i hear ya, but i think you (slightly) miss the point. it's not an 'all or none' or 'black and white' thing. we're talking about not being a doormat, and not about purposely acting like a d!ckhead. of course we're a consultant service. but we also have the unique situation where we're also expected to provide care. yes, some surgeons forget this. but, most surgeons in my experience respect and appreciate what we do and are cool. this thread is about the ones who aren't. and, yes, one shouldn't get their panties in a bunch over some blowhard with microphallus who probably got too much positive reinforcement as a child and never learned how to 'play nice' because he was always the 'gifted' and 'special' one in whatever he did and was constantly told that. you can't combat years of poor social modeling with confrontation or even witty repartee. you should best ignore them, unless they jeopardize patient safety or in any other way significantly interfere with you doing your job. that's all i'm getting at.
in other words, it has nothing to do with an anesthesiologist's unwillingess to compromise and everything to do with effectively dealing with a surgeon who can't or won't. sometimes you gotta flex your muscles, especially when you find yourself in a battle that picked you (and not vice versa). that's just the way it is.
