MD & DO Do's and Don't's of scrub attire as a med student?

[aldol16]

I would say the answer to OP's question depends on the context and how much OP cares about what others think.

Staying conservative and being the best dressed as the med student is always the best rule. What that means is that I would never wear scrubs to clinic. Even when the attending/residents do it, I would strive to always be in a shirt and tie as a male. The attendings/residents are not at your level and you aren't there yet. When you're a resident, maybe you can start doing that. When you do wear scrubs (e.g., inpatient medicine may be appropriate, emergency department may be appropriate, etc.), I would strive to wear only the hospital issued scrubs. It keeps you from coming off as pretentious to anybody else. You want to blend in, not stick out for whatever scrubs you're wearing. Again, same rule. Even if the attending is wearing figs, you should try to be the most conservative and attract the least attention.

Obviously the context matters. If you're on a rotation where you don't really care about the evaluation or don't really care what they say about you, then you are free to wear whatever you want. Just don't come in something so egregious that you get written up for professionalism.

Oh, and scrubs with your name embroidered on it are definitely a no-no.

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[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Staying conservative and being the best dressed as the med student is always the best rule. What that means is that I would never wear scrubs to clinic.

I think in general this is good advice, but it’s highly dependent on the setting. For almost all of my rotations so far, if I didn’t show up for clinic with scrubs on, I would be told to go change and it would look like I couldn’t follow directions.

 

[7331poas]

I think in general this is good advice, but it’s highly dependent on the setting. For almost all of my rotations so far, if I didn’t show up for clinic with scrubs on, I would be told to go change and it would look like I couldn’t follow directions.

Alternatively, I have never seen a student wear scrubs to a clinic here. In fact one student i know of was "talked to" for showing up in scrubs. Never seen an attending work their own clinic in scrubs now that I think about it.

 

[AlmostAnMD]

Personalized embroider scrubs for students are....wow.

I used hospital scrubs during med school/residency. My job gave me really fancy ones as an attending. Never paid for any scrubs, ever

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Alternatively, I have never seen a student wear scrubs to a clinic here. In fact one student i know of was "talked to" for showing up in scrubs. Never seen an attending work their own clinic in scrubs now that I think about it.

Hence the “it’s highly dependent on the setting” part of my post. The only clinic I’ve worked in so far that people weren’t in scrubs was peds.

 

[pawprint]

I don’t know why people care if someone has embroidered scrubs. Why is that a big deal? To be clear, I don’t own any, but definitely would not care if someone spent money on that or not. I work in the military setting so it’s either navy-issued scrubs or my uniform for me. But in the times I’ve worked at civilian hospitals, working with someone having embroidered scrubs tells me absolutely nothing about the person. For all I know, they were a gift. I think it says more about the person judging them and how insecure they are than it would on the student.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I don’t know why people care if someone has embroidered scrubs. Why is that a big deal? To be clear, I don’t own any, but definitely would not care if someone spent money on that or not. I work in the military setting so it’s either navy-issued scrubs or my uniform for me. But in the times I’ve worked at civilian hospitals, working with someone having embroidered scrubs tells me absolutely nothing about the person. For all I know, they were a gift. I think it says more about the person judging them and how insecure they are than it would on the student.

I work in Navy hospitals too, and I’ve worn my own scrubs a bunch of times. Just depends on the service. People are saying not to get embroidered scrubs because like it or not, many people will judge you for it. And as a student, you should not be doing anything to set yourself up to be looked at in a negative light.

 

[mcat_taker]

Really? Most comfortable scrubs I have worn are the generic baggy surgical scrubs that come out of our machine. I guess for some a tighter fitting jogger is more comfortable?

Agreed. I hate the idea of paying for scrubs and how scrubs have now become this high fashion thing cause of FIGS. I don't even like the fit of figs and almost never wear the pair that I have which I now regret buying. To me it looks weird to have "high end" scrubs when you're working kinda goes against the entire idea of scrubs.

At every hospital I've been at the stock free scrubs have always been super comfortable.

 

[mdphd123j]

Don't most hospitals require you to have your scrubs laundered on-site? If you buy FIGS, is there any way to comply with the rule but also have your specific pair of scrubs get back to you?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Don't most hospitals require you to have your scrubs laundered on-site? If you buy FIGS, is there any way to comply with the rule but also have your specific pair of scrubs get back to you?

Depends on the hospital and the service.

 

[ciestar]

Don't most hospitals require you to have your scrubs laundered on-site? If you buy FIGS, is there any way to comply with the rule but also have your specific pair of scrubs get back to you?

Mine doesnt. Only exceptions are OB and surgery and you have to use hospital scrubs for those.

 

[aldol16]

I think in general this is good advice, but it’s highly dependent on the setting. For almost all of my rotations so far, if I didn’t show up for clinic with scrubs on, I would be told to go change and it would look like I couldn’t follow directions.

It's never wrong to show up the first day dressed well unless you are explicitly told otherwise prior. If on the first day you are told that you should wear scrubs to clinic, then you wear scrubs to clinic for the rest of the rotation. That's following directions. I don't see how it's not following directions to show up to clinic with scrubs on unless you are told explicitly not to.

 

[Chelsea FC]

First day show up dressed well and tone it down based on how everyone else is dressed or feedback that you get from attendings/residents. Heck, you can even ask before your first day or during your first shift. If you continue wearing formal attire after being told to wear scrubs then you will be disliked. If you show up to clinic wearing scrubs without asking if scrubs are appropriate then you may also be disliked (however this is obviously attending dependent). My future attending self would not be happy if a medical student showed up to my outpatient clinic in scrubs.

So u would dislike a medical student for wearing scrubs without him/her being explicitly told not to?? You know tons of outpatient clinics people wear scrubs.. Disliking someone for such a small thing is so dumb . Disappointed when I see med students and residents turn into the same thing they hated during their training. Like we don’t have enough BS to worry about than to play these games. Be better than the toxic culture you saw.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

It's never wrong to show up the first day dressed well unless you are explicitly told otherwise prior. If on the first day you are told that you should wear scrubs to clinic, then you wear scrubs to clinic for the rest of the rotation. That's following directions. I don't see how it's not following directions to show up to clinic with scrubs on unless you are told explicitly not to.

I agree with that. You said that students should dress nice for clinic even if residents and attendings are wearing scrubs, as the student should always be the best dressed. You literally said to never wear scrubs to clinic as a student. That’s what I was responding to.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

So u would dislike a medical student for wearing scrubs without him/her being explicitly told not to?? You know tons of outpatient clinics people wear scrubs.. Disliking someone for such a small thing is so dumb . Disappointed when I see med students and residents turn into the same thing they hated during their training. Like we don’t have enough BS to worry about than to play these games. Be better than the toxic culture you saw.

For real. It’s amazing how quickly people forget.

 

[Chelsea FC]

Toxic? Playing games? How quickly I've forgotten where I came from? Becoming what I hated during training? The two of you are making some pretty hefty claims.

I'm very well aware that many outpatient clinic providers wear scrubs. I'm also very well aware that many outpatient providers come to their clinic in a shirt, trousers, tie, and pressed white coat with high-shined dress shoes, particularly in the dermatology world. My personal belief is that every medical student/resident should present to their first clinic shift with the assumption that their attending will be the latter. If you're wrong, and your preceptor is wearing pink Figs joggers, a Patagonia and a do-rag then sure do whatever the f you want for the rest of your rotation. My opinion of this has not changed from my first day of medical school, so no I have not forgotten where I came from and become the person that I've always hated. Great feedback though, guys.

My point stands. Be better! Disliking a medical student for something as simple as this is part of the toxic culture of medical school. It’s your personal opinion, tell the student about it from day one or put it in your course description. If he doesn’t comply then you can form an opinion about them.

 

[mcat_taker]

Medical students should never assume scrubs are ok. Show up the first day dressed in clinic clothes unless told otherwise beforehand. Then dress the way the majority is dressing the following day. Read the room. It’s really not that hard.

more often than not everyone will be wearing clinic clothes in clinic unless it’s surgery or OBGYN. And even then the attendings will usually wear clinic clothes while the residents wear scrubs. Your resident should be able to help you by telling you what to wear after your first day. Some attendings want med students in clinic clothes. Some don’t care.

at my old job you could always spot a medical student because they are usually the best dressed people in the hospital.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

It’s really not that hard.

It’s not. I’m not sure why people are making this complicated. The thread isn’t even about this. Every site is different. In some you will wear scrubs in clinic. In others you won’t. Just do what you’re expected to do.

 

[aldol16]

I agree with that. You said that students should dress nice for clinic even if residents and attendings are wearing scrubs, as the student should always be the best dressed. You literally said to never wear scrubs to clinic as a student. That’s what I was responding to.

I see. So then obviously if someone tells you to do something, then do that thing. But if the attending and residents are in scrubs and they do not tell you that you can wear scrubs, keep being the best dressed.

 

[Smurfette]

So u would dislike a medical student for wearing scrubs without him/her being explicitly told not to?? You know tons of outpatient clinics people wear scrubs.. Disliking someone for such a small thing is so dumb . Disappointed when I see med students and residents turn into the same thing they hated during their training. Like we don’t have enough BS to worry about than to play these games. Be better than the toxic culture you saw.

I think it is a big assumption on a student's part to show up in scrubs to the office without checking that it's ok first. It's not necessarily a "dislike" for a petty reason thing, it's a "make a good first impression" thing. If you show up inappropriately dressed, you are doing yourself a disservice. You want to look the part. It's harder to dig yourself out of a hole than to maintain a good impression. If unsure, dress up but bring a pair of scrubs with you to change into. Then you look both prepared and adaptable. 😉 My med school straight up told us prior to rotations to never show up wearing scrubs until we were told it was ok.

 

[hiiiiiiiiiii]

I see. So then obviously if someone tells you to do something, then do that thing. But if the attending and residents are in scrubs and they do not tell you that you can wear scrubs, keep being the best dressed.

I'd show up in dress clothes the first day but change to scrubs the second day (maybe third) if everyone else in scrubs. Otherwise you'll just look like a try hard and stick out even more than you already do as a med student. This approach has done nothing but get me good evals over the years and without exception I always get the "excellent team player" comment. Just be yourself and don't over think it

 

[MedScat]

It's really not that difficult to just ask the clerkship coordinator what to wear, this is what I normally do. There's certain rotations at my school that you would just look dumb showing up in dress clothes even though the syllabus says to because COVID has changed the way some attendings see dress code.

Every place/person will be different so....just ask before hand so you don't feel like a clown dressed opposite from everyone else on day 1

Going back to whether its worth spending money on things like FIGS....to each is own. I personally don't want to wear a potato sack (hospital scrubs) for the rest of my life. I like being comfortable and feeling good about how I look whether it's at work or on the street and I feel like FIGS does that for me - personal preference. If you're one of those people who look good in hospital scrubs, good for you, then I wouldn't spend the money either. I bet if we polled who doesn't like spending money on scrubs and just use hospital scrubs, it would be mostly men because that's who hospital scrubs look decent on. Definitely not flattering at all for women.

 

[deleted50541]

I agree with most of the sentiments in this thread: business casual with your white coat for your first day, unless you hear otherwise. Better yet, find out what the dress code expectation is for the rotation from the previous group.

Frankly, all I ask of our rotating students on CT surgery is that their scrubs are clean (please don't bring them home for casual wear, which is also against hospital policy) and don't walk around in ratty shoe covers all day.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

As long as you fit dress code expectations, wear whatever you want.

Scrub joggers look sick IMO.