Speaking to Attendings

[singinfifi]

I'm not sure this belongs here, if there's a better place for it, someone please tell me!

I'm a fairly new attending (in my 2nd year out of residency) and I've found I'm MUCH more comfortable being addressed by my first name. I was like that in residency too - staff, medical students, fellow residents etc. I greatly preferred first name to Dr. ______ . I'm speaking about Dr. to Dr. or Medical Student to Dr. or Medical Staff to Dr. private interactions - not in front of patients and not TO patients.

I'd like to know if there is any research on this or publications or if anyone has ever had experience with this as a program wide policy. I haven't found any, but I am fully aware that I may be looking in the wrong places.

Any input (opinions included) would be appreciated!

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[doc05]

This is normal. But be careful with med students and junior residents, let them call you doctor.

 

[Keona]

If you get verified you can post in the practicing attending forum.

For me I’m also a new attending. I go by dr so and so because I’m relatively young there are lots of NPs around and some have the same first name as me. (Some patients insist on calling them dr first name).

I want the difference realized so I go by my dr last name.

All of my office won’t address me by my first name. Anyone who is a dr even if they go by their first name is addressed dr first name by staff. (We have relatives with same last names so they go by their first names).

Peer to peer once we know each other we address each other by first names.

 

[Keona]

Practicing physician forum, I wrote the wrong one above

 

[Piebaldi]

I'm not sure this belongs here, if there's a better place for it, someone please tell me!

I'm a fairly new attending (in my 2nd year out of residency) and I've found I'm MUCH more comfortable being addressed by my first name. I was like that in residency too - staff, medical students, fellow residents etc. I greatly preferred first name to Dr. ______ . I'm speaking about Dr. to Dr. or Medical Student to Dr. or Medical Staff to Dr. private interactions - not in front of patients and not TO patients.

I'd like to know if there is any research on this or publications or if anyone has ever had experience with this as a program wide policy. I haven't found any, but I am fully aware that I may be looking in the wrong places.

Any input (opinions included) would be appreciated!

I am a new attending too. I talk to other attendings by calling them by first name. To midlevels, nurses, etc. I go by Dr so and so

 

[Raryn]

I vary. Half the time I call the other doctors who practice with me by just last name and no title - Smith or Jones. I don't usually just do first name only unless I'm intimately familiar with them. If it's a passing familiarity, it's Dr. Smith or Dr. Jones.

 

[rokshana]

i think that is different depending on where you are and what generation the people are...

I remember as a 3rd year medical student i was speaking to someone while we were waiting for the attending and referred to him by just his last name...and he overheard me. He made a point, nicely, that he had worked hard to become a doctor and that he preferred that when mentioning his name, that I should say Dr. So and So...

I also had an attending, my mentor in fellowship, who insisted that I call him by his first name unless we were in front of patients...and I did, but everyone else was still Dr. So and So...

When I first meet someone, I call them Dr. So and So and if they say please call me First name, I do, otherwise I call them Dr. So and So.

Last story...when I started my first TA as a graduate student, I wasn't sure what I should have the students call me...my Dad (a surgeon) said that I needed have them call me Miss Last Name, to make sure that they realized that there was a difference between me the instructor and them the students...even though i was a student myself...

I still think that this has some importance and don't have nursing (including mid levels) and office staff call me by my first name...but i'm also in the South so its kinda automatic that the call me Dr.

 

[HomeSkool]

My friends (including CRNAs) can call me by my first or last name with no other title. Other attendings with whom I regularly work may be Jimmy or Dr. Smith, depending on our level of familiarity and my general feeling about our relationship and their openness. My department chair will always be "Sir" or "Dr. Jones" no matter how many times he tells me to call him Bob. Anyone junior to me, including residents, SRNAs, techs, and almost all of the nurses, call me Dr., although there are a handful of OR nurses with whom I have a close relationship that makes using my first name OK. I almost always call my residents Dr. (and I always do so in front of patients), in part to help them remember the privileges and responsibilities of the role they're training for.

 

[deleted950463]

Dr. So and so when speaking to referring physicians or docs from other services no matter how junior.

First name when addressing one’s own partners.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

Other attendings get first-named when speaking to, last name when talking about though I will add doctor when talking about them to patients. Everyone else calls me doctor though I never introduce myself as doctor.

 

[DocVapor]

As a senior-ish resident, the only attendings that I call by first name are the ones who were senior residents when I was an intern (both in Anesthesia and off-service rotations where I developed a relationship with them), and only after they give me permission to do so.

In front of patients or nursing staff, I refer to them by Dr. last name.

Other young attendings that graduated since I started, but I never worked with directly, are always Dr. last name.

When speaking to other residents or fellows of any service, I introduce myself as first name, and they always do the same, even if they're PGY-Kill me now. If I'm talking with patients, it's Dr last name for them, or if it's nursing staff usually just last name.

 

[Piebaldi]

i think that is different depending on where you are and what generation the people are...

I remember as a 3rd year medical student i was speaking to someone while we were waiting for the attending and referred to him by just his last name...and he overheard me. He made a point, nicely, that he had worked hard to become a doctor and that he preferred that when mentioning his name, that I should say Dr. So and So...

I also had an attending, my mentor in fellowship, who insisted that I call him by his first name unless we were in front of patients...and I did, but everyone else was still Dr. So and So...

When I first meet someone, I call them Dr. So and So and if they say please call me First name, I do, otherwise I call them Dr. So and So.

Last story...when I started my first TA as a graduate student, I wasn't sure what I should have the students call me...my Dad (a surgeon) said that I needed have them call me Miss Last Name, to make sure that they realized that there was a difference between me the instructor and them the students...even though i was a student myself...

I still think that this has some importance and don't have nursing (including mid levels) and office staff call me by my first name...but i'm also in the South so its kinda automatic that the call me Dr.

I agree to some extent. I also have midlevels call me as Dr. so and so as well as office staff and other staff - nursing, social workers, etc. I think particularly for women and for those of us who don't look particularly old, it's of utmost importance in terms of setting appropriate boundaries. Today I even had a patient or two tell me how I don't look old enough to be a doctor. I even asked one patient how old they thought I was, they said 25, I said well add numerous other years to that. Another told me how I am not old enough to even have 1 grey hair - even though I have a ton of grey hair - dyed of course.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I have always been first name only, for everyone. New patients I give them the choice. It's a personal decision that we all will make for different reasons, will also be office / hospital culture dependent. It's happened that I'm confused for an intern, nurse, LNA, etc and it just doesn't bother me. But that's me, and it doesn't happen often. Just do what feels comfortable, and don't be a snob about it, and all will be well.

 

[mvenus929]

I’m in fellowship, and as a trainee, I ask that other trainees call me by my first name. The attendings in my division are split—the younger ones I call by their first name (the two that graduated fellowship after I started automatically were first named, the others requested or okayed me calling them by their first name). I refer to them to other people, generally, as Dr. last name, with the exception of one attending who insists the nursing staff and everyone calls him by his first name. The older attendings I generally call Dr. last name.

When I graduated residency, most of the attendings started insisting that I use their first name. I was able to do so for a few of them—mostly the ED docs who I called by their first name anyway and those I worked with on a regular basis after graduation whom they reiterated multiple times to use their first name. I still can’t do it with a few of them.

 

[Piebaldi]

I’m in fellowship, and as a trainee, I ask that other trainees call me by my first name. The attendings in my division are split—the younger ones I call by their first name (the two that graduated fellowship after I started automatically were first named, the others requested or okayed me calling them by their first name). I refer to them to other people, generally, as Dr. last name, with the exception of one attending who insists the nursing staff and everyone calls him by his first name. The older attendings I generally call Dr. last name.

When I graduated residency, most of the attendings started insisting that I use their first name. I was able to do so for a few of them—mostly the ED docs who I called by their first name anyway and those I worked with on a regular basis after graduation whom they reiterated multiple times to use their first name. I still can’t do it with a few of them.

You know it's funny, I always called attendings Dr so and so. I asked for a letter of rec from one attending, who was also a chief during intern year, and then when he signed his response to my request after graduation, he signed with his first name. I was like ha!

 

[mvenus929]

You know it's funny, I always called attendings Dr so and so. I asked for a letter of rec from one attending, who was also a chief during intern year, and then when he signed his response to my request after graduation, he signed with his first name. I was like ha!

When I was a senior resident, I had an attending call me and say “hey, this is FirstName”. Which was also the first name of my chief at the time, so I got super confused when he started talking about a patient on the service. Took me a full 20 seconds to realize I was talking to my attending.

 

[hmockingbird]

I’m a senior resident, I usually start off calling attendings “Dr LastName” unless it’s someone I know from before they were an attending (eg former senior). But a lot of attendings will introduce themselves by their first name or tell us not to do that so I’ll go by their preference.

As a petite new female attending I think I will go by Dr LastName except with peers.

 

[Piebaldi]

I’m a senior resident, I usually start off calling attendings “Dr LastName” unless it’s someone I know from before they were an attending (eg former senior). But a lot of attendings will introduce themselves by their first name or tell us not to do that so I’ll go by their preference.

As a petite new female attending I think I will go by Dr LastName except with peers.

Exactly me too

 

[FlowLimited]

I feel similarly to the OP. I am a first year attending and during residency and fellowship I was almost always called FirstName by attendings, nurses in our division, and other trainees and I was comfortable with this. Now as an attending at a different institution, I'm FirstName to my partners but Dr. LastName to our MAs and front desk staff. The nurses in our division are a mix with some calling me FirstName and others Dr. LastName. It's been an adjustment but actually hasn't been as awkward as I thought it would be.

On the flipside, when I started I was very unsure of how I would refer to my partners since I've always called attendings Dr. LastName unless I trained with them. I usually say FirstName when referencing them in conversations with others but Dr. LastName to their face. It just seems weird to me to call one of my senior partners FirstName. Granted, I've only been an attending for six months so we'll see how this changes.

I would say that every institution is different. I'm just trying to go with the flow.

 

[deleted950463]

I feel similarly to the OP. I am a first year attending and during residency and fellowship I was almost always called FirstName by attendings, nurses in our division, and other trainees and I was comfortable with this. Now as an attending at a different institution, I'm FirstName to my partners but Dr. LastName to our MAs and front desk staff. The nurses in our division are a mix with some calling me FirstName and others Dr. LastName. It's been an adjustment but actually hasn't been as awkward as I thought it would be.

On the flipside, when I started I was very unsure of how I would refer to my partners since I've always called attendings Dr. LastName unless I trained with them. I usually say FirstName when referencing them in conversations with others but Dr. LastName to their face. It just seems weird to me to call one of my senior partners FirstName. Granted, I've only been an attending for six months so we'll see how this changes.

I would say that every institution is different. I'm just trying to go with the flow.

Also different between academia and PP. I wouldn’t feel weird about calling a senior partner by first name in PP (unless I am in a group of hundreds and I am meeting with the president or senior managing partner whom i don’t know well for first time).

In academic I suppose I would call senior partners / old achool attendings who were my teachers’ teachers dr so and so

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

In a professional setting, everyone is Dr. Lastname unless they are your partners or they explicitly tell you they prefer to be called by their first name.

Same goes for you yourself. I am Dr Lastname to everyone except my partners or people in the hospital at my level whom I consider friends. If it’s anyone on a higher level than me, they are Dr Lastname. I am a subspecialty department chief. I’m friends with the chief of trauma surgery and the head of the ER group, and call both of them by their first name. But my chairman is Dr lastname, as is the chief medical officer of the hospital, etc.


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[doc05]

In a professional setting, everyone is Dr. Lastname unless they are your partners or they explicitly tell you they prefer to be called by their first name.

Same goes for you yourself. I am Dr Lastname to everyone except my partners or people in the hospital at my level whom I consider friends. If it’s anyone on a higher level than me, they are Dr Lastname. I am a subspecialty department chief. I’m friends with the chief of trauma surgery and the head of the ER group, and call both of them by their first name. But my chairman is Dr lastname, as is the chief medical officer of the hospital, etc.


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Why are you being so formal? You're not a resident!

 

[Raryn]

Why are you being so formal? You're not a resident!

I do the same thing unless someone explicitly authorizes me to call them by their first name or we're good friends in a social context. It's a sign of respect.

 

[doc05]

I do the same thing unless someone explicitly authorizes me to call them by their first name or we're good friends in a social context. It's a sign of respect.

Hmm. Maybe a regional thing, seems a lot less friendly.

 

[ScubaV]

As a senior resident I once had an attending tell me to call him by his first name. He was the friendliest in the whole department and had a great relationship with the residents. I told him "Oh no, I couldn't do that Dr. X". He smiled and didn't mention it again. Sometimes I wonder if it was a test and I passed.

Now I'm a first year attending. I have a difficult last name so if support staff ask how to say it, I'll pronounce it and then say "But some people call me Dr. Firstname or Dr. Lastinitial". But if someone uses my first name alone I don't mind. I don't have direct patient contact so that's not an issue.

 

[jurassicpark]

It's not wrong to address everyone as Dr. So-and-so. Your level of comfort will be based on your experiences with them and personal rapport. That being said, in front of patients just as a rule of thumb I would always address them as Dr.

However, if you're wondering how I call up my consultants? "Hey, sweetheart go see X-Y-Z, need a cath (or bronch or whatever). love you!" Nurses get a kick out of it when they hear the doctors talk like that to each other.

 

[Apollyon]

It's not wrong to address everyone as Dr. So-and-so. Your level of comfort will be based on your experiences with them and personal rapport. That being said, in front of patients just as a rule of thumb I would always address them as Dr.

However, if you're wondering how I call up my consultants? "Hey, sweetheart go see X-Y-Z, need a cath (or bronch or whatever). love you!" Nurses get a kick out of it when they hear the doctors talk like that to each other.

The nurses get a kick out of it here, when I refer to the transfer doc on the phone as "dude!"

Then again, a true transfer call was rib fractures after turning his truck on its side, to avoid a bear. That's rural PA.

 

[FlowRate]

I have mostly worked and trained in the northeast, and it’s been the same everywhere, in every hospital. Hierarchy is respected.

Also, I consider anyone older than me as someone I should respect when I address them, so I would never call them by their first name even outside of work. I address my inlaws and non-immediate family relatives by Mr __ and Mrs ___. I’m also an immigrant from a culture that raises people to never address an older person or a non-friend peer informally, it is considered extremely rude.


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Although I have no clue which exact culture you're referring to, I couldn't help but imagine you as OrthoTrauma-Sama

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Although I have no clue which exact culture you're referring to, I couldn't help but imagine you as OrthoTrauma-Sama

Haha that would be interesting. But no. Not Asian.


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[dpmd]

I'm not sure this belongs here, if there's a better place for it, someone please tell me!

I'm a fairly new attending (in my 2nd year out of residency) and I've found I'm MUCH more comfortable being addressed by my first name. I was like that in residency too - staff, medical students, fellow residents etc. I greatly preferred first name to Dr. ______ . I'm speaking about Dr. to Dr. or Medical Student to Dr. or Medical Staff to Dr. private interactions - not in front of patients and not TO patients.

I'd like to know if there is any research on this or publications or if anyone has ever had experience with this as a program wide policy. I haven't found any, but I am fully aware that I may be looking in the wrong places.

Any input (opinions included) would be appreciated!

I don't recall if it has been mentioned in here yet, but is there any chance that imposter syndrome is the reason you aren't comfortable with people using your title. Not saying that being on a first name basis with some folks is wrong but making sure you aren't doing so for the wrong reason.

 

[MediCane2006]

In a professional setting, everyone is Dr. Lastname unless they are your partners or they explicitly tell you they prefer to be called by their first name.

Same goes for you yourself. I am Dr Lastname to everyone except my partners or people in the hospital at my level whom I consider friends. If it’s anyone on a higher level than me, they are Dr Lastname. I am a subspecialty department chief. I’m friends with the chief of trauma surgery and the head of the ER group, and call both of them by their first name. But my chairman is Dr lastname, as is the chief medical officer of the hospital, etc.


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Maybe it’s because I’m in the South but this is pretty much how I handle it as well.