Attending physician

{{Short description|Licensed medical doctor practicing at a clinic or hospital}}

{{redirect|Attending|other uses|Attention (disambiguation)}}

{{Multiple issues|

{{More citations needed|date=April 2022}}

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In 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.{{cite web

|url=http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/attending+physician

|title = Attending physician

|access-date=11 May 2021

}} An attending physician typically supervises{{cite web

|url =https://www.ecfmg.org/echo/team-doctors-attending-physician.html

|work = ECFMG

|title= Attending Physician

|access-date = 11 May 2021

}} fellows, residents, and medical students. Attending physicians may also maintain professorships at an affiliated medical school. 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).{{ cite journal

|title = The Role of the Attending Physician

|first=M. Andrew |last=Greganti|first2=Douglas A. |last2=Drossman|first3=John F. |last3=Rogers

|journal = Archives of Internal Medicine

|year= 1982

|volume = 142

|issue = 4

|pages =698–699

|doi=10.1001/archinte.1982.00340170054011

|pmid=7073412

}} 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|date=May 2021}} 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,{{cite web

|url =https://uhphawaii.org/index.php/attending-physician-vs-intern-vs-resident-whats-the-difference/

|title= Attending Physician Vs. Intern Vs. Resident—What's The Difference?

|work = University Health Partners of Hawaii

|date = 21 August 2020

|access-date = 11 May 2021

}} 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.