Mexico, Services, Senior Authority

Orders from the Attending Physicians

The internal rules for medical residencies at the Hospital General Dr. Manuel Gea González require residents to “cumplir debidamente las órdenes de los profesores o médicos adscritos” (duly carry out the orders of the professors or attending physicians). The official standard for medical residencies, NOM-001-SSA-2023, places the work of residents under the direction and supervision of the head professor, the adjunct professors and the head of service.

In 2022, a representative of medical interns described their training to Expansión Política as “una estructura bastante rígida, híper jerárquica” (a quite rigid, hyper-hierarchical structure). The physician and lawyer Mauricio Sarmiento, quoted in the same article, gave an example: the attending physicians use the elevator, and the residents and the interns do not.

Originally the Minister’s

Article 16 of Mexico’s Organic Law of the Federal Public Administration assigns the handling and resolution of the matters of each ministry to its head. The article begins: “Corresponde originalmente a los titulares de las Secretarías de Estado” (It belongs originally to the heads of the ministries). The heads may delegate powers to officials below them. Some powers cannot be delegated and must be exercised by the heads themselves.

Those Who Direct Bind the Employer

Article 11 of Mexico’s Federal Labor Law names the people who represent the employer: “Los directores, administradores, gerentes y demás personas que ejerzan funciones de dirección o administración” (the directors, administrators, managers and other persons who perform functions of direction or administration). In that capacity, the article says, they bind the employer in its relations with the workers.

For Your Superior Knowledge

The municipal government of Puebla has issued a guide for the official letters, memos and circulars of its departments. Each document carries the initials of the person who wrote it and of the person who validates it. The copies are listed in hierarchical order. The copy to the municipal president carries the formula “Para su superior conocimiento” (For your superior knowledge).