ha.

 

[45408]

I call all of my attendings Dr. Doctor. The only attendings that I don't do that with are the ones that I knew as a resident, and I'm already used to calling them by their first name.

 

[VisionaryTics]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqBPOWpOg0o[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Smurfette]

I call all of my attendings Dr. Doctor. The only attendings that I don't do that with are the ones that I knew as a resident, and I'm already used to calling them by their first name.

That's how I did it in residency too. It is not standard in most places for residents to address attendings by their first names. What I hated in residency was interns on consulting services calling themselves "Dr. Intern" rather than by their first name with me on the phone. Tools.

Oddly, now in PP, some other attendings have never introduced themselves to me by their first name. Or if they did, I don't remember it (the first week was a blur of new faces). Some of them, I have no idea how they prefer to be addressed (i.e. their first names are long or odd, and I don't know if they go by a nickname or not). Can be awkward to get their attention.

 

[45408]

That's how I did it in residency too. It is not standard in most places for residents to address attendings by their first names. What I hated in residency was interns on consulting services calling themselves "Dr. Intern" rather than by their first name with me on the phone. Tools.

Oddly, now in PP, some other attendings have never introduced themselves to me by their first name. Or if they did, I don't remember it (the first week was a blur of new faces). Some of them, I have no idea how they prefer to be addressed (i.e. their first names are long or odd, and I don't know if they go by a nickname or not). Can be awkward to get their attention.

I'd prefer it if you prefaced your posts with "Dr. Prowler," thanks.

😀 it does crack me up when one of the PGY3 medicine residents calls our PGY5 surgery chief and introduces themself as Dr. Important. Or the newly minted hospitalists who were residents a few months ago, and the PGY5 chief is but a mere resident to them....

 

[Kinis]

One of our RNs is in an NP program. He/she's rotating in our hospital and wearing a long, white coat and calling all the physicians by their first names. Kinda rubs me the wrong way.
</tangent>

why would a nurse calling physicians by their first names annoy you?

 

[jdh71]

Do most residents call their attendings Dr. So-and-so or go by a first name basis? Likewise, do most young/new physicians (who have just finished residency) call more seniors physicians "Dr. ____"? What about physicians meeting each other for the first time? I'm just curious how people in the medical field like to address each other.

Some of this is cultural per institution and region. However, as a fellow some of the staff now ask me to refer to them by first name, but not all of them, and I default to Dr. until told otherwise. I maintain first name basis with people who were fellows and residents at the same time as me who went onto become staff - ie technically now "ranked" above me as I'm still a fellow - unless we are in front of patients. I refer to everyone at my rank or lower by first name (unless you are an M3, then I say "hey you", but if you are hawt I might learn your name [joking, obviously])

As a student, I used to default to calling everyone above me "Dr" and was usually quickly told to refer by first name. There are douches, and you can't help them.

I have everyone refer to me by first name.

 

[ArcGurren]

If you have a resident (especially an intern or PGY2) who insists that you call them "Dr. ____" they are a giant flaming tool. I have never been asked by anyone (or introduced to anyone) who is a resident to call them anything other than their first name or nickname. The only time I did get introduced that way was when some prelim surgery resident introduced herself to a PGY-3 medicine resident as "Dr. (her name)". The amount of eye rolling was intense.

That being said you can obviously refer to a resident as "Dr. ____" initially and they will usually quickly give you their first name. I actually did that with an APN and he quickly corrected me.

Attendings you generally do call Dr. so and so, however.

 

[235009]

as a med student:
residents - i start with "doctor" the first time and then switch over to first name whether or not they ask me to, i've never had anyone insist on being called "doctor"
fellows - if i'm working closely/on the same team as them then first name, if they are a consultant or another service then call them "doctor"
attendings - always call them "doctor" without fail, have never been asked to do otherwise

as a resident:
other residents - first name basis
fellows - i've seen a mix..some (especially interns) use the above rule but more senior residents have usually already been on a first name basis with many of the fellows when they were residents
attendings - i've seen them almost universally called "doctor", i've only seen on one occasion first name used between a senior (PGY 5) resident and an attending only a couple of years out of fellowship.

 

[Abby_Normal]

I'm an MS1 and I was surprised to find that most of the residents I've met go by their first names. It seems that only attendings and PhDs go by last names...

What always makes me awkward is when the institutional culture seems to dictate that someone be called "Dr. Lastname" but they sign emails/refer to themselves/etc as "Firstname" but don't explicitly ask to be called "Firstname." In particular, there's on attending who teaches some first/second year electives who always signs emails "Firstname" and introduces himself one-on-one as "Firstname" but I've NEVER heard any medical student--including the TAs--refer to him as "Firstname." Is it just that the culture of formality is so strong that we all kind of go on autopilot or is there an unspoken rule that professors/attendings can introduce themselves informally and still expect to be addressed formally?

 

[235009]

I'm an MS1 and I was surprised to find that most of the residents I've met go by their first names. It seems that only attendings and PhDs go by last names...

What always makes me awkward is when the institutional culture seems to dictate that someone be called "Dr. Lastname" but they sign emails/refer to themselves/etc as "Firstname" but don't explicitly ask to be called "Firstname." In particular, there's on attending who teaches some first/second year electives who always signs emails "Firstname" and introduces himself one-on-one as "Firstname" but I've NEVER heard any medical student--including the TAs--refer to him as "Firstname." Is it just that the culture of formality is so strong that we all kind of go on autopilot or is there an unspoken rule that professors/attendings can introduce themselves informally and still expect to be addressed formally?

see http://www.phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1413 for an explanation of email signatures. it's supposed to be a joke but makes a point....hardly anyone uses a formal signature in any kind of email...it's not an invitation to call them by their first name.

 

[SlickNickMD]

Why are you drawing a rather arbitrary and artificial distinction between interns and residents? In the grand scheme of things, there isn't much of a difference in terms of where they fall on the totem pole.

In any case, the only people more obnoxious than residents who insist on students referring to them as "Dr." are the ones who introduce themselves to other residents as "Dr."

This is on a case by case basis, I haven't drawn any distinction-My first reaction is to refer to everyone by Dr______ but in my experience interns tend to almost insist on a first name basis with medical students which is kinda understanding, they aren't that far removed from medical school

 

[colbgw02]

What I hated in residency was interns on consulting services calling themselves "Dr. Intern" rather than by their first name with me on the phone. Tools.

This reminds me of a story: when I was a PGY-4 on IR, my staff and I asked the intern covering a patient to come to the bedside to go over a chest port that kept "malfunctioning". We were waiting in the hallway outside of the patient's room when the intern walks up and says "Hi, I'm Dr. Intern." I had to turn away to keep from laughing in his face. My attending just smiled and said, "First Name will do just fine." He turned about three shades of red. The worst part is the guy turned out to be a real sh*tbird of an intern; I don't think he even made it to PGY-2 on-time. As so often seems to be the case, the ones demanding the most respect are the least deserving of it.

 

[mjl1717]

One of our RNs is in an NP program. He/she's rotating in our hospital and wearing a long, white coat and calling all the physicians by their first names. Kinda rubs me the wrong way.
</tangent>

I hear ya...He's trying to be big!

 

[mjl1717]

Just out of curiosity, were those residents American graduates, or people who trained abroad? At least in my experience, only residents who attended medical school in India and the like tend to harp on these things.

On the very first day of my first rotation as an MS3, I initially addressed my intern and resident as "Dr." and was told that was completely unnecessary and that I never needed to do that again. That said, virtually all of the residents our university hospital were American MDs. As a resident, I've rotated through hospitals with more IMG residents, and from what I've seen, they're the ones who have their students calling them "Dr." and introducing themselves to me as "Dr." as well. Perhaps hospital culture is just more formal in Asia? Who knows?

I think that if a school uses the British system interactions are more formal and proper..

 

[ArcGurren]

This reminds me of a story: when I was a PGY-4 on IR, my staff and I asked the intern covering a patient to come to the bedside to go over a chest port that kept "malfunctioning". We were waiting in the hallway outside of the patient's room when the intern walks up and says "Hi, I'm Dr. Intern." I had to turn away to keep from laughing in his face. My attending just smiled and said, "First Name will do just fine." He turned about three shades of red. The worst part is the guy turned out to be a real sh*tbird of an intern; I don't think he even made it to PGY-2 on-time. As so often seems to be the case, the ones demanding the most respect are the least deserving of it.

QFT

 

[tryp]

I'm an MS1 and I was surprised to find that most of the residents I've met go by their first names. It seems that only attendings and PhDs go by last names...

What always makes me awkward is when the institutional culture seems to dictate that someone be called "Dr. Lastname" but they sign emails/refer to themselves/etc as "Firstname" but don't explicitly ask to be called "Firstname." In particular, there's on attending who teaches some first/second year electives who always signs emails "Firstname" and introduces himself one-on-one as "Firstname" but I've NEVER heard any medical student--including the TAs--refer to him as "Firstname." Is it just that the culture of formality is so strong that we all kind of go on autopilot or is there an unspoken rule that professors/attendings can introduce themselves informally and still expect to be addressed formally?

I notice the same thing when I contact doctors about observing with them. I continue to refer to them as "Dr. Lastname" even though they generally refer to themselves as "first name" and sign their emails as "first name". They have never corrected me or invited me to use their first name, so I assume I'm doing the right thing.

 

[Bob California]

Do most residents call their attendings Dr. So-and-so or go by a first name basis? Likewise, do most young/new physicians (who have just finished residency) call more seniors physicians "Dr. ____"? What about physicians meeting each other for the first time? I'm just curious how people in the medical field like to address each other.

It is always better to err on the side of formality, and be corrected later, when dealing with someone "above" you.

 

[mjl1717]

It is always better to err on the side of formality, and be corrected later, when dealing with someone "above" you.

Totally agree..Especially since worldwide the U.S.is "no where" near the top 10 in terms of etiquette, formality, being proper and mannerism.. ( Don't feel bad because heads of state and CEOs are also included in the lack of etiquette or professionalism).
[eg. Yo joe!, Its my perogative to where jeans and sweatshirt and open toed sandals!, whaduyamean-Im a lawyer also.] 😴

 

[michaelrack]

The typical rule is you can call someone within 1 step by their first name.
Med student -->resident
resident-->attending
Attending-->Chair

But med student -->Attending is a no no

Or resident -->chair.

At least in my experience.

True, but simplified- I think it would be more accurate if more steps were added- Jr. and Sr. residents and attendings

Sr. Attendings, such as full professors, can call the Chair by first name, but not usually Assistant Profs

 

[Bacchus]

This reminds me of a story: when I was a PGY-4 on IR, my staff and I asked the intern covering a patient to come to the bedside to go over a chest port that kept "malfunctioning". We were waiting in the hallway outside of the patient's room when the intern walks up and says "Hi, I'm Dr. Intern." I had to turn away to keep from laughing in his face. My attending just smiled and said, "First Name will do just fine." He turned about three shades of red. The worst part is the guy turned out to be a real sh*tbird of an intern; I don't think he even made it to PGY-2 on-time. As so often seems to be the case, the ones demanding the most respect are the least deserving of it.

Completely unnecessary. The residents recognize him, I'm sure, so I don't see why he even had to introduce himself at all. I first read this earlier this AM and thought, why is he being laughed at for telling a patient he's Dr. X, but rereading it now.... what an idiot.