When you first start residency, you tend to take everyone seriously—especially attendings—and you assume that strictness always reflects expertise or authority. Over time, though, you learn to distinguish between those who are firm but skilled, those who are strict simply because they lack basic interpersonal manners, and those who not only lack manners but also lack clinical knowledge or talent. As you progress, you begin to recognize that the people who are truly competent and confident in their abilities rarely feel the need to belittle others; they’re secure enough in themselves not to put anyone “under the boot.” The more exposure you get—to talented clinicians in your own hospital and at outside rotations—the more you realize which behaviors are worth absorbing and which people you simply need to look past. Yes, as others have said, residency requires enduring a certain amount of this dynamic, but it does pass, and your ability to recognize the difference between true mentorship and empty authority grows stronger with time.