Caring too much about appearance?

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Newyawk

Newyawk

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Im curious to know if anyone has any experience with somebody who was very into their appearance/presentation or who was visibly into fashion and how it turned out for them. Particularly referring to the wards as a student...

Just wanna make sure i dont appear too into myself as a student. Im not the type to wear crazy expensive clothing or bright colors but just trying to draw a good line. Would appreciate any insight! Thanks!
 
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Dress professionally, that's really all there is to it. Looking well put together provides a general air of "this person has their **** together," but I can think of many other things that are significantly more important in terms of your role as a medical student than your fashion sense.
 
DBV said:
Go away
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Classic shmuck comment. Im asking bc i had an attending comment on an aspect of my dress once when i was shadowing and i wasnt dressed unprofessionally.
 
As above, dress professionally and conservatively. Consider how your white coat may impact the outfit and also make sure it fits well and is clean and pressed. Staying appropriately conservative will limit your choices, but I do see people finding subtle ways to jazz things up. Shoes and accessories are where this seems to be easiest.

Truth is nobody will really notice anything unless you look especially bad. Throwing a short white coat over an ill fitted romper was one such example. Don’t be that kind of idiot.
 
Dress for the job you want.

Nothin’ but Ferragamo’s, white pants and flashy pocket squares for the prospective dermatologist or plastic surgeon.

Or partly untuck your shirt as though you forgot half, leave a middle shirt button undone and undo your laces on one shoe if anything IM is your thing.
 
operaman said:
As above, dress professionally and conservatively. Consider how your white coat may impact the outfit and also make sure it fits well and is clean and pressed. Staying appropriately conservative will limit your choices, but I do see people finding subtle ways to jazz things up. Shoes and accessories are where this seems to be easiest.

Truth is nobody will really notice anything unless you look especially bad. Throwing a short white coat over an ill fitted romper was one such example. Don’t be that kind of idiot.
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Im not a girl and i had no idea what a romper was before i googled it just now but wtf? Who would wear that on the wards?
 
Newyawk said:
Id prefer not to share for privacy reasons bc there were other med students in the room
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If you were wearing something that is so unique as to be identifiable on an anonymous internet forum, you probably shouldn't be wearing it on the wards. Probably a good basic standard...
 
Newyawk said:
Classic shmuck comment. Im asking bc i had an attending comment on an aspect of my dress once when i was shadowing and i wasnt dressed unprofessionally.
Click to expand...

Newyawk said:
Im not a girl and i had no idea what a romper was before i googled it just now but wtf? Who would wear that on the wards?
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Well, to start, maybe you should stop wearing dresses in the hospital then.
 
mimelim said:
If you were wearing something that is so unique as to be identifiable on an anonymous internet forum, you probably shouldn't be wearing it on the wards. Probably a good basic standard...
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Haha no it wasnt the article of clothing itself but the conversation was awkward so im sure people remember it. But thank you i like this rule.

edgerock24 said:
Well, to start, maybe you should stop wearing dresses in the hospital then.
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:laugh:
My bad
 
Newyawk said:
Im curious to know if anyone has any experience with somebody who was very into their appearance/presentation or who was visibly into fashion and how it turned out for them. Particularly referring to the wards as a student...

Just wanna make sure i dont appear too into myself as a student. Im not the type to wear crazy expensive clothing or bright colors but just trying to draw a good line. Would appreciate any insight! Thanks!
Click to expand...
Dress moderately fashionable but not too edgy and you'll look good on the wards. Some people take it too far and they just look like tools tho, gotta walk that fine line between professional good fashion and high fashion if you want to not look like an idiot on the wards.
 
Anything less than this would be an insult!

Hugh-Laurie-L-Or-al-Paris-Men-Expert-2011-Outtakes-hugh-laurie-28786522-500-375.jpg
 
Medicine is run by old white men. Dress to their standard even if you are not an old white man. This goes for anything you might verbalize as well. This seems to be lost on a lot of people. I have classmates that still don't understand this for some reason.
 
Most guys in this demographic who think they dress well in fact do not - bright electric colored button down shirts, weirdly shaped shoes at both extremes (square toed bricks vs looong pointy slip on monstrosities), etc.

Most people who are dressed well on the wards have a thoughtful but not ostentatious presentation. Well-fitting clothes with good fabrics, and no peacocking.
 
This is more for women than men, but dressing professionally will never, ever involve the same outfits as dressing for a night at the club.

The number of people including residents at my old hospital who thought professional dress was the same as clubbing attire was mind boggling and I'm far from being a prude.

For the guys, the biggest issues seem to be weird color combos and messy hair. I also don't understand the shoes thing with the super pointy toes or the super square toes. That has to be weird to walk in.
 
I knew a med student that would wear brightly colored leopard-print clubbing dresses with 6” high heels on the wards. The residents called her “the skirt”...

Don’t be that person.

Nothing wrong with taking pride in your appearance, but keep it professional.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
wholeheartedly said:
This is more for women than men, but dressing professionally will never, ever involve the same outfits as dressing for a night at the club.

The number of people including residents at my old hospital who thought professional dress was the same as clubbing attire was mind boggling and I'm far from being a prude.

For the guys, the biggest issues seem to be weird color combos and messy hair. I also don't understand the shoes thing with the super pointy toes or the super square toes. That has to be weird to walk in.
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*looks at shoes*

*sighs in relief*
 
I think it matters to some degree. Every once in awhile, I think even the pickiest of patients/attendings notice. For example, in our practice interviews at school, the patient-actor rates us following the interaction with one question asking specifically if the student's appearance was distracting. Some of my female colleagues have been rated lower if their nail polish was chipped while some male colleagues have been told that their beard needed trimmed and their shoes needed to be less-casual.

You're not going to appease everyone, but at least always adhere to the basics of professionalism. If someone comments, awkwardly smile back at them while having an internal panic attack because that's all you can do.
 
SpartanWolverine said:
Hmmm... Are you one of those people who wear their pants like capris? I can see how a conservative physician would find it mockable.
JDmgLaT.png
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His capris pants are not nearly as alarming to me as the fact that that man needs a 24 oz porterhouse yesterday.
 
obgyny said:
I knew a med student that would wear brightly colored leopard-print clubbing dresses with 6” high heels on the wards. The residents called her “the skirt”...

Don’t be that person.

Nothing wrong with taking pride in your appearance, but keep it professional.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...

If she was on my service, would definitely give her 10/10 evaluation for brightening my day. no pun intended. No weinstein.
 
I feel like everyone makes a big deal about "trying too hard," or whatever but I gotta say, I wish some of my med student peers tried a little. I think it says a lot about you as a human if you can brush your hair, put on an unwrinkled shirt and have good posture.

It seems pretty intuitive to put in the most basic work to look presentable but it seems like at my school, esp with females who want to be "taken seriously", dressing and looking sloppy is a badge of honor. Kinda childish if you ask me.

Ps I am a female and I'm sort of sick of being judged by the aforementioned females for caring to look presentable in front of patients, SPs and attendings. Totally possible the ****ty attitude only exists at my particular school though
 
Funny story: I have a kinda no fks given attitude in life. Works most of the time if you are a sly talker and can make jokes on the fly. Anyways, it always pissed me off that we had to dress up for clinics and inpatient so one day during my inpatient IM rotation I said screw it and wore these bright blue scrubs. The attending came in and all the other medical students were dressed up and stuff and she looked at my scrubs and said: wow those scrubs look great. She was not the type of lady to lie and be sarcastic either. She legit complimented me on my damn scrubs. Next day everyone was wearing scrubs even the residents. That was my favorite med school victory. Case in point: wear whatever the hell you want but when you do: fking own it.
 
Tenk said:
Funny story: I have a kinda no fks given attitude in life. Works most of the time if you are a sly talker and can make jokes on the fly. Anyways, it always pissed me off that we had to dress up for clinics and inpatient so one day during my inpatient IM rotation I said screw it and wore these bright blue scrubs. The attending came in and all the other medical students were dressed up and stuff and she looked at my scrubs and said: wow those scrubs look great. She was not the type of lady to lie and be sarcastic either. She legit complimented me on my damn scrubs. Next day everyone was wearing scrubs even the residents. That was my favorite med school victory. Case in point: wear whatever the hell you want but when you do: fking own it.
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Uh so my furry costume is ok? Maybe a bikini?
 
One young attending I used to see around at my old job had the most peculiar, exactly perfect strand by strand hair part every single day. It looked like he individually lined each hair separately with a comb so fine you could marry it, then covered his head in oil. Needless to say, it stood out to me as pretty bizarre. It was just way too clean! Looked... just not right.

I once caught him looking at his hair in the reflection of some glass. It made me feel dirty.
 
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