Types of Attendings

The personality and styles of attendings vary quite a bit. Some attendings look from afar and give broad-stroke ideas about how to care for particular patients. Other attendings pontificate about theory and pathogenesis of disease. I've had attendings who love clinical trials and spend their time discussing numbers needed to treat and the evidence behind certain decisions. In the last few weeks, I've had a really surprising diversity of attendings. One attending at the Valley gave us lots of independence and room to develop our own clinical judgments. He gave enough oversight that we felt safe, but he pushed us to treat our patients like they really were ours. The next attending I had liked to micromanage. Having completed a chief resident year recently, he understood the nuances of the system and liked the resident role; he helped coordinate care, put in orders, and stayed late. Lastly, I've had an attending who does mostly research and policy work. Because he spends less time on the wards, he defers a lot to the resident to decide and encourages consultations. Overall, the mix is both fascinating and educational, allowing us to approach clinical problems from a multitude of perspectives and develop our own personality and style.