The Hospital Dress Code Is A Joke

Hoover  15 Aug, 2007  The Wards

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.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Did you enjoy this post? If so, consider subscribing to my full RSS feed and adding MSH to your Technorati Favorites.

Related Posts

18 Comments so far »

  1. The Lone Coyote said

    August 16 2007 @ 3:43 pm

    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.

  2. Rikard said

    September 1 2007 @ 5:04 pm

    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.

  3. H said

    September 11 2007 @ 8:29 am

    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.

  4. Hoover said

    September 12 2007 @ 2:19 pm

    But if you’re only putting in a 14 hour day

    Hmm, am I the only one that sees anything wrong with that?

  5. mo said

    March 4 2008 @ 4:52 am

    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.

  6. Hoover said

    March 4 2008 @ 6:01 pm

    Nicely stated mo. If I was a sick patient on the wards, I could give two shits about how the staff are dressed.

  7. LifeSucks said

    April 1 2008 @ 3:10 am

    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.

  8. Serena said

    April 20 2008 @ 12:37 pm

    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.

  9. Jaylynn said

    April 20 2008 @ 11:25 pm

    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.

  10. reva said

    April 25 2008 @ 6:10 pm

    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.

  11. Amy said

    April 26 2008 @ 12:05 am

    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!

  12. Nathan said

    April 26 2008 @ 2:07 am

    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

  13. fred gates said

    May 1 2008 @ 6:11 am

    After doing a bi-manual pelvic on a lady with leucorrhea, one of our class learned about bow ties.

  14. Jason said

    May 20 2008 @ 11:21 am

    Agreed… who cares about the way you’re dressed.

  15. Ralph Cramden said

    May 22 2008 @ 2:58 am

    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!

  16. Mary Pilly (MD) said

    June 7 2008 @ 10:43 am

    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.

  17. eaglesfillthesky said

    June 28 2008 @ 7:50 pm

    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.

  18. Med School Hell » If I Were Your Attending said

    September 14 2008 @ 1:58 am

    […] Business attire in the hospital is stupid. Wear scrubs on my service if you like. If you want to pimp your nicest suit, I don’t give a fuck. […]

Comment RSS · TrackBack URI

Leave a comment

Name: (Required)

Email: (Required - will never be shown)

Website:

Comment: