Who is this endocrine team person? med people, nurse answers only plz.?

my niece who has diabetes type 1 ended up in the emergency room. turns out she had to undergo quick surgery and stayed in the hospital for days recovering. when the doctors decided to finally let her eat instead of just getting 'food' off the IV, she had a endocrine team of people come in and check on her every day. one was definitely the head of endocrinology at the hospital [so a board certified pediatric endocrinologist] & there were 2 other people that came in with him. they definitely aren't attending physicians [atleast i don't think they were]. one in particular was dressed in the white coat & had the stethoscope, etc. he didn't say much just listened to her heart beat & asked a few questions about the surgery. who was this person? does anyone have a clue as to what his job's called? we assumed maybe he was like a student that followed the head around. would he be a physician researcher, certified pediatric nurse practitioner, certified diabetes educator, registered nurse? help?

thanks for the replies you two. maybe the endocrinologist did mention who they were but none of us seriously recall. the niece was still a lil weary from the drugs they gave her & the rest of us sort of overwhelmed [she gave us a scare when she was completely unresponsive out for 15 minutes]. but during that emergency, that same med person ran up. he was a younger looking one [late twenties-early thirties] & did come up later without the head. so maybe he was a physician assistant? or do you guys still think he's a student?

most of the time when a MD makes rounds(visit) and if he/she works in a teaching hospital a couple of students/or resident tags along with him/her,who tries to learn about a particular patients condition.However there are members of the health care known as physician assistance that makes rounds with them.I am surprise that the Endocrinologist did not introduce them, it is common courtesy to tell patient and families who they are.

It might be a student. How to find out? Contact the endocrinologist's office and ask. If you don't want to sound suspicious or silly, just say, "Dr. Smith treated my niece at General Hospital. He/she had two medical people with him/her and we'd like to write thank-you notes because they were so thoughtful. Can you tell me if they were students?"

I am surprised the endocrinologist did not identify the individuals who accompanied him/her. Perhaps he/she did and everyone was too overwhelmed or stressed for it to register.

If you are ever in doubt about who is giving your or your loved ones care, ask! "Are you a nurse?" "Are you a doctor?" "Are you an aide?"

The ednocrinologist is the person who specializes in the hormones of the body. This would include such glands as the pancreas, adrenal grands, thyroid, pituitary. The endocrine system is the regulator of hormones and secretions that cause the body to metabolize food properly. It is complicated how it all works together but when it doesn't work properly you can have life threatening illnesses. Who each of these people are is not near so important as what they were there to accomplish and what the problem was that required surgery.