I guess there are some attendings who do wear white coats, but nobody where I work does. I'm just thinking about it and I truly don't think I've been to a doctor who wore a white coat in a while.
What do you think? Should attendings wear white coats?
White coats are fine for attendings if they are in scrubs all day doing procedures. It's a little strange and unnecessary if they are just in clinic seeing patients.
ReplyDeleteagree
DeleteThere are a few old school docs that work in our ER that wear a coat, ones white, one Dr wears a navy blue one?... They dont wear scrubs and it looks ok. Were rural so theres only 1 doc in the ED.
ReplyDeleteI think it may be an age thing. All of the older physicians seem to wear a white coat whereas the younger ones don't. At least in my shadowing experience.
ReplyDeleteConsidering white coats are pretty nasty, I'm glad attendings don't wear them.
ReplyDeleteWe are encouraged NOT to wear them, from an infection control standpoint, and I am perfectly happy with that! Those sleeves, ick!
ReplyDeleteI also don't need any additional items to launder.
Interesting. The entire UK has banned white coats in hospitals, and it seems to have done some good.
DeleteAll of my (myriad of doctors) wear white coats. It's so wierd.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the white coat seems old school. Looking at this is getting me excited for my white coat ceremony though! : )
ReplyDeleteThe only people that wore white coats at the clinic I used to work at were PAs and nurses
ReplyDeleteAll the non-medical staff at a cancer institute (attached to a hospital)I used to work at wore white coats. Lab staff, even the people who wheeled the mail cart around. Until,one day, one of the mail-ladies was badly beaten up between buildings by a psych patient who had tried 3 times to get admitted through emerg and been turned away each time. I guess he saw a white coat and thought the mail-lady had some kind of power.
ReplyDeleteAfter that, the non-medical staff stopped wearing white coats.
The fact that the attendings didnt wear white coats made my life easier as a med student. Sometimes I would be asked to get HIV results (in my med school they didnt keep them in the computer but rather one had to visit some lab desk where they would hand out a print out) or to check out films, etc. They would normally hassle med students looking for this or refuse to honor med student requests at all. I would just take off my coat and put it aside and, like magic, the staff just assumed I was an attending and gave me what I asked for.
ReplyDeleteWere you an... older student?
DeleteYeah, that's what I was thinking, Anon. I never could have gotten away with that. If I took off my white coat, they'd have thought I was some high school kid who was shadowing or something.
DeleteI was 29 during 3rd year clerkships, older but not that much older.
ReplyDeleteIf I see a patient, I'm going to be taking them to the OR in 5 min. Or going back to the OR to see another patient. It would get lost in no time.
ReplyDeleteI actually have never seen a doctor with a white coat on . . all of them have then hung on their chairs or somewhere in the corner. . except on TV . . all the doctors seem to be wearing then on TV
ReplyDeleteDidn't some study get published recently showing all the things that grow on white coat sleeves??
ReplyDeletewhite coats are great for spreading diseases from patient to patient and it drives me crazy to see minimeds milling around outside hospitals wearing them with stethoscope slung over shoulder for extra effect - down with white coats
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to over-think this one and dive into the discussion!
ReplyDeleteI'm an intern. This cartoon is hilarious!! Period!
LMAO! DocJoe