Attending Physician - Wikipedia

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Appearance move to sidebar hide From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Licensed medical doctor practicing at a clinic or hospital "Attending" redirects here. For other uses, see Attention (disambiguation).

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: "Attending physician" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (April 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In the United States and Canada, an attending physician (also known as a staff physician or supervising physician) is a physician (usually an M.D., or D.O. in the United States) who has completed residency and practices medicine in a clinic or hospital, in the specialty learned during residency.[1] An attending physician typically supervises[2] fellows, residents, and medical students. Attending physicians may also maintain professorships at an affiliated medical school.[2] This is common if the supervision of trainees is a significant part of the physician's work. Attending physicians have final responsibility, legally and otherwise, for patient care, even when many of the minute-to-minute decisions are being made by house officers (residents) or non-physician health-care providers (i.e. physician assistants and nurse practitioners).[3] Attending physicians are sometimes the 'rendering physician' listed on the patient's official medical record, but if they are overseeing a resident or another staff member, they are 'supervising.'

The term "attending physician" or "attending" also refers to the formal relationship of a hospitalized patient and their primary medic during the hospitalization, as opposed to ancillary physicians assisting the primary care physician. [citation needed] However, even on a consultation service, at an academic center, the physician who has finished their training is called the attending or consultant,[4] as opposed to a resident physician.

Attending physicians may also still be in training, such as a fellow in a subspecialty. For example, a cardiology fellow may function as an internal medicine attending, as they have already finished residency in internal medicine.[citation needed] The term is used more commonly in teaching hospitals. In non-teaching hospitals, essentially all physicians function as attendings in some respects after completing residency.

See also

[edit]

• Consultant (medicine) (equivalent title in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth)
• Attending physician statement

References

[edit]

1. ^ "Attending physician". Retrieved 11 May 2021.
2. ^ a b "Attending Physician". ECFMG. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
3. ^ Greganti, M. Andrew; Drossman, Douglas A.; Rogers, John F. (1982). "The Role of the Attending Physician". Archives of Internal Medicine. 142 (4): 698–699. doi:10.1001/archinte.1982.00340170054011. PMID 7073412.
4. ^ "Attending Physician Vs. Intern Vs. Resident—What's The Difference?". University Health Partners of Hawaii. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2021.

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