What to Do When Your Colleague Sees You as Competition

The Competitive Colleague in the Hospital: Hilarious, Toxic, or Just Plain Awkward? How to Deal When You’re Seen as a Threat

“Doctor vs. Doctor” – Not a New Marvel Movie, Just Your Daily Work Life

Let’s face it. Most of us didn’t sign up for a hospital soap opera when we got into medicine. We expected patients, protocols, and progress. What we didn’t expect was that the person side-eyeing us in morning rounds wouldn’t be a difficult patient… but a colleague. Yes, that colleague – the one who sees your growth as a threat, your success as sabotage, and your every step forward as a personal attack. Congratulations, you’ve just unlocked “The Competitive Colleague” level in the medical game.

So, what do you do when your medical peer sees you less as a teammate and more as competition for a nonexistent gold medal? Let’s dissect this professionally—but with the fun and sarcasm it deserves.

1. Recognize the Classic Signs of “Colleague Competitivitis”

Like any diagnosis, it begins with a good clinical history and observation. Symptoms your colleague might see you as a threat include:

• Passive-aggressive comments like “Oh, you read that paper too?”
  
  
• Sudden silence when you enter a room filled with laughter.
  
  
• Credit-snatching: “Actually, we discussed this idea last week, right?”
  
  
• Micro-monitoring your patients like you're part of an OSCE.
  
  
• Acting overly helpful when a consultant is around (performance anxiety?).
  

This condition often presents in one of three types:

• The Insecure Overachiever
  
  
• The Jealous Lateral Transfer
  
  
• The Friendly Firestarter (Smiles, then strikes)
  

It’s amusing until it’s not—and when patient care or your own mental well-being suffers, it’s time to treat it like any professional dilemma.

2. Self-Check: Are You the Problem? (Yes, we said it.)

Before you reach for the figurative stethoscope to diagnose your colleague, take a professional moment to reflect:

• Do you unintentionally dominate rounds?
  
  
• Are you often correcting others in public settings?
  
  
• Do you take on extra work that sidelines others?
  

If the answer to any of these is yes—even with good intentions—then maybe you need to tweak your approach. Being brilliant is great. But being brilliant and kind is legendary.

3. Don’t Compete. Collaborate—and Watch Them Get Confused

A competitive colleague expects you to bite back. Surprise them:

• Invite them to co-author a case study.
  
  
• Share resources or recent guidelines.
  
  
• Compliment them publicly when they do something right.
  

This doesn’t mean you become a doormat. It means you take the high road—professionally and strategically. When they realize you’re not playing their game, they might either retreat or (brace yourself) become an ally.

4. Laugh Internally (But Not Out Loud in Rounds)

Sometimes, the only sane reaction is humor. You’ll encounter colleagues who act like residency is Survivor. If they’re not directly harming you or patients, mentally turn their behavior into a sitcom script:

• “She brought cupcakes on ward audit day? Interesting pharmacological distraction.”
  
  
• “He corrected me in front of the professor... over a comma in the discharge summary? Oscars next.”
  

Humor is a shield—use it wisely.

5. Documentation is Not Just for Patient Notes

If things escalate beyond eye-rolls and start affecting evaluations, assignments, or your reputation, don’t be naïve:

• Keep a professional journal of incidents (time, date, witnesses).
  
  
• Save relevant emails or messages.
  
  
• Stick to written communication where possible for clarity and protection.
  

Documentation might sound paranoid—but in medicine, it’s called best practice.

6. Boundaries: Your Professional Oxygen Mask

Set them. Enforce them.

• Don’t stay late to cover for someone who tries to outshine you.
  
  
• Say “no” to non-urgent collaboration if it's clearly one-sided.
  
  
• Limit social interaction if it's turning into gossip or comparison wars.
  

Your time, focus, and energy should be reserved for patients and personal growth—not Cold War re-enactments in the break room.

7. Escalate Professionally, Not Emotionally

If behavior crosses the line into bullying, harassment, or patient-endangering behavior, escalate through the proper channels:

• Speak to your supervisor or program director calmly and factually.
  
  
• Use phrases like “I’ve observed a pattern that may be affecting team dynamics…”
  
  
• Avoid emotionally charged language like “jealous,” “toxic,” or “mean.”
  

You're not there to complain—you’re there to maintain a safe and respectful environment. That’s leadership, not drama.

8. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Kindness (Or Silence)

Sometimes, doing nothing is the most powerful move. Not every weird glance or petty remark needs a comeback.

• Silence when baited can disarm.
  
  
• Walking away from an ego show makes you look mature.
  
  
• Being consistently professional annoys the competitive more than confrontation ever will.
  

Your job isn’t to fix their insecurity. Your job is to stay focused.

9. Build Your Own Tribe in the Hospital

Not everyone is a competitor. Some are just trying to survive like you.

• Identify kind, hardworking colleagues.
  
  
• Vent carefully—choose those who listen, not those who stir.
  
  
• Create a circle where ideas are shared, not stolen.
  

Surround yourself with people who clap when you win. Not those who pretend not to notice.

10. Use the Fire as Fuel (Not for Revenge)

Let’s be real—being seen as a threat usually means you’re doing something right.

• Keep growing.
  
  
• Keep learning.
  
  
• Keep mentoring.
  
  
• Keep being visible… for the right reasons.
  

Remember, the best revenge is massive, respectful success.

11. When It’s Funny, Laugh—When It’s Not, Leave

Some competitive situations are textbook comedy. Others are corrosive.

If it becomes emotionally exhausting or is stalling your growth, it’s okay to:

• Request a rotation change.
  
  
• Seek a transfer.
  
  
• Even leave that institution altogether.
  

Your career is long. Your mental health is sacred. Don’t let a jealous colleague shrink your potential.

12. For the Love of Medicine, Let’s Normalize Collaboration

Imagine if we actually taught this in med school:

• How to build others up without fear of being replaced.
  
  
• How to celebrate a colleague’s success without comparing.
  
  
• How to give and receive feedback without turning it into a wrestling match.
  

Until then, keep being the colleague you wish others were.

13. Memorable (and Relatable) quotes We’ve All Heard in Hospitals:

• “Oh wow, you got into that program?”
  
  
• “I was going to present that topic next week.”
  
  
• “I didn’t think you had time for research with all your shifts.”
  
  
• “We were all top of our class... somewhere.”
  

Smile. Note it. And then let it go like a professional adult.

14. Final (Unspoken) Truths

• You can’t dim your light to comfort someone’s shadow.
  
  
• Professionalism doesn’t mean silence—it means strategy.
  
  
• Every hospital has that one person who thinks it’s The Hunger Games. Don’t become them.