Residencies are very much a hierarchy. This encourages abuse. Ophthalmology tends to be less so. However, even in Ophthalmology there are abuses. One attending accused the chair of being psychotic and I have reason (and experiences) to believe it is true.
If you realize that, as a resident, you are not living in a democracy (despite training in the US) and that you are potentially a prisoner in the gulag, you will have the right mental attitude. Many residents don't suffer, but a few do. It's just hit and miss. Gulags try to cover up during interviews and insist that they are democracies.
As far as attendings, some are very good. A few of them are also insecure so they have to prove it by being mean. Other attendings couldn't make it in private practice because of their temper. Still others are nice, very smart, and make good faculty members. In some programs, it's possible to slightly modify the amount of time spent with a faculty member such as by directing difficult cases to one attending or another of the same sub-specialty. In departments with only one cornea or one oculoplastics or one of something else, this may be impossible.
My comments are supposed to be realistic, not cynical. In fact, I am considering becoming a faculty member (and a beast...just joking)
