What is the Difference between an Attending and a Resident Physician?

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Both are physicians who have received their doctorate of medicine (or osteopathy), that is, both are licensed medical doctors who've finished med school. A resident physician is a doctor who has recently finished med school and is doing a "residency", or on-the-job training period, if you will, in a hospital. The first year out of med school is generally called an internship. Then the doctor must do 2-4 more years of training, which they call a residency, thus the name "resident". An attending physician is a doctor who has finished residency and currently has an established practice. If one of his patients is admitted to the hospital, he is termed the "attending physician", or the physician who is ultimately responsible for the patient. It is possible that residents may be involved in that patient's care, but the attending is the "primary" physician. Also, in a teaching hospital, the attending physician in and emergency room is the main physician there, who is in charge of the residents. This attending is usually is in a group of physicians that are contracted by the hospital to manage the ER.

Essentially, residents are still in training, and attending are not. It's the attendings that are earning the big bucks. Residents make a pittance in comparison.

stage in developement

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What is the Difference between an Attending and a Resident Physician?

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