Glossary of Common Terms Associated with Hospital Staff
The TV drama Grey’s Anatomy is one of the popular television shows in the US today, which focuses on surgery. Viewers who have a limited background in the medical profession will probably get confused when they watch the show because of the differing titles of the doctors. Why are Meredith and her friends called “residents,” while George remains an “intern”? Why does everyone call Dr. Webber “chief”? For the sake of the confused non-medical viewers, here is a glossary of common hospital staff terms.
Medical interns
Medicals interns are first-year residents who have recently graduated from medical school. Because they are still medical interns, they still have to gain hands-on medical experience; so they are allowed to scrub in for some minor surgical procedures.
Medical residents
Medical residents are the medical students who manage to pass their medical boards and intern exams. Further, medical residents are legally recognized doctors who practice medicine with the supervision of attending physicians. In addition to practicing medicine, medical residents also teach and supervise duties of medical interns.
Attending physicians
Attending physicians are doctors who have finished training for their medical specializations. They are the “doctors in charge” in their respective sub-departments. Attending physicians are fully responsible for the medical care of their patients as well as the clinical performance of their medical residents. Equally, attending physicians teach interns and train residents in teaching hospitals. These are done for the purpose of becoming better medical practitioners.
Chief attending
In every institution a boss is needed. In a hospital setting, the chief attending is the big boss. The chief attending is an attending physician who takes care of the overall organization of the whole hospital department. In the case of Seattle Grace Hospital surgical department, that role is given to Dr. Richard Webber.
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