Khaki OK?

[Zetterberg07]

Hi everyone, I'm going to be starting clerkships in a week or so and I was wondering if lighter color pants (light gray or beige/khaki) are acceptable (I'm a guy). I would assume that they are, and I hope that they are since I just bought a bunch, but a kid in my class tells me he got ripped up by an attending last year during our physical diagnosis course at the hospital for wearing beige pants. I've never had any kind of professional job before so I'm kind of clueless about attire and I don't want to tick anybody off because of what I'm wearing- my shining personality will take of that 😀
Thanks!

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[Mayhem]

It depends on your school. My dress code specifically stated dark pants, so no. Some people cared more than others, for e.g. on O&G dark meant black, nothing else. They should have a dress code, just ask around.

 

[Zetterberg07]

It depends on your school. My dress code specifically stated dark pants, so no. Some people cared more than others, for e.g. on O&G dark meant black, nothing else. They should have a dress code, just ask around.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[elr1983]

At my school, like the above poster, the dress code was variable from rotation to rotation. On peds, khaki's would have been totally fine, as would no white coat. On surgery, they expected dressier atire, like dark pants and always a tie for men. Also, for surgery, they sometimes had us in the OR in the morning and clinic in the afternoon, then call overnight, then grand rounds the next morning, then OR again. Scrubs were forbidden in clinic and at grand rounds, so we were often changing our clothes a few times a day, which was annoying to say the least. Might be worth investing in something wrinkle-free!

 

[Instatewaiter]

At my school it seems everyone is starting to dress down. As a student I would recommend you wear a tie but most attendings (except surgery) began not to wear ties because of the contamination risk. Many started to wear only scrub tops. There was a hospital wide non-mandatory policy of bear below the elbows so as the year went on more and more attendings were switching from button up to either polos or scrub tops. The older faculty didnt though.

Khaki's were always fine as long as they are relatively dressy khakis

 

[Paddington]

Khakhis spread germs. Go with shredded cutoff shorts.

 

[Zetterberg07]

After checking, it looks like my school does have a clerkship dress code online but its more of a rule out deal (no spandex and no pants tucked into socks) then something telling us what we CAN wear. I'll see if they tell us anything at the 3rd year orientation. Worst case scenario I guess I can cut the legs off the pants I bought and sell them to Paddington 🙂

 

[Doctor Bob]

There was a hospital wide non-mandatory policy of bear below the elbows...

Bear? How'd you get them to stay on your arms?

 

[smq123]

After checking, it looks like my school does have a clerkship dress code online but its more of a rule out deal (no spandex and no pants tucked into socks) then something telling us what we CAN wear.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you should never wear your pants tucked into socks, in or out of the hospital.

Did they implement that rule after a med student wore that stuff to rotations?

 

[Danbo1957]

There is always a dress code, whether official or not - fighting it is soooo pathetic. Show up in a white dress shirt, tie, dark pants, and your short white coat; look around, then adapt...

 

[jonb12997]

Show up in a white dress shirt, tie, dark pants, and your short white coat; look around, then adapt...

Good advice! I would always start a new rotation with this sort of thing and then change as needed. I worked in a small town in northern new york for my rotations, so I never had a problem if I was in tan dockers (or similar), with a shirt and tie. Sometimes I would stay in this, sometimes I would end up in khaki's and a polo-shirt.

You need to be dressed as good or better than your attending, that's the way I sorta looked at it.

 

[Zetterberg07]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you should never wear your pants tucked into socks, in or out of the hospital.

Did they implement that rule after a med student wore that stuff to rotations?

I have no idea if anybody has ever done it in med school, although I wouldn't doubt it, but I remember that back in the day my Catholic high school had the same crazy rule on the books and so every year a bunch of freshmen would read the dress code, get the idea that tucking their pants into their socks was a great way to fight the man and wind up in detention.
Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll definitely start off conservative and go from there as Danbo and others have recommended.

 

[silas2642]

Hi everyone, I'm going to be starting clerkships in a week or so and I was wondering if lighter color pants (light gray or beige/khaki) are acceptable (I'm a guy). I would assume that they are, and I hope that they are since I just bought a bunch, but a kid in my class tells me he got ripped up by an attending last year during our physical diagnosis course at the hospital for wearing beige pants. I've never had any kind of professional job before so I'm kind of clueless about attire and I don't want to tick anybody off because of what I'm wearing- my shining personality will take of that 😀
Thanks!

God, I hope so. I just bought a couple of pairs of khakis because they're comfortable and go with everything.

However, I'm a girl and I've kind of noticed that things seem more lenient with female dress codes. We kind of get away with more for some reason as long as we're not dressed with too little clothing.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Probably, but I might not wear them the first day on a rotation where you're especially concerned about appearance. As you'll find, some specialties and some departments are just more laid back about dress than others. As a general rule, dress is a little more casual for rotations like peds, fm and psych. Surgery is more formal when you don't wear scrubs.

And yes, everything is more casual for women.

 

[deleted77919]

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[zpiff]

Bear? How'd you get them to stay on your arms?

Great for "beariatric" surgery!

Sorry... Couldn't resist.

 

[plainolerichie]

I had never even known it was an issue? I have always worn khaki's about half the time I dress up. I wonder if I should be more worried or maybe it's a SoCal thing that they don't seem to care about.

 

[45408]

I've worn khakis on every rotation. I don't have a ton of dress pants, but I've got khakis, very dark green pants, dark gray pants, black pants, and I just picked up a pair of gray glen plaid pants from Banana Republic (on clearance 😀) that look really sharp.

 

[Evergrey]

Khakhis spread germs. Go with shredded cutoff shorts.

Clothes spread germs. People should just go nude!

 

[NERDY]

I have seen students wear khakis/light colored pants.

 

[Clemson Doc]

I am always amused by those students who try their best to "rebel" against what is considered standard professional dress. These are the same students who have been turned into robots by the medical education system - go here, do this, say that - yet they view the dress code as their way to rebel. I guess we're all different, but I actually like dressing up. It makes me feel good, and it makes patients feel good about who is taking care of them. But even if I hated wearing dress pants, tie, etc., I would like to think that I would do it anyway because it's part of what being a professional is all about.

It's also funny that some organizations like the AMA have come out against ties because they "spread germs," yet they think nothing of other practices which are equally as likely to spread germs. Go figure.

 

[MSKalltheway]

I had never even known it was an issue?

Same. I was unaware that a nice pair of khakis were not dressy enough or unprofessional.

 

[plainolerichie]

Is wearing khaki dress pants rebellious? I've seriously have not heard of dark dress pants as mandatory over khaki dress pants until now and that's after a year of rotations!

 

[ZagDoc]

I am always amused by those students who try their best to "rebel" against what is considered standard professional dress. These are the same students who have been turned into robots by the medical education system - go here, do this, say that - yet they view the dress code as their way to rebel. I guess we're all different, but I actually like dressing up. It makes me feel good, and it makes patients feel good about who is taking care of them. But even if I hated wearing dress pants, tie, etc., I would like to think that I would do it anyway because it's part of what being a professional is all about.

Agreed, every school has those people and I don't really get it. I wouldn't list a desire to wear khakis as rebellious though; more just a quest for comfort within the rules instead of outside them.

I've seen people show up for rotations wearing scuffed and dirty merrell sandals, cargo pants, shorts, casual short sleeve button down plaid shirts, polo shirts, tall wool patterned socks (the hiking kind), casual belts... I mean I get it, its your modus operandi, you want to do rural, you're big into rock climbing, you like mason jars and organic foods, but for me its more "c'mon man, have some pride in the work you do and some respect for the patients you treat."The guy who grew up in the 70's may be cool with it, but I guarantee you some of your patients, especially the older ones and the young parents when you're caring for their infant, are made uncomfortable by it.

But hey, to each their own. If that's how you want to present yourself, go for it. Just don't complain when you get knocked on your evals or reamed on the wards.

 

[smq123]

I've seen people show up for rotations wearing scuffed and dirty merrell sandals, cargo pants, shorts, casual short sleeve button down plaid shirts, polo shirts, tall wool patterned socks (the hiking kind), casual belts... I mean I get it, its your modus operandi, you want to do rural, you're big into rock climbing, you like mason jars and organic foods, but for me its more "c'mon man, have some pride in the work you do and some respect for the patients you treat."The guy who grew up in the 70's may be cool with it, but I guarantee you some of your patients, especially the older ones and the young parents when you're caring for their infant, are made uncomfortable by it.

An older pediatrician used to say that, as a med student and/or resident, you may be involved in telling a patient or a patient's family devastating news. Do you really want to be dressed like a bum when you deliver bad, life-changing news?

 

[jonb12997]

as I heard during internship orientation, "dress so your grandmother would say, 'you look nice'"

that about sums it up...