What's in a name: How do junior doctors address their consultants?

Abstract

Evidence has suggested that when senior doctors are less approachable, junior staff are less likely to raise safety issues. There are limited existing data on whether the name by which junior doctors address their seniors reflects approachability and if this varies between grade and specialties. An online survey was conducted in a large teaching hospital. Respondents were asked about their use of first names when addressing consultants and whether they felt this reflected their perceptions of the consultants' approachability. Four-hundred and twenty-three responses were received from a cohort of approximately 800 junior doctors. Of these, 410 were included in this analysis. Respondents came from 57 different subspecialties and all years of training. Overall, junior doctors addressed 43% of consultants by their first name; 71% of junior doctors perceived these consultants to be more approachable. There were significant differences in the results between grades and specialty of junior doctor. Throughout all specialties, the majority of junior doctors consider the consultants that they address informally to be more approachable.