Patients constantly think I'm a nurse!

[valid username]

why would anyone laugh at someone's wrong answer? I would be furious if i heard my residents doing that.

I think it was displacement with that particular fellow. Other than the pimping, he was actually a really good guy. (I'm not qualified to speak of his skills.) The attendings were very nice to students, but they treated this guy quite poorly. The first major issue was we should have had 2 fellows, but one had visa issues holding him up. So the lone fellow was overworked. I spent most of my time in the ORs during surgery. When a pt was being intubated I would go to find him and untie his gown so he could go scrub for the next surgery--where the attending would scold him for being late. There were maybe 6 attendings and all did things differently. He had to remember very slight differencess between surgeon preferences. I saw him get berated so many times for doing something that Dr. X and Y insisted on, but Dr. Z did not do.

He should have found a more mature way to deal with what was going on. But he had a lot on him. I know I'm making excuses for him, but the way he treated the students* from time to time was nothing compared to the way he was treated.

(Disclaimer: he had a 50/50 mix of AMG/IMG students. He was a former IMG and seemed hesitant to tell the AMGs what to do--2 in our group had dr parents in the area)

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[OrthoTraumaMD]

I think it was displacement with that particular fellow. Other than the pimping, he was actually a really good guy. (I'm not qualified to speak of his skills.) The attendings were very nice to students, but they treated this guy quite poorly. The first major issue was we should have had 2 fellows, but one had visa issues holding him up. So the lone fellow was overworked. I spent most of my time in the ORs during surgery. When a pt was being intubated I would go to find him and untie his gown so he could go scrub for the next surgery--where the attending would scold him for being late. There were maybe 6 attendings and all did things differently. He had to remember very slight differencess between surgeon preferences. I saw him get berated so many times for doing something that Dr. X and Y insisted on, but Dr. Z did not do.

He should have found a more mature way to deal with what was going on. But he had a lot on him. I know I'm making excuses for him, but the way he treated the students* from time to time was nothing compared to the way he was treated.

(Disclaimer: he had a 50/50 mix of AMG/IMG students. He was a former IMG and seemed hesitant to tell the AMGs what to do--2 in our group had dr parents in the area)

Yes being overworked can make a resident more likely to snap at a student. However, consistently poor behavior is not excusable. You don't get to s**t on someone lower on the totem pole just because you feel powerless. It's the mark of insecurity that does not befit a surgeon.


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[dragonfly99]

In my experience surgical attendings were the most malignant and the ones who pimped the most. I am glad to see/hear that that may have changed. I think it's possible to use the socratic method without having humiliation as one's main goal...