Attending physician

Short description: Licensed medical doctor practicing at a clinic or hospital

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. or D.P.M. 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 his or her 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. 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

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

## References

1. ↑ "Attending physician". http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/attending+physician.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Attending Physician". ECFMG. https://www.ecfmg.org/echo/team-doctors-attending-physician.html.
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. https://uhphawaii.org/index.php/attending-physician-vs-intern-vs-resident-whats-the-difference/.

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