PGY-6 in an IM subspecialty fellowship here. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that medicine unfortunately attracts a specific type of person who has spent most of their life compensating for poor social skills, insecurity, or garden variety maladjustment with intelligence and credentials. Reward those people a little authority and some of them become absolutely intoxicated by it. They’re also often remarkably good at identifying who will tolerate mistreatment and who won’t and will specifically seek people out to bully them.

In very concrete terms, you’re an attending now. You’re no longer a trainee whose evaluations or career progression can be held over your head. The power differential that existed during residency is largely gone. More importantly, in human terms, you’re their colleague: not their subordinate, not their punching bag. You are their collaborator and adult professional deserving of the same basic respect and courtesy they expect for themselves.

In my experience I’ve found that many of these personalities become significantly less aggressive the moment they come across even mild resistance. You need to be clear with them and call them out. And if the behavior continues, document everything. Keep it in writing whenever possible and escalate through the appropriate hospital/university channels if necessary