attending

1 of 2

adjective

at·​tend·​ing ə-ˈten-diŋ 

: serving as a physician or surgeon on the staff of a hospital or similar health care facility and having primary responsibility over the treatment of a patient and often supervising treatment given by interns, residents, and fellows

an attending physician

attending staff

attending

2 of 2

noun

: an attending physician or surgeon

In the hospital, he had been cared for by a full team of cardiologists, ranging from fellows in specialty training to attendings who had practiced for decades.

—Atul Gawande

Synonyms

Adjective

• in
• present

Examples of attending in a Sentence

Adjective

a surprise arrest of the operator of an illegal gambling joint and all attending employees

dislikes flying and all of its attending inconveniences

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Every member of this person’s care team—from nurses and social workers to residents and attendings—nodded in agreement. —Zoe Adams, Scientific American, 22 Oct. 2024

More interns sleep together in the closet than attendings! —Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Sep. 2024

One question, and perhaps the obvious one, is: What is Catherine going to do about her lack of attendings? —EW.com, 9 Sep. 2024

Such jobs include roles in business management, teaching, customer care, legal work, health care, social media management, consulting, sales, flight attending, public relations and politics. —Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 5 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1904, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1906, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

attending

1 of 2 adjective

at·​tend·​ing ə-ˈtend-iŋ 

: serving as a physician or surgeon on the staff of a hospital or similar health-care facility and having primary responsibility over the treatment of a patient and often supervising treatment given by interns, residents, and fellows

The attending staff is also expected to teach and mentor the residents during their training.

—Geogy Thomas, The Los Angeles Times

If such a patient lacks a reasonably available surrogate, an attending physician may issue a do-not-resuscitate order with judicial approval or with the written concurrence of another physician …

—Lawrence O. Gostin, The Journal of the American Medical Association

attending

2 of 2 noun

: an attending physician or surgeon

Being the attending on a teaching service nowadays requires visiting once or twice daily, being present for procedures, and documenting everything.

—Abraham Verghese, The New England Journal of Medicine

In the hospital, he had been cared for by a full team of cardiologists, ranging from fellows in specialty training to attendings who had practiced for decades.

—Atul Gawande, The New Yorker