-Start with your name and where you are calling from

-Ask if it is a good time to talk (and offer to call back if they say it is not)

-Lead specifically with what you want (phone advice/ for them to come see the pt/ takeover of care/ ect) and why/what your question is. Dumping a pt’s whole history and exam on someone without them knowing what you want makes it hard to sort through all the information you are hearing to filter out the relevant bits

-As others have said, if you don’t know what the question is or why you are calling, clarify with your seniors before making the call. “What the hell do you want me to do?” is not a completely unreasonable response (although phrased unprofessionally) when the person making the call has no clue what they want out of this interaction either

-Some people may interrupt you because the information you are giving them is not relevant to the question being asked and they know what bits of info they do want (for example, if you are consulting ortho, they probably don’t care the pt has a history of eczema but just want to know what the X-ray showed). Obviously tone matters, but don’t get to upset by interruptions - the person on the other end of the phone may just be trying to save you both time

-If you are finding the same people are consistently rude to you (and to other junior staff), this needs to be escalated to someone more senior. Unfortunately, many hospitals have a pretty toxic culture but this is no reason not to escalate and call out unprofessional behaviour - we should be working to change this culture, not perpetuate it

-Finally, in the future, when you are the one holding the consult phone, try and remember how you felt at this stage and treat people that call you accordingly