Attending Physician
Attending physicians have completed their residency and possibly fellowship training and practice medicine without supervision. This term applies to medical doctors (MDs) who practice internal medicine, surgery, psychiatry or any other field of medicine. Because they have completed a residency program, they are “board eligible” and if they have passed the qualifying examination(s), they are “board certified.”The term “attending” is also used in hospitals to refer to the physician who is ultimately responsible for a particular patient’s care. Legally, attending physicians have final responsibility for patient care, even when many decisions are being executed by other health care professionals such as nurses, physician assistants, medical residents, and medical students.
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attending_physician