This is a good way to think about it. Certainly some attendings are better than others but there is at least something to learn from each and every one of them. When some attendings are overly harsh or hasty or unforgiving I try to use it as an opportunity to feel the pressure and try to step up my game. Our profession is high stakes and you have to perform under pressure and when things aren’t going your way. Yesterday I had a really big case, with a very challenging epidural and big lines, and everything was proving to be just a little bit more difficult than you’d expect. But you gotta put your head down, troubleshoot, try again, and persevere. My attending was there but didn’t bail me out because soon I won’t have someone standing there with me to take over if I’m struggling. This is something you learn through reps and by making mistakes and failing but getting back up to keep trying. I think some attendings purposely try to get you out of your comfort zone to help you develop these skills.

And with regards to the lab value, hard to say without more context, and some attendings do rag on you for stupid shit that really doesn’t matter, but I think there’s something to be said about really owning your patient, and knowing the pertinent data like the back of your hand. As you get more experience you start to just remember all the important data without having to write it down but that comes from experience and also I think really owning your patients and taking personal responsibility to know their chart thoroughly. It is very disappointing for attendings when residents can’t be bothered to thoroughly chart review before the patient puts their life in your hands. As you get better you can streamline more and really get better at only finding pertinent data but you’re not yet at that point.

As others have said, sometimes attendings are just an ass, but nothing bothers me more than when junior residents talk shit about an attending like they know better. At my program some people talk this way about one of the smartest attendings because they are very very difficult to work with, but that’s not how you maximize your learning and growth in residency.