Need Advice: Long Hair in med school!

[Excelsius]

Yes, that guy is freaking me out a little also.....

Why the third person? I'm right here. Care to elaborate?

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[mjl1717]

Why the third person? I'm right here. Care to elaborate?

Its just seems to me that long hair in any other field can get a pass.. eg lying lawyer, taco stand owner, absent minded professor, physicist- Einstein had the appropiate look down packed! But I doubt that anyone with rank at J.P. Morgan has long hair..

When seeing patients in the medical field (military or no military) people expect a clean shaven guy.. No long hair , no 3 days of beard stubble , no tatoos, no post nasal drip, no dirty jeans, no old oily sweat shirts, no specks of dirt under the nails, in general no "young rebel stuff" ..Because as you know medicine is conservative by nature..
Also the older generation WILL be offended with any of "hippie doc stuff"
Just seemed like a bit of a stretch mentioning the military.. No offense..

 

[Excelsius]

Its just seems to me that long hair in any other field can get a pass.. eg lying lawyer, taco stand owner, absent minded professor, physicist- Einstein had the appropiate look down packed! But I doubt that anyone with rank at J.P. Morgan has long hair..

When seeing patients in the medical field (military or no military) people expect a clean shaven guy.. No long hair , no 3 days of beard stubble , no tatoos, no post nasal drip, no dirty jeans, no old oily sweat shirts, no specks of dirt under the nails, in general no "young rebel stuff" ..Because as you know medicine is conservative by nature..
Also the older generation WILL be offended with any of "hippie doc stuff"
Just seemed like a bit of a stretch mentioning the military.. No offense..

That's not the case. Long hair for males is considered to be unprofessional no matter what your field (maybe with the exception of entertainment).

I don't want to go into historical details here, but the standard for males to have short hair and be shaven comes down all the way from the military of Alexander the Great, Romans, etc. Males were required to have short hair and be shaven so that the enemy could not grab their hair during the battle. Ironically, when people fight dogs, that's exactly why they crop dog's ears and tails. During renaissance, long hair was so much in fashion that all males of high stature wore huge wigs... If you care, you can read about the rest on your own time. I still stand by what I said.

Many people from the "old" generation were hippies themselves or witnessed hippies. Maybe this is why hey have such an intolerance for long hair.

And I am sorry, but I don't think any one of us can really control our post-nasal drip. All of us enjoy the ooze in gallons. But I do suggest that you use peroxide if you want to be presentable to your patients in any shape or form (unless you want to pray to the one who created us in his own image) .

 

[LadyWolverine]

When seeing patients in the medical field (military or no military) people expect a clean shaven guy.. No long hair , no 3 days of beard stubble , no tatoos, no post nasal drip, no dirty jeans, no old oily sweat shirts, no specks of dirt under the nails, in general no "young rebel stuff" ..

 

[mjl1717]

That's not the case. Long hair for males is considered to be unprofessional no matter what your field (maybe with the exception of entertainment).

I don't want to go into historical details here, but the standard for males to have short hair and be shaven comes down all the way from the military of Alexander the Great, Romans, etc. Males were required to have short hair and be shaven so that the enemy could not grab their hair during the battle. Ironically, when people fight dogs, that's exactly why they crop dog's ears and tails. During renaissance, long hair was so much in fashion that all males of high stature wore huge wigs... If you care, you can read about the rest on your own time. I still stand by what I said.

Many people from the "old" generation were hippies themselves or witnessed hippies. Maybe this is why hey have such an intolerance for long hair.

And I am sorry, but I don't think any one of us can really control our post-nasal drip. All of us enjoy the ooze in gallons. But I do suggest that you use peroxide if you want to be presentable to your patients in any shape or form (unless you want to pray to the one who created us in his own image) .

Ok buddy, Im talking about the guy who thinks its ok to have a post nasal drip like Niagra Falls... I mean some of these guys are just plain uncool and little uncoth. (hope I spelled that right) Also Allegra and Claritin can work wonders in managing post nasal drip!

 

[jinx520]

I was growing out my beard and hair earlier this year. I had a few inches of beard and almost six inches of hair. I wanted to look like this guy: http://entimg.msn.com/i/gal/KingArt/KA12_300x435.jpg

Can you picture the above guy in a white coat? Would you tell him that he looked unprofessional...?

I finally cut my hair and shaved a week before thanksgiving. Got tired of having to shampoo it in the morning. Now doing the shave once a week thing.

my husband has a beard almost as long as that and shaves his head crewcut style. I told him that for my whitecoat ceremony I want him to shave his head completely bald and I'll braid the beard and put beads in. Only half-joking.

 

[mjl1717]

my husband has a beard almost as long as that and shaves his head crewcut style. I told him that for my whitecoat ceremony I want him to shave his head completely bald and I'll braid the beard and put beads in. Only half-joking.

Acknowledged, Im not getting too excited because let's face it there is a good amount of comic relief (de-stressing) here also!

 

[Excelsius]

Ok buddy, Im talking about the guy who thinks its ok to have a post nasal drip like Niagra Falls... I mean some of these guys are just plain uncool and little uncoth. (hope I spelled that right) Also Allegra and Claritin can work wonders in managing post nasal drip!

Are you serious? I thought you were joking. I am not sure if anyone even mentioned that in this thread, but again, it's a natural process and you can't prevent it. Anti-histamines can only alleviate the issue if you have some major turbinate expansion due to specific seasonal allergies. Even then, most people suffering from perennial rhinitis don't get any relief even when they submit to immunotherapeutic injections. So I don't know what you're talking about. I'll still assume that's supposed to be black humor.

 

[Spectrum]

Ok, OP here, some people said "depends on the hair," so....

Here's a heavily edited pic of me... this is what my hair is like when it gets longer. Notice I have a beard.




Does this change any perceptions? Long ringlets bad or good?

I like long hair, curls and ponytails. To each his own. My vote: YUMMY!!

 

[mjl1717]

Are you serious? I thought you were joking. I am not sure if anyone even mentioned that in this thread, but again, it's a natural process and you can't prevent it. Anti-histamines can only alleviate the issue if you have some major turbinate expansion due to specific seasonal allergies. Even then, most people suffering from perennial rhinitis don't get any relief even when they submit to immunotherapeutic injections. So I don't know what you're talking about. I'll still assume that's supposed to be black humor.

I acknowledge what you say.. But be aware an elderly couple or anyone for that matter.. If they hear a guy (a doc) pulling up his nose too many times, it just doesnt look good. And might minimize the amount of referrals.. People dont expect to see or hear the doc making "sick sounds" too often..
Im not saying I never pulled up my nose (swallowing a post -nasal drip)
I just believe in making a good impression.. [short hair, Osler style, listening to patient, enough rest, ,communicating timely and properly especially when you DON't feel like it, attempting some humility, not being a robot, showing some compassion and not getting ran over! etc.]

 

[Excelsius]

I acknowledge what you say.. But be aware an elderly couple or anyone for that matter.. If they hear a guy (a doc) pulling up his nose too many times, it just doesnt look good. And might minimize the amount of referrals.. People dont expect to see or hear the doc making "sick sounds" too often..
Im not saying I never pulled up my nose (swallowing a post -nasal drip)
I just believe in making a good impression.. [short hair, Osler style, listening to patient, enough rest, ,communicating timely and properly especially when you DON't feel like it, attempting some humility, not being a robot, showing some compassion and not getting ran over! etc.]

Oh man! You're sick and hilarious at the same time. And yet you thought my historical post was freaky...

I can only hope that you don't do that when a patient is there hahahahahahaha .

 

[diabeticfootdr]

We wrote a paper a few years ago (Budny AM, Rogers LC, Mandracchia VJ, Lascher S. The physician's attire and its influence on patient confidence. J Amer Podiatr Med Assoc 2006;96:132-136) where we surveyed a hundred patients from different clinics (private practice, hospital based) of varying ages and insurance carriers on what physical appearance features inspired their confidence in doctors.

We found that patients had the most confidence in the traditional "Norman Rockwell" type doctor - professional dress, white coat, visible stethoscope and name tag.

Non-traditional hairstyles were found not to inspire confidence in 31% of patients, as did facial jewelry (68%), visible tatoos (51%), and male earrings (41%).

Here's a blog entry on non-traditional hairstyles in med school. Albeit, a pink mohawk is certainly more extreme than your "Josh Groban" style.

http://medscape.typepad.com/thedifferential/2007/01/my_pink_mohawk.html

Lee

 

[phospho]

For the love of Pete. Seriously dude. No offense, but it looks like a mop in this picture. Cut it, lose the beard, pluck the eyebrows. The ladies will go wild.

Oh, and while you're at it, invest in a face.

 

[Igor4sugry]

There is a very good reason to keep your hair as short as possible.

[1] It takes you 30sec to dry it in the morning

[2] You don't look ******ed when you put a surgical hat on.

 

[AK_MD2BE]

In brief:
If you are an MS1 or MS2, I wouldn't really worry about it b/c nobody is evaluating you per se (i.e. your grades are solely dependent upon your exam score).
If you are an MS3 or MS4, I really believe that maintaining a well-groomed appearance (i.e. not overly long hair) is part of "professionalism" that goes a long way when you are subjected evaluated by your attendings and residents.

 

[vokey588]

Definitely not Fabio-long hair. But longish hair can look 100% professional and great. See pic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1nfgcTUg7s&feature=related

 

[Its_MurDAH]

I love how the OP posted his a picture of his hair completely unprompted. Dude we get it, the women go wild or whatever. It seems like the whole point of this thread was for him to end up posting a picture of himself so that some girl would respond saying something to the effect of "you're hair is cute" and then demand a full face pic which the guy probably already has waiting on his desktop just ready to post.

How do you even have time to post such idiotic things on a message board, shouldn't you be busy plucking your eyebrows?

 

[LadyWolverine]

Definitely not Fabio-long hair. But longish hair can look 100% professional and great. See pic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1nfgcTUg7s&feature=related

This isn't very long. And, as I said before, very few men are capable of pulling it off because they don't have Mr. McConaughey's gorgeous physique.

Dear God, he's so yummy.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

We wrote a paper a few years ago (Budny AM, Rogers LC, Mandracchia VJ, Lascher S. The physician's attire and its influence on patient confidence. J Amer Podiatr Med Assoc 2006;96:132-136) where we surveyed a hundred patients from different clinics (private practice, hospital based) of varying ages and insurance carriers on what physical appearance features inspired their confidence in doctors.

We found that patients had the most confidence in the traditional "Norman Rockwell" type doctor - professional dress, white coat, visible stethoscope and name tag.

Non-traditional hairstyles were found not to inspire confidence in 31% of patients, as did facial jewelry (68%), visible tatoos (51%), and male earrings (41%).

Here's a blog entry on non-traditional hairstyles in med school. Albeit, a pink mohawk is certainly more extreme than your "Josh Groban" style.

http://medscape.typepad.com/thedifferential/2007/01/my_pink_mohawk.html

Lee

Any time I hear about how patients prefer the "1950's" doctor I immediately think of a scenario where this classic looking individual sends admits his patient to the hospital. His chest CT is read by a radiologist with a green mohawk, lip ring, and wearing a "Dead Kennedy's" T-shirt. His lung biopsy is done by a surgeon (with tattoos under scrubs) who blares heavy metal music in the OR while the patient is under anesthesia, and the pathology is read by a Muslim woman in traditional dress and hijab.

 

[marcus8]

Just bite the bullet and cut it off. Lots of patients think that men with long hair look unprofessional. It just doesn't come off well. I know that it is unfair because girls can have long hair, but that is just something you have to accept.

 

[SpookyDoc]

I love how the OP posted his a picture of his hair completely unprompted. Dude we get it, the women go wild or whatever. It seems like the whole point of this thread was for him to end up posting a picture of himself so that some girl would respond saying something to the effect of "you're hair is cute" and then demand a full face pic which the guy probably already has waiting on his desktop just ready to post.

How do you even have time to post such idiotic things on a message board, shouldn't you be busy plucking your eyebrows?

Right, I whited out my face because I eventually wanted to reveal how "sexy" I was on a public forum of other medical students who might actually go to my school.

People said "depends on the hair" so I posted a picture five days after the first post. Somebody insulted me, so I said that I liked my hair and its working out nice for me. I just wanted a genuine opinion. I've asked my friends and girlfriend this same question, and I wasn't handing out poses of me modeling my hair or some crap to them.

Chill.

 

[LadyWolverine]

People said "depends on the hair" so I posted a picture five days after the first post. Somebody insulted me, so I said that I liked my hair and its working out nice for me. I just wanted a genuine opinion.

For the record - I did NOT insult you. As a matter of fact, I prefaced my post with "no offense..." You asked for a genuine opinion, and that's what you got. A genuine opinion. In this photo, your hair looks unruly, unkempt, and unprofessional. I mistook the curly bits falling into your eyes as a unibrow and thus suggested more meticulous eyebrow care. These were observations, not insults. The remainder was simply some light-hearted humor.

Look, if you can't take some well-intentioned criticism, why did you even ask for other peoples' opinions in the first place?

 

[SpookyDoc]

For the record - I did NOT insult you. As a matter of fact, I prefaced my post with "no offense..." You asked for a genuine opinion, and that's what you got. A genuine opinion. In this photo, your hair looks unruly, unkempt, and unprofessional. I mistook the curly bits falling into your eyes as a unibrow and thus suggested more meticulous eyebrow care. These were observations, not insults. The remainder was simply some light-hearted humor.

Look, if you can't take some well-intentioned criticism, why did you even ask for other peoples' opinions in the first place?

Point taken... this is a very old thread, and I hadn't remembered all that was said. Replace 'insulted' with 'criticized,' and neither of my responses are out of order or particularly 'needy.'

I got what I wanted out of this poll, and decided to keep my hair like it was in the pic but short enough so that it's out of my eyes. Thanks to everybody who gave input!

 

[Random Anesthesiologist]

For the love of Pete. Seriously dude. No offense, but it looks like a mop in this picture. Cut it, lose the beard, pluck the eyebrows. The ladies will go wild.

Oh, and while you're at it, invest in a face.

This post made me LOL!!!!!!!

I'm a female, and my hair is getting long, but when I get to M3 and beyond, you better believe I'm either wearing my hair up every day I'm in the hospital or getting it cut short again. I can just see myself bending my head down during a bowel disempaction and getting poo all in my long hair. Or vomit or phlegm or blood or something else gross.

I also agree that for M1/2 do whatever with your hair, but cut it for clinical years.

 

[seelee]

Ugh, anything but a ponytail. There's a doc on staff at my school who has a ponytail, and he looks like a tool. Worse, he sometimes wears a bow tie. I never trust men in bow ties. If I went to see a new doctor and he walked into the exam room wearing a ponytail and bow tie, I'd say "get me out of here; I want a different doctor."

Men with ponytails are tools

"It has been scientifically proven that a ponytail shuts off the part of the brain that lets you say anything interesting or relevant" Ask a ninja.com

http://www.askaninja.com/node/3176

 

[SnowMonster128]

I know this is a super old thread but if anyone's around/still checking this thread, getting my hair like and & wanted to see what people think:

 

[johnmendes]

You can get the haircut, I'll take the suit. Spiffy.

 

[auburnO5]

Very few men can pull off long hair and still look good/professional. No man looks good with hair longer than just-past-chin-level (think Sawyer from Lost as a good cutoff for what is acceptable - and realize that there are few men who can pull that off and make it look attractive).

Wild, unkempt curly hair that falls in your eyes makes you look like you have a mop on your head. Long, straight hair that gets pulled back in a ponytail generally looks terrible on guys - people will think that you are either lazy or a musician. Fauxhawks are out and will make you look like a DB. It is my personal opinion that no man looks good with a ponytail, no matter what length.

In general, keep it short, keep it clean, keep the lines sharp in the back/sides (it looks really bad when it looks like fuzz is starting to track down your neck - get it cut/trimmed regularly). You don't have to spend a ton of money, either. Find a cheap salon or get a pair of scissors and a trimmer and have a friend/SO/classmate do it for you. It's not rocket science. If you're keeping it short, you should probably trim it every 3-4 weeks.

IMNSHO, there are few things that look as simultaneously professional and attractive as a freshly-barbered man in a shirt and tie. But then again, I think every man should look, dress, and talk like Daniel Craig or Hugh Jackman, so wtf do I know. Apparently I'm getting very judgmental in my old age.

 

[crazycatduncan]

I think the hair is cute. Keep it.

 

[Belleza156]

I'm an M1 (male) makin' my way through... well... M1, and everything is all fine except I have this slight dilemma, a hairy situation, one might say, if they were completely shameless.

After my interview last November, I stopped cutting my hair, deciding before I was accepted that I wouldn't cut my hair til I was in medical school. Long story short, my short hair got long and I found out my hair was VERY curly (never knew) and grew in nice ringlets that eventually found their way into my eyes. Lots of compliments, lots of "oh my god what is wrong with your hair," but generally got great reviews.

I cut it all off the Friday before M1.

My problem is this: I never felt like I gave really long hair a chance, and I have a desire to let it grow out again. What is your opinion? Is well-kept long hair acceptable in medical school? I'm an M1 so I really wont be interviewing for a few years, and I COULD cut it all off before evals in M3-4. I'm great with patients, and a well-kept guy so I wouldn't be the beast with long hair that ends up scaring people. So here it is.

I'm looking to grow it out over the rest of M1 and let it go nuts over the summer, hopefully ending up being able to ponytail it when I need to look professional.

Do you think its ok to have long hair in medical school? And if you have long hair in med school, how did you keep it out of your eyes/etc while growing it?

Are you serious? I have to admit I'm laughing, your post is comical even if you didnt intend for it to be. Well Samson, I suppose you are living out your inner hippie desires at the perfect time in life. You are already in med school so doesnt tarnish that preppy image they were looking for at the interview. Id go for the gold and let all out Samson style until residency interviews....then you may want to cut it/tame it. If not residency, then probably your wedding companion will press the issue, no one wants a scruffy groom

 

[SurfWaxAmerica]

Just wear it in a bun whenever you need to be "professional" - I've had long hair my entire life...usually anywhere around shoulder length...my hair's straighter than yours though...it's straight until the bottom of my face, then it starts to get all curly/ringlet after that, so it's like half curly/wavy whatever once it gets long enough. But, do the bun. I volunteer in the ER and nobody's ever gave me a bad look or said anything about it.

 

[medicsb]

Long hair club for men right here. I plan on keeping it through the clinical years. Squares be damned. In my opinion, things far far worse than long hair (or tattoos or piercings) on a doctor: pompous arrogance, indifference, inflated sense of self worth, etc. All things plenty of doctors and medical students have in my experience. You can look unprofessional no matter your hair. I would agree that hair in the eyes is not good, but mostly because it hinders vision and nonverbal communication.