I remember my first day on inpatient rotations. I woke up, showered, and then put on dress slacks, a dress shirt and tie. After looking in the mirror, I knew I was dressed more appropriately for a business sales presentation than bouncing around on the wards.
Even though it didn’t feel right, I did it anyway. Students, residents, and attending physicians dress up for the wards because it’s been done since the beginning formalized patient care.
Just because everybody does it doesn’t mean it’s the most practical thing to do. Do patients really care what their physician wears when they come to see them on rounds? Without a doubt, some do.
Does this mean that you should cater to your patients’ expectations 100% of the time? Hell no.
Business attire is not practical for the hospital inpatient setting, bottom line.
Let’s consider an inpatient medicine rotation. Many procedures are done on a daily basis, which often result in some type of bodily fluid coming into contact with your freshly-pressed dress shirt. You’re on your feet most of the day, and a comfortable pair of tennis shoes or Crocs makes more sense than dress shoes. Neckties harbor bacteria — they are not necessary.
Inpatient ward medicine is suited for scrubs, and not only while on-call. Wearing business attire and changing into something more appropriate each time you need to do a procedure is tedious and unnecessary. Although business attire presents an aura of professionalism to the patient, physicians need to start thinking more about practicality and less about what other people think of what they have on.
Agreed. It makes no sense whatsoever. I had one team that did not care if we wore scrubs everyday and it just made life a lot easier.
In Sweden, scrubs are compulsory for all hospital employees who see patients. I think only psychiatrists are allowed to wear any other attire. On a side note, everyone wears the same color scrubs (doctors, nurses, PA’s etc.), white ones. Only surgeons wear green or blue.
Id disagree on some of that … most procedures, scrubs or not, require that you wear a gown, which completely covers your clothing. Shoes, yes, youve gotta wear something comfortable – Danskos or certain other cloth shoes look fine with dress clothes. But if you’re only putting in a 14 hour day, I feel that there is no big impracticality in wearing a nice shirt and slacks (tie is debatable given the bacteria), rather, there are many positives. A shirt and tie does not imply business; rather, a willingness to dress well can often send a message of preparedness, professionalism, and respect (for pts and colleagues alike). For many patients, the presentation alone makes them feel more confident in their physician. For colleagues, it can give the medical team a sense of pride … at least at my institution.
Hmm, am I the only one that sees anything wrong with that?
I wish some of these people would put the crack pipe down. Patients LOVE seeing their doctor in scrubs. Any fool knows this. Doctors on the TV wear scrubs. Patients expect that doctors in real life should look like doctors on the TV.
Ties and dress shirts are for your family doctor in his private office.
If you are sick enough to be in a hospital you want the staff to look like they work in a hospital.
Scrubs mean urgency, a suit and tie means I need a refill for my birth control and an allergy shot.
Inpatients want urgency every damn time.
Nicely stated mo. If I was a sick patient on the wards, I could give two shits about how the staff are dressed.
Totally agree with you on this…as well as the majority of your site for that matter. If I have to stay in the hospital to eat, sleep, breathe, live, and never see the sun at least let me wear my MD pajamas aka. scrubs.
I don’t care what my doctors wear ever. I care how they treat me. I care that they know what they are doing. I care that they understand that I know me and my body better than anyone else because I am with it 24/7. I care that they understand that just because I didn’t go to medical school doesn’t mean that I am not an intelligent human being capable of thought, and able to read, research and understand. But I don’t care one bit what they decide to put on in the morning as long as it is clean.
exactly serena i agree with you100%
Suit and tie can also present an aura of arrogance. I see no need for them frankly. As a nurse and several times a patient, I’m more interested in the care I receive and the interest the physician has in my condition. Many times I heard patients remark that they thought their Doc looked like he/she was going to a party and felt intimidated by the attire. Believe me, when you’re ill and suffering the last thing you think about is whether your Doc is wearing a suit and tie.
I agree with you completely in this matter.
i understand wearing scrubs for in patient situation. my objection is that people are lulled into a feeling that “i am wearing scrubs” No one would change between patients. i would rather see the gown on top. i know they will discard and wear a new one for each patient.
When I entered med school, I didn’t realize I would have to dress up for rotations, LOL.
When I have been really sick, I don’t think I have ever noticed what my doctor was wearing. I think something that’s clean and doesn’t look like you slept in it would suffice- and even that doesn’t always happen when you’re on call!
Most people forget that in addition to seeing patients some doctors also have to go to meeting and may even bounce back and forth between their office and the hospital. While scrubs are great for surgeons and other hospital personal they are not practical for all.
-Nate
After doing a bi-manual pelvic on a lady with leucorrhea, one of our class learned about bow ties.
Agreed… who cares about the way you’re dressed.
Hey everybody! Greetings. Hope I can post here even tho I’m not a med student or doctor or anything like that. I am the next best thing: a surviving cancer patient! Therefore, I think that small fact gives me the right to say this: After my surgery, I was completely “out of it” because it (the surgery) lasted almost 5 hours, and I was still drugged up. During this time, many “auguste” and prominent persons in suits (mostly doctors and hospital admins) came to see me, and to hold lengthy decidedly one-sided conversations with me about what I don’t know. I do recall 2 things about that time, the people who came to me in suits were clearly NOT doctors (to my addled drugged brain) and the ones who wore scrubs, with masks around their necks were. Moral of this story: In a suit, to a drugged out or seriously sick patient people in business attire are not doctors. We don’t know who the hell they are, but they aren’t doctors!
I was trained in a foreign country and what they taught me is that if you were going to be working
in the ward all day you were to wear scrubs and comfortable shoes, ER/Labor/Delivery always scrubs and
comfortable non-slippery shoes. Now in Clinics ALWAYS
DRESS IN SLACKS, DRESS/SKIRTS, HIGH HEELS are not necessary, BUT SNEAKERS ARE NOT ALLOWED
(JUST AS IF YOU WERE IN YOUR PRIVATE OFFICE).
I work in one of the best hospitals in NYC and believe me it is shameful the way some residents come to clinics I have already heard some patients comment
about it. I really think that even if people are sick they do care about the way their doctors look.
I had a vascular surgery rotation where the doc made us where shoes. no sneakers. made absolutely no sense (most of our time was in the or with shoe covers on), and we were always in scrubs, and shoes look ridiculous with scrubs on. but that was his thing: shoes.
Pingback: Med School Hell » If I Were Your Attending
My hero!
I think that dressing up is kinda dumb. Your clothing is not indicative of intelligence. I heard people say that the patient wants professional attire on their doctor or else they wont trust the doctor and they need to be comfortable with the doctor, or they might not tell the doctor their whole story, or they might not come back. Well if they dont tell the doc the whole story, or if they dont come back, whose problem is that?
In the veterinary world we get to wear our scrubs around the hospital. Not if we’re dealing with cattle of horses obviously, but with the smaller patients. We’re supposed to wear a labcoat for a ‘professional look’ when talking to clients though.
It’s not a bad deal. With scrubs and a stethescope everyone assumes you know what you’re talking about.
“But if you’re only putting in a 14 hour day”
“Hmm, am I the only one that sees anything wrong with that?”
I was thinking the same thing when I read that!
That 14 hour day comment jumped out at me as well.
Gosh, those slackers that only do 13 hours. They will never learn the way “we learned” when we had to do 15 hours for 8 years in a row. Blahblahblah…
Somewhat disagree as I have the “dress for the level of professionalism of your job” clan. As I feel physicians are generally regarded as the most honest, trusted, and overall professional members of a community, I think they should dress as such. That being said, if you are on call, post call, performing procedures, scrub attire is more appropriate for you and your patients.
As for those who post they never pay attention to what their doctor is wearing, I feel they are in the minority. The most professionally-dressed person will always be viewed more intelligent and honest than an less professionally-dressed colleague. This has been replicated time and time again. Unfortunately, perception does matter. The medical students and physicians who wear shirts that are too big and pants that are too long with a tie in an awkwardly-thin knot will always give off an aura of “good enough.”
I think the bottom line is there are times to wear scrubs and time to dress in a way that represents the integrity of your profession. A dying AIDS patient probably won’t care what you look like, but their relatives probably will (whether you admit it or care).
I think everyone in a hospital needs to wear business attire and a labcoat, unless you’re in surgery. It reminds everyone that you are a professional with years of education and training. More precisely, a PHYSICIAN.
Even though I’m just a lowly cardiovascular technology student (for now…I hope to go to med school after earning my bachelor’s and become an interventional cardiologist and cardiac imaging specialist), I’m going to wear a shirt and tie and labcoat (that says Douglas I. Pereira RDCS CCT/Cardiovascular Technology) when in practice at the hospital, to make my patient feel that they are under the care of a professional, not some guy that operates the ECHO machine. If I assist in pericardiocentesis, I’ll wear a surgical gown over my clothes.
Besides, it makes me look nice…scrubs make me look fat. I also don’t want to have to change my clothes when my shift is over and I go to classes.
You dress up, so the ones who like nice shoes and tie feel less vain about their choice in attire. That is the truth. Everything else is rationalization.
My hero! You sound like a cool person.
Good points all around. Truly apperctiead.
This particular e- cigarette offers a person
with a much better option. Quite a few related authorities put electric
cigarettes under a lots of criticism. An online electronic cigarette review will certainly feature that the battery packs of these devices
could be charged for various periods of time.