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I'd also say that many patients do as well... it'd be a shame for the OP's want to be "eccentric" affecting his/her's patient care
Dress code
Started by RJ92
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I'd also say that many patients do as well... it'd be a shame for the OP's want to be "eccentric" affecting his/her's patient care
Yep. Sharing my own personal opinion. Not everyone has to share it.
Of course. I just don't want the OP to generalize an individuals opinion to all of his/her future patients and colleagues
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I wouldn't stress about it. You're smart enough to ask a question like this, so you're also smart enough to look at the clothing norms wherever you are in your training & figure out how to express your style within those constraints. Yes, you may have to tone it down markedly if you're somewhere conservative, but you can likely do the "pops" of personality that someone already suggested.
& once you've an attending - who cares? People respond well to authenticity. As a psychiatrist, I think you'll have more leeway to dress as you please than most other places in medicine. & if patients self select against you because of your clothes at that point, I can't imagine they'd be a good fit with you anyways.
I also love vintage & color & that wasn't a problem in my teaching career & hasn't been a problem in med school so far either.
& once you've an attending - who cares? People respond well to authenticity. As a psychiatrist, I think you'll have more leeway to dress as you please than most other places in medicine. & if patients self select against you because of your clothes at that point, I can't imagine they'd be a good fit with you anyways.
I also love vintage & color & that wasn't a problem in my teaching career & hasn't been a problem in med school so far either.
The top middle one is very similar to how our kids’ pediatrician dresses.
You can definitely incorporate your personal style while being professional as well! One of my coresidents is very into fashion but the outfits she typically wears in casual settings are a bit too out there for clinic or the hospital. She tones it down for work but still always wears an incredible pair of (closed-toed) shoes.
You might consider choosing just one statement piece that's more "you," with the rest of the outfit being more traditional - wear your purple shoes or an animal-print top, but with a more neutral blazer and pants/skirt. You might be able to get away with jewel-toned leggings or tights if they coordinate with your top and are paired with a classic pencil skirt. And so on. You don't have to completely hide your personality, just find a way to incorporate it into what physicians and other professionals are traditionally expected to wear.
You might consider choosing just one statement piece that's more "you," with the rest of the outfit being more traditional - wear your purple shoes or an animal-print top, but with a more neutral blazer and pants/skirt. You might be able to get away with jewel-toned leggings or tights if they coordinate with your top and are paired with a classic pencil skirt. And so on. You don't have to completely hide your personality, just find a way to incorporate it into what physicians and other professionals are traditionally expected to wear.
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As long as it's not revealing and clean, it won't matter in the long run. "Professional" dress means different things to different people and varies heavily depending on which part of the country you're in, which population you're treating, and your specialty. Will you get at times uncomfortable attention with wearing "eccentric" things, sure. Will some people not take you seriously, maybe, but does it really matter in the long run, probably not.
There are a number of psychiatry residents in my institution that dress differently (more out there than you described to be honest). Generally speaking things are a bit muted when seeing patients (I like the "if you have to ask yourself if this is too much, its probably too much" rule), but no single thing in your OP really jumped out to me as "too much". Now all of it together, certainly could be too much.
Patients are going to judge you no matter what you wear. They're going to judge you by your gender, your color, your name, your accent if you have one, and the list goes on. Don't worry about any individual judging you, just try to create a comfortable environment for patients and yourself.
There are a number of psychiatry residents in my institution that dress differently (more out there than you described to be honest). Generally speaking things are a bit muted when seeing patients (I like the "if you have to ask yourself if this is too much, its probably too much" rule), but no single thing in your OP really jumped out to me as "too much". Now all of it together, certainly could be too much.
Patients are going to judge you no matter what you wear. They're going to judge you by your gender, your color, your name, your accent if you have one, and the list goes on. Don't worry about any individual judging you, just try to create a comfortable environment for patients and yourself.
It literally goes into my school’s evals if you dress appropriately...
I dont even own a blazer lol and having that can be hard if you’re wearing your white coat anyway..
I wear a lot of dresses. Khakis occasionally and i have some black dress pants i throw into the mix. Cardigans and sweaters are my favorite lol
9blade
Full Member
I think as a student, you should probably be on the safe side. Attendings are still writing the evals...however, when you become an attending yourself, you can dress however you want. Shouldn't be a big deal. In my small experience in hospitals, pediatricians and psychiatrists tend to dress a bit differently from the other medical professions.
Us too which is weird because we are required to be in uniform lol.
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deleted87051
Docs are fine. One of our urologists wears them all the time. Cheetah print is probably okay for a psychiatrist in certain cities.
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deleted87051
When I was an intern, I did a derm elective with a very flamboyant dermatologist. She was a society lady married to the university president/former congressman and always came to rounds in big hats and party dresses. I don’t really know if she had any other kinds of clothes. It was NYC though.
They’re fine for you. Some people don’t like them. They don’t bother me.
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I always thought much of derm not all, had to do with appearance.. Mrs Vanderbilt living on Park Avenue may be able to relate to this style.
Overall in the conservative medical field. I think it is important to make a good professional first impression.. And not say "well its my prerogative"
I would never wear jeans, but other than that, the button-down with khakis is fine in clinic.
That should make zero difference in how you dress when not at work. We're allowed to be who we are in our own time and insinuating we're not is one of the major problems with medicine. We're not robots. We're individuals, with our own wants, needs, likes, dislikes, and style. We get to explore these things like every other person on the planet when we're not working. Also, there are plenty of patients to go around so I doubt the doc who lost the patient insulted by flamboyant dress even noticed.
OP, as a psychiatrist, keep it professional at work. In psychiatry, particularly if you're in a big metro area, you can probably get away with more than most fields, but keep it business casual at least. At home, do whatever you want.
Oh come on, people. This is major BS. Patient care cannot and should not be extended to this belief that you must, at all costs, please your patients or else you're "affecting patient care." The only thing that "affects patient care" is you not doing your job or not knowing medicine. Can you unintentionally offend your patient with your outfit? Yes. Is that patient care? No. Patients are human beings, just like us, and can and do sometimes get offended by things. A doc may offend a patient just by wearing a hijab. A female doc may offend a patient just by being female. A young doc may offend a patient just by being/looking young. In no case does it affect patient care (on the physician's part) unless you're not doing your job or don't know medicine. Guilting people with the "patient care" nonsense into doing what you thinks is right is not cool.
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deleted87051
Some people are eccentric. Doctors are people. I’ve known countless eccentric doctors over the years. We are not robots.
Geez, calm down people. Doctors can dress however they want, but it's common sense to realize that your patients may not want to be your patient if they don't like what they see when they google you. People have biases... patients included. I don't see how that's inflammatory?
I think the bigger issue here is following what the school and attending says. You can do whatever you want when you're an attending, but otherwise, you're stuck with a hierarchy to follow
It’s a balance, I think.
On one hand, I wouldn’t meet with patients while only wearing my underwear; while this might give me maximal comfort, I can reasonably anticipate that it would drastically affect patients’ attitudes toward me and demolish my physician-patient relationships. On the other hand, if I were a religious male Sikh, I wouldn’t remove my dastār and abandon my faith-based principles just to appease ignorant patients who might dislike my religious headdress.
Put simply, one should dress in a way that maximizes the comfort of one’s average patient while at the same time not abandoning one’s most deeply held values and convictions. I think this is the essence of the balance that has to be stricken.
I agree with the above. And I always recommend seeing on the conservative/traditional side for inpatient when your patients are basically a captive audience and have no choice over their doctor. My son was in the hospital for a brief stint and I wasn’t particular happy when the pediatrician showed up with vans, baggy cords, and wrinkled casual short sleeve shirt. He looked like an average guy from the street. Right or wrong, I was both consciously and unconsciously judging him before he said a word.
If OP does outpatient psych, her dress matters very little. Patients that are uncomfortable with her dress can simply go elsewhere. Patients who find comfort in her dress and persona will continue to see her. That’s particularly true of psych and primary care, where you have a lot of time to building a deep and trusting connection with patients.
If OP does outpatient psych, her dress matters very little. Patients that are uncomfortable with her dress can simply go elsewhere. Patients who find comfort in her dress and persona will continue to see her. That’s particularly true of psych and primary care, where you have a lot of time to building a deep and trusting connection with patients.
Wait this may sound stupid but I thought inpatient docs wear scrubs for longer over night shifts? Like I thought that was the standard in the hospital anyway?
Many hospitalists do. And I think that looks fine for the overnight docs.
My opinion is if you’re inpatient and working a day shift, and are not a surgeon, you should try to be in professional dress and not scrubs. But I think scrubs with a white coat still look professional. I just prefer professional dress over them (I also don’t find scrubs comfortable)
I am not a fan of physicians dressing in suits.
Residents typically wear scrubs while on call or night float. I did as a student and while on ob and surgery.
It wouldn't be inflammatory...if that was what you had said. But that isn't what you said. You made it a "patient care" issue and it isn't. Patient care is the standard BS (along with unprofessionalism) that people throw around without truly understanding what it means anytime they disagree.
I disagree. I think scrubs are pretty standard for anyone in the hospital. The PM&R folks like scrubs because it allows them to move around comfortably. The IM folks like it because they're ready for bedside procedures should the need arise. Same with FM. Our OB folks wear scrubs because baby-catching. Some (not all) of our peds folks wear scrubs on the wards because sick kids can vomit on you. Etc, etc, etc.
Yeah, but do yours look like they just came out of a duffel bag or are they nicely pressed (which was a huge pain in the ass as a student nurse in the army on clinicals and doing actual patient care with body fluids involved so there was opposite incentives-have clean stuff on or get another day out of the starched creases).
We have to wear khakis (equivalent to your class Bs) for our SP encounters. I was enlisted for 7 years. No way in hell could I wear them all wrinkled.
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Do you have to have all your badges and ribbon on it? Because that is an even bigger pain in the ass. We just wore bdu's or sometimes these lovely things
I have the dress version but refused to ever wear it.
Hospital dependant. My residency hospital, all of the hospitalists wore nice clothes except the overnight guy who wore scrubs.
My wife was a hospitalist and she and all of her partners wore nice clothes unless working overnight as well.
The hospital my father-in-law worked at everyone wore scrubs no matter day or night shifts.
I agree about L&D folks. But otherwise in my experience it's just been overnight/on-call docs, ED physicians, and surgeons/anesthesia who are working in the OR that day. And ICU attendings--all of which are wearing scrub bottoms, and a t-shirt and fleece vest/sweater.
I am in PM&R and other than a few co-residents who were admittedly rather lazy, have yet to meet a physiatrist who wore scrubs unless they were doing interventional pain. I'm sure there out there, but I haven't seen them.
I guess it goes to show how different the culture is at different places. Most of my training/experience was in the Midwest, where people generally dress a bit nicer, though the few places I've worked on the west coast have been fairly similar.
Yeah we have to wear everything on it. We can’t leave them off like the Air Force. I have my ribbon rack premade with magnetic backing so it’s really easy to put on. The only thing I need to pin on is my warfare device, collar devices, and name plate, but those are easy cause I have the holes set.
None of the places I’ve rotated at allow this.
"allow"? Like the residents dont wear scrubs either , what the heck?
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deleted1011020
3 piece suit only
Maybe allow wasn’t the best choice of words, but the hospital generally has a code of conduct and stuff that staff is expected to abide by.
Well the attendings can do whatever they want, but the handbooks regarding dress are very clear about this stuff. You dress professionally during the day is usually how it goes. Students do what they’re told lol
See, Im gonna post this quickly but basically I ask bc I wear scrubs for work and find them to be sooo much more suitable for my sensitive skin than lady's formalwear. I actually did low key think " as a student how would I wear professional clothes for 12+ hrs I'd be so uncomfortable. " and was happy to find out scrubs are an option. I do have soft clothes and use lotions and such but there's only so much I can do.
( In before everyone says I'm so nuerotic it was just a low key passing thought after taking off itchy clothes once.)
I would say do surgery because we tend to be more conducive to everyone wearing scrubs, but the surgical hand scrub will probably play havoc with your skin and the or scrubs are not the softest nicest fabric, so maybe not so good for you
Well I'm fine for normal day long activites I just mean for the truly long hours of a resident- although it sounds like residents do wear scrubs for the long haul at at least some places. I have formal clothes that also suit me- and surgery isn't something I would do, likely not at least, for a whole host of other reasons.
We may only see patients for less than 10 minutes at a time, so as much as we hate it or like it, first impressions do matter. Dress respectably if you want to be respected. Hospitals and clinics are professional workplaces and it's expected you dress appropriately. It's not hard to put on a clean ironed collared shirt and pants, or wear neat scrubs, or whatever is the agreed appropriate attire for your workplace. The occasional funny tie or sock is okay, but please save the fanciful dress for out-of-work events and gatherings.
I would expect a soldier to dress like one, a policeman to dress like one, a fireman to dress like one, a judge to dress like one, et cetera. Work is not a place for you to advertise your personal agenda. You're at work to be a professional and do your job. It still surprises me that there are some junior doctors and medical students who come to hospital wearing track suit pants, low cut tops, excessive jewellry, inappropriate slogans on t-shirts, dirty unironed cloths, and the list goes on. Hospital isn't school or college.
I would expect a soldier to dress like one, a policeman to dress like one, a fireman to dress like one, a judge to dress like one, et cetera. Work is not a place for you to advertise your personal agenda. You're at work to be a professional and do your job. It still surprises me that there are some junior doctors and medical students who come to hospital wearing track suit pants, low cut tops, excessive jewellry, inappropriate slogans on t-shirts, dirty unironed cloths, and the list goes on. Hospital isn't school or college.
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That’s why I wear dresses with tights/leggings lol
Majority of your ward time as a student is not spent in scrubs.
For those who hate formal / business wear and say its uncomfortable, are you wearing the right size? I can see heels being hell to be walking in 12+ hrs but business casual for females i.e. with the combo of dress pants, dansko, nice simple top really that tough? A lot of the male med residents I see wear a button up, pants, and Clarks or whatever and I really don't see that being such as hassle.
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Omg I would never wear heels! Its just that women's clothing is always fitted - ( like for example, I always get cottton only jeans because anything fitted to my leg and made of polyester is hell.) I always get comfy clothes with this in mind- loose, soft, etc. I never wear heels. But still, knowing pajama- clothes are an option is great. Especially since ScribeAnerica scrubs are cheap, realy Figs scrubs may be even softer
It does sound like residents get to wear scrubs for the truly long days , at least.
@RangerBob I was hoping you would say scrubs are more acceptable than casual wear. I actually find scrubs to be super comfy.
When the time comes, check out Uniqlo. I see you're a MA resident, there's one in boston and Natick. Or check out their online selection, quality comfy business casual clothes and will meet what you described. I had to wear business casual for my SMP and Uniqlo was the place to go. Good quality with good prices.
I dont even own heels hahah
Idk what it is, i just find things without an elastic waist uncomfortable. A good point was made in that women’s stuff on a whole is much more fitted and my body is just hard to dress a lot of the time due to my proportions. I carry my weight more so on my lower abdomen but my legs are thinner. I also have a short torso, so my waist is just bigger in general (i am not overweight), so, in order to get pants to fit, i need a bigger size. As a consequence, this stuff does not fit in my legs and is baggy. Baggy is super unprofessional lol
They are more acceptable—I just don’t personally like them. I think professional/semi-profession (I guess that’d be business casual) just looks better.
If you’re going to wear scrubs, and aren’t operating/on L&D, then I’d recommend buying and wearing a nice pair of scrubs.
I also recommend wearing your white coat if you’re wearing scrubs.
Baggy is unprofessional? Pants that have some loosen-ness to them actually look more professional, in my humble opinion. Super tight pants that show off your thigh/hip/bottom=== unprofessional.
So even the residents dress formally at the hospitals you rotated at? That is a little weird. I always thought scrubs sorta distinguish residents from attendings at hospitals where the attendings wear formal clothes. Like when I volunteered in the ED all the residents wore scrubs, but there the attendings did as well.
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