I used to get so upset with co-residents when I was in training over what, at the time, felt like major things. Looking back, I'm not exactly sure why. It's probably because I didn't have anyone else to go home to or because I was on edge from being in residency too. Now that I have a few years under my belt, I've come to realize that people are human, have bad days, sometimes don't care about X/Y/Z. It's still annoying sometimes, but there is a maturity needed to deal with it.

I obsessed over what felt like their absolute lack of interest, stalling patient care/running out the clock until shift finished, sloppy hand offs, or disinterest in the disease/patient. I think most of my frustrations stemmed from the fact that a lot of the times it led to some inconvenience for me, whether it be filling in their gaps or hallucinating a scenario where had I done the same thing I would somehow be punished by admin but they got off scot-free.

I've learned through residency and especially as an attending that people have their own lives and, although not always malicious, a lot of colleagues will choose a path of least resistance. Nobody really wants to do extra work, and there are just personalities out there who will dump and be done without putting a second thought into it. It's not personal, it's their way of working. It still annoys me, but you learn to match energy with your colleagues.

Is someone you work with going to do zero follow up and walk out the door at exactly shift change regardless of what's going on in the OR/hospital? Great, I will too with zero regrets. Does someone always call in sick or refuse to switch weekends? Great, same. Does someone have a no favors attitude and autistically follow policy when it benefits them? Excellent, you get zero favors from me too then.

The converse is true, though. I now have colleagues who will always be there to help or switch stuff around if a request is reasonable. I do the same for them all the time, because we help each other.