Birkenstocks on rotations

[witzelsucht]

Would anyone care to comment regarding if shoes like the birkenstock london or maine would be appropriate for medicine rotations? I'm in love with my sandals, and considering getting one of these styles for next year; but I'm not really willing to spend $150 if they would be considered grossly inappropriate.

http://www.zappos.com/birkenstock-london-habana-oiled-leather

http://www.zappos.com/birkenstock-maine-mocha-suede

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[K31]

Either of those would absolutely be fine. I'd lean toward the second one for shirt-and-tie type of rotations.

 

[DreamingTheLive]

hideous, but most likely acceptable (sadly).

 

[batch5000]

Wear dress shoes on your rotations. You might as well come in with a Hawaiian shirt if you are going to wear sandals.

 

[cabinbuilder]

Would anyone care to comment regarding if shoes like the birkenstock london or maine would be appropriate for medicine rotations? I'm in love with my sandals, and considering getting one of these styles for next year; but I'm not really willing to spend $150 if they would be considered grossly inappropriate.

http://www.zappos.com/birkenstock-london-habana-oiled-leather

http://www.zappos.com/birkenstock-maine-mocha-suede

You cannot wear open toes shoes in a hospital. What happens if you get stepped on, a needle falls on your foot and infects you? What if you get blood or vomit or urine or sputum, or stool on your socks? The nursing staff alone will send you home. Wear the proper, closed shoes for rotations.

The ones you chose are really ugly. I would get something with a harder shell like Dansko's to protect your feet. Those don't seem very sturdy. If you spend 12 hrs in the OR on cement floors your feet are going to kill you for sure.

 

[kindasorta]

I can't foresee a problem.

 

[witzelsucht]

Whoa whoa! No one's talking about wearing sandals! Both styles I posted are closed toe. Now, as DreamingTheLive correctly pointed out, they are indeed hideous.

I know that on surgery rotations you can wear danskos and other odd appearing shoes, but my question pertained more to the shirt-and-tie type situations. Now, assuming I am an otherwise clean cut and appropriately dressed individual, I just wanted to know if the oxford-looking Birks (maine) would be ok.

Kindasorta seems to have provided the best answer, via his pictorial response. I interpret his post as saying that while I would not likely be told to go home and change into a properly fitted pair of Allen Edmonds, it would be perceived negatively and possibly reflect poorly in evaluations. While I certainly have never partaken in recreational use of marihuana or other chemical agents of the sort, I would not want to be categorized as a filthy hippy solely because I have absurdly high arches.

 

[Doctor Bob]

There is nothing wrong with those shoes. So long as they conform to your hospital's shoe policy, it is unlikely people will think less/more of you based on your choice of footwear.

I think Red from Shawshank Redemption said it best... "Andy did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The guard simply didn't notice. Neither did I...I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes"

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

The first pair is horrible and, closed toe or not, immediately recognizable as Birkenstocks.

The second pair is merely ugly but, given the poor fashion tastes of most med students, likely will blend in.

 

[tco]

Dear god but are those awful.

 

[themp]

I'm a male and I wore a pair of Birkenstock shoes (London I think in brown leather, don't go with suede because you'll want to be able to clean them off easily) during my surgical rotations and absolutely loved them. You have to break them in - they hurt a bit for the first week or two, but after they form to your feet and you get used to them they are perfect. I tried a lot of different shoes to try and find a comfortable alternative to Danskos, even tried a pair of the Nike freerun shoes, but nothing was ever as comfortable as the Birkenstocks. I highly recommend them. I also wore SmartWool "StandUp" light compression socks, which I also highly recommend; they help prevent leg cramps, they're very comfortable, soft, and quite warm. I was on my feet for about 40 hours straight during a couple of transplants and all and all, my feet and legs felt pretty good after.

As for looks, yea they're clog-like and don't look wonderful, but they're about 1000x times better looking than Danskos, especially if you're a guy. They actually kind of grew on me, I might even wear them out with a pair of jeans if they weren't covered in blood and god knows what else. I never wore them with khakis or anything other than scrubs but I'm sure they'd be more than dressy enough for clinic if I cleaned them up. As long as your shoes aren't sandals or bright white tennis shoes, no one is going to care (or notice) if you have a pair of wingtips on or not; as for your evals, as long as you are on time and know your ****, you will be fine.

 

[LovelyBRass]

Whoa whoa! No one's talking about wearing sandals! Both styles I posted are closed toe. Now, as DreamingTheLive correctly pointed out, they are indeed hideous.

I know that on surgery rotations you can wear danskos and other odd appearing shoes, but my question pertained more to the shirt-and-tie type situations. Now, assuming I am an otherwise clean cut and appropriately dressed individual, I just wanted to know if the oxford-looking Birks (maine) would be ok.

Kindasorta seems to have provided the best answer, via his pictorial response. I interpret his post as saying that while I would not likely be told to go home and change into a properly fitted pair of Allen Edmonds, it would be perceived negatively and possibly reflect poorly in evaluations. While I certainly have never partaken in recreational use of marihuana or other chemical agents of the sort, I would not want to be categorized as a filthy hippy solely because I have absurdly high arches.

People wear gross comfort shoes with every dressy outift. I was inspired to buy Danskos by seeing girls wear those clogs with dresses. Plenty of guys wear them with their dress shirts too. I've noticed that in Medicine, people sort of see a pair of hideous shoes (like clogs or birkenstocks) with dress clothes as acceptably fashionable anyway.

My suggestion is to get a pair of black Dansko clogs and never think about your shoes again. I wear these in black with every outfit and I'm happy: http://www.amazon.com/Dansko-Womens...=1360799628&sr=8-5&keywords=dansko+mary+janes

 

[batch5000]

Here is a better idea:

Something with a little style to it.

 

[xtina0]

I LOVE my birkenstocks I mostly wear them with scrubs rarely IF I have dress pants on. THey are so comfortable even in the OR for 10 hours on your feet you feel nothing. They are also awesome to run errands in as well