It's pretty clear why these midlevels are attempting to encroach on our field and think they can. Let me reference you to myth 6:
"A shorter coat signifies a healthcare provider is in training. When PA students complete their education, they begin their practice with a longer white coat—equal to that of any other clinician. "
It's clear where they are getting their power from. It's the long white coat. I know any of the resident or highers here can attest to that feeling the first day when you walk into the hospital with a long white coat, some nurse looks at you and says, "Good Morning, Dr. Juan 😉," the patients are finally happy to have you walk into their room, and when you call someone for a consult they don't hang up the phone on you after saying, "tell your goddamn resident to call me next time you ****ing *****" (amazingly, the power of the white coat transcends over phone lines).
We gotta cut their coats short. We need an outward symbol of their subservience. This is the only option if we hope to not be drowned in a melting pot of white cotton-polyester blended fabrics, where MDs come out as nothing more than another piece of the puzzle: no more or less important than the PAs, nurses, NPs, case managers, pharmacists, social workers, nutritionists, x-ray techs, or whoever the hell else wants to wear a white coat.
Alternatively, we could just wear white coats that drag the ground 2 feet behind us. This would also work as it would literally trip up those who are walking behind us and trying to follow in our footsteps.