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Chief of medicine

Posted by James Briggs on June 21, 2005

In Reply to: Chief of medicine posted by Miri Barak on June 21, 2005

: Hello dear friends
: I would like to know what is "chief of medicine"

: Is he the senior doctor in a medical ward or the hospital manager, or something else? It is in Washington National Hospital (Ronald Reagan Hospital).

: thank you so much

This is very much a US/North American term. It is literally the person who is 'in charge' of the medical service (as distinct from surgical, pathological etc). He is responsible for the administration of the service. In the UK I was chief of my pathology service for a while - it tended to be a rotational job in my days. However, I had no jurisdiction over the clinical work of my colleagues; in this respect we were all equals and were responsible for our own reports, etc. just like a physician is responsible for the care of individual patients, under the umbrella of the medical service. I guess it's much the same in the States.

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