chief of staff
8
3.6
- noun
- /tʃif əv stæf/
:
director médico
- former chief of staff
- deputy chief of staff
- chief of staff of the hospital
Examples
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Chief of staff of some big hospital, he tells me.
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For instance, after the dissident Republicans known as the Real IRA murdered a Catholic police officer in April, "Shinner" Deputy Prime Minister Martin McGuinness, a one-time chief of staff of the Provisional IRA, urged people to provide the police with information.
Academic text (2011) -
Dr. Sarah Thompson was appointed as the chief of staff at the City Hospital, where she oversees all medical staff and ensures high clinical standards.
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The new chief of staff of the university hospital has implemented new procedures for better patient care.
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As chief of staff, Dr. Martinez is responsible for the medical governance of the entire hospital department.
Synonyms
20
3.0
A person who leads a department in a company or school
Antonyms
How Experienced
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'chief' (leader) + 'of' (possessive) + 'staff' (employees) combine in a straightforward compositional way so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer it means the head or leader of the staff. Domain-specific nuances (e.g., in a hospital it refers to the senior physician) require context, but the core meaning 'leader/head of staff' is transparently derivable and cross-linguistically common.
Etymology
Chief of staff in hospitals follows the same idea: a chief, the top doctor, and the staff, the group of doctors and nurses who work with them. That's why the title means the senior doctor 'in charge of' the medical team.