回复：a question for pgy12005

Off course the attending knew who caused the problem. However, as an attending myself, I have never yelled at any medical student or fresh new resident about anything.

The attending should have the utmost responsibility about the patient care. They give instruction and do rely on the residents to get the work done.

The chief resident and the senior resident serve as the second layer of coverage. They have been there long enough to know all the routines and special habits of each attending. They are the main force the attending is counting on.

Everybody in the system knows that the fresh interns don’t know anything. The routines for other people may far beyond their capability. Just like you can’t blame an infant for not being able to eat dinner himself, but you do expect a 10 year old to do so.

I was new then. It’s OK for somebody new to make mistake. However, my senior had the responsibility to check my work to make sure it’s done right. My senior, in that case was the chief resident, failed to do so.

I am sure there are tons of examples that the interns were unfairly blamed in many occasions by their superiors. In this case, I think the attending was either trying to be fair, or feeling too superior to talk to a little intern like me.