Optometry students wearing scrubs?

[Kris1]

I was at a health fair this past weekend where optometry students were providing free vision services to the community. About 20 students arrived and every single one of them was wearing scrubs from top to bottom for the purpose of doing vision screenings. Can anyone give me a reason as to why they would be wearing scrubs (i.e. afraid of getting tears on their clothing)?

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[JonnyG]

Their comfortable, the students are medical professionals so they can wear them. And you need to chill out. There could be tons of reasons why they choose to wear them.

 

[Kris1]

Their comfortable, the students are medical professionals so they can wear them. And you need to chill out. There could be tons of reasons why they choose to wear them.

Yeah... leopard speedo thongs might be comfortable, but I'm not going to wear them for vision screenings. Medical professionals aren't the only ones who can wear scrubs, so you can't exclude everyone else from wearing them because of their occupation. Anyways, who said I was upset about this that I need to "chill out"? I'm just curious as to what these "tons of reasons" could be.

 

[QuikClot]

Oh, good, another thread whose OP thinks clothes make the doctor. Can't you people get the cattiness out of your systems kibbitizing "Project Runway" with the other blondes?

 

[Rogue Synapse]

You're right. OP is related to this guy, who thinks that clothing choice is the most important aspect of medical professionalism.

 

[Kris1]

Oh, good, another thread whose OP thinks clothes make the doctor. Can't you people get the cattiness out of your systems kibbitizing "Project Runway" with the other blondes?

You guys should quit taking me so seriously. It is way too easy to get you stiffs riled. Try getting a sense of humor.

 

[xTinaBna]

I was at a health fair this past weekend where optometry students were providing free vision services to the community. About 20 students arrived and every single one of them was wearing scrubs from top to bottom for the purpose of doing vision screenings. Can anyone give me a reason as to why they would be wearing scrubs (i.e. afraid of getting tears on their clothing)?

haha i can understad why it may seem unnecessary to wear scrubs for any type of student at a health fair. as far scrubs being for medical professionals...i've worked in a hosptal lab for 4 years and most people in the lab wear scrubs (understandable with all that blood and urine floating around)..in fact the whole housekeeping staff and pathology secretaries (who don't do not work with the specimens) wear scrubs too. so really i guess wearing the scrubs is just a symbol of the health care industry as a whole?

 

[stoic]

I was at a health fair this past weekend where optometry students were providing free vision services to the community. About 20 students arrived and every single one of them was wearing scrubs from top to bottom for the purpose of doing vision screenings. Can anyone give me a reason as to why they would be wearing scrubs (i.e. afraid of getting tears on their clothing)?

umm because they wanted to? jesus christ why do people care so much about scrubs? there's always some thread about if it's ok to wear scrubs as a premed or if dentist should be wearing scrubs or whatever. scrubs are not the registered trademark of MD's.


it matters so little that i can't believe you even took the time to ask the question.

 

[SuperTrooper]

Can anyone give me a reason as to why they would be wearing scrubs (i.e. afraid of getting tears on their clothing)?

 

[AmoryBlaine]

umm because they wanted to? jesus christ why do people care so much about scrubs? there's always some thread about if it's ok to wear scrubs as a premed or if dentist should be wearing scrubs or whatever. scrubs are not the registered trademark of MD's.


it matters so little that i can't believe you even took the time to ask the question.

Not to throw gas on the fire, but I care when scrubs are used as a stand-in for professional dress. Ok, if you are on call, working in a trauma bay, the OR, an ICU, or a GI lab I will allow you scrubs. If not, I refuse to admit that the hospital is a place of constantly shooting and spraying bodily fluids.

And if it is why don't people buy the cheapest scrubs they can find? Instead you find people in all these designer and patterned scrubs that probably cost almost as most as regular clothes...

If I were in charge I would not allow ancillary staff (secretaries, transporters, x-ray people) to wear scrubs.

That said, I don't lose much sleep over the issue.

 

[Willow]

What's with the vitriolic & judgemental replies to such a light and offhanded question? Good grief.

 

[SitraAchra]

a lot of my classmates roll around in scrubs for no reason whatsoever. of course i'm a first year with a medical background but most of my classmates probably don't have that much clinical experience where scrubs are a requirement.

i think the 'cool factor' hasn't worn off yet, i personally think it's kinda lame to wear scrubs when you don't need to, but sometimes they are a part of dress code and even if they aren't worn for function, you don't have an option.



scrubs = lame and played out.

 

[SitraAchra]

on another note - wearing "plogs" or whatever the f*ck those hideous shapes people put on their own feet are bothering me.

just...why. lots of my classmates wear them but there is NO REASON. trend followers

 

[beefballs]

comfort, and the fabric arouses me so when class is boring I start grinding back and forth for a more pleasant interlude

 

[tupac_don]

Yeah... leopard speedo thongs might be comfortable, but I'm not going to wear them for vision screenings. Medical professionals aren't the only ones who can wear scrubs, so you can't exclude everyone else from wearing them because of their occupation. Anyways, who said I was upset about this that I need to "chill out"? I'm just curious as to what these "tons of reasons" could be.

Ahhhh, everyone, wears scrubs, hel* even janitors wear scrubs, it's the culture. It's nothing out of oridinary, quite common actually.

 

[tupac_don]

a lot of my classmates roll around in scrubs for no reason whatsoever. of course i'm a first year with a medical background but most of my classmates probably don't have that much clinical experience where scrubs are a requirement.

i think the 'cool factor' hasn't worn off yet, i personally think it's kinda lame to wear scrubs when you don't need to, but sometimes they are a part of dress code and even if they aren't worn for function, you don't have an option.



scrubs = lame and played out.

Agreed unless you are a surgeon, who has to wear scrubs, or maybe you are on call and they are more comfortable, otherwise there is really no need for scrubs. But in hospitals, everyone wears scrubs, why? More comfortable, you don't have to iron your clothes, you don't have to pick what to wear, you don't have to clean your dress shoes. You just put on some green scrubs, some clogs and you are good to go. I think comfort, and the fact that you don't have to dress up is why everybody wears scrubs. Personally I think only surgeons should wear them.

 

[deleted68747]

i love scrubs; i don't blame those optometry students for wanting to wear them also. sometimes i wish they made scrubs out of velvet and corduroy for the winter months.

 

[8744]

Agreed unless you are a surgeon, who has to wear scrubs, or maybe you are on call and they are more comfortable, otherwise there is really no need for scrubs. But in hospitals, everyone wears scrubs, why? More comfortable, you don't have to iron your clothes, you don't have to pick what to wear, you don't have to clean your dress shoes. You just put on some green scrubs, some clogs and you are good to go. I think comfort, and the fact that you don't have to dress up is why everybody wears scrubs. Personally I think only surgeons should wear them.

How about those of us in Emegency Medicine? Can we wear 'em?

 

[fpr85]

I wear solid colored scrubs that have my company's logo just above the chest pocket.
a) I don't have to worry about what to wear to work everyday,
b) I work with a lot of glue and get fine shavings all over me
c) they're comfortable

Now with this in mind I don't go parading around advertising that I'm in the medical profession in them, and I am by no means even trying to pass off as a doctor. I do, however, wear the scrub pants to class (I drive directly to school from work and don't have time to change). Sometimes I'll take off the top and just leave a white t-shirt underneath on.

 

[SitraAchra]

How about those of us in Emegency Medicine? Can we wear 'em?

nope. my own preference has just changed your lifestyle panda.

p.s. second consecutive day you dropped the EM-bomb. we get it, you're awesome.

 

[stoic]

nope. my own preference has just changed your lifestyle panda.

p.s. second consecutive day you dropped the EM-bomb. we get it, you're awesome.

scrubaphobe

 

[Chi-towner]

deleted

 

[SitraAchra]

scrubaphobe

muahhaahhah! i've worn my share...enough to get sick of them : /

 

[Wizard of Oz]

Scrubs are usually pretty comfortable, but I tend to wear them less nowadays because people in the hospital are more likely to ask me for directions if I have scrubs on.

Here's a related question. Why do doctors where lab coats? The don't work in the lab, and most of the time, the white coat is just for formal appearance. Seriously, if you need barrier protection, they recommend disposable covers (ER) or at least something that covers your front up completely (surgery).

I have always found it odd that when there is such a thing as "white coat syndrome," pageants such as "white coat ceremonies" tend to glorify the fact that doctors are distancing themselves from patients.

 

[Northerner]

The "comfort" thing always gets me.

Medical school girls seem to really need to be "comfy" AT ALL TIMES. Heaven forbid they come to class wearing a pair of pants. For 60% of them, apparently pajamas in professional school come off well. It's like college - sorority girls more committed to being "comfy" AT ALL TIMES than to the 8 guys they ****ed during rush week. Scrubs are supposed to be worn for utility value, not because people think they look like "pjs" which girls love SO MUCH when they're at home studying in their bunny slippers and listening to Kelly Clarkson and eating ice cream while desperately trying to remind all of us and themselves that they're "medical". Do us a favor - put on a pair of goddamned pants. Wearing ACTUAL clothing doesn't mean sacrificing any comfort at all. Jeans and a sweater. A shirt and pants. This isn't rocket science.

Edit: guys do it too.

 

[SoCuteMD]

.

 

[SitraAchra]

The "comfort" thing always gets me.

Medical school girls seem to really need to be "comfy" AT ALL TIMES. Heaven forbid they come to class wearing a pair of pants. For 60% of them, apparently pajamas in professional school come off well. It's like college - sorority girls more committed to being "comfy" AT ALL TIMES than to the 8 guys they ****ed during rush week. Scrubs are supposed to be worn for utility value, not because people think they look like "pjs" which girls love SO MUCH when they're at home studying in their bunny slippers and listening to Kelly Clarkson and eating ice cream while desperately trying to remind all of us and themselves that they're "medical". Do us a favor - put on a pair of goddamned pants. Wearing ACTUAL clothing doesn't mean sacrificing any comfort at all. Jeans and a sweater. A shirt and pants. This isn't rocket science.

Edit: guys do it too.

thank you and...i love you?


but yes. i agree. but w/ the previous post about "white coats" that is a different thing. They are formal and i think they look good w/ a shirt and tie. The thing is white coats aren't "abused" like scrubs are. People wear scrub bottoms in particular to look cool. If you're gonna wear scrubs then man the f*ck up and wear the set.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

People wear scrub bottoms in particular to look cool. If you're gonna wear scrubs then man the f*ck up and wear the set.

We have a bunch of people who come to gross lab in full scrub sets for no reason. They are just going to get nasty, so I'm fine with just wearing the pants since leg coverage is necessary for safety. The lab coat covers the top anyway. I don't think that there is anything cool about the bottoms, but the idea is to meet safety requirements without wasting money on expensive clothes.

Here's the take home on the scrubs--people who actually took some initiative to work clinically before coming to medical school no longer feel a need to look cool by wearing a V-neck top. When you show up in brand new scrubs, everybody knows that you've never worn them before, so it is counter-productive to your mission.

It is also obvious who is wearing real hospital scrubs and who is wearing the ones anyone can get at the store. I personally don't care, but I think that it is tacky to wear them when you don't really need them.

BTW all of this came about a few years back when hospitals stopped issuing uniforms to their employees. I'm not a big fan of the expensive prints myself, and I would actually prefer it if hospitals went back to having their own standards. I've heard of cases where kidnappers have gotten easier access to hospitals simply by buying scrubs.

Back to the white coat...

A doctor can look formal without putting on a white coat. A white coat may look "good," but it places the doctor on a different level or intellect than the patient. This is not something that should be celebrated, and it is also stupid that med students wear a short one as a notation of rank. In the clinic, it discourages free conversation and unnecessarily raises blood pressures. This is why psychiatrists almost never wear them in practice, yet they are more common in family med where the majority of psychological problems are treated. Stupid. I say ANYTHING the doctor can do to relate better to a patient is worth doing.

My school has a flipping dean who walks around in his white coat with a stethoscope in the pocket. The man sits behind a desk all day long for cryin out loud. I say give it a rest. Leave the lab coats in the lab. Malpractice cases will go down, and healthcare cost inflation will decelerate. Mark my word.

 

[thesauce]

I think I remember a weird eye-squirting disease. They're probably just protecting themselves from that.

 

[stoic]

i still can't believe this discussion gets such strong reactions from folks. they're scrubs! i got mine for $8 bucks a set on allheart.com. how is that people get so excited one way or another about them?

in the end, 95% of how you present yourself has nothing to do with what you wear.

 

[8744]

...We have a bunch of people who come to gross lab in full scrub sets for no reason. They are just going to get nasty, so I'm fine with just wearing the pants since leg coverage is necessary for safety...

At our school, scrubs were mandatory (top and bottom) for gross lab. Even though you may not get splashed by cadaver juice, you still have to admit that the smell gets everywhere. My wife wouldn't let me in the house with my gross lab scrubs and she wouldn't allow them in her washing machine. That's a pretty good rational for wearing scrubs. You can wash them in a bucket of suds, hang them out to dry, and they're no worse for the wear. Plus since I only paid $8.00 per pair at National Linen I didn't feel bad throwing them out.

As for the white coat thing, we don't really wear them in the Department which, out of deference to SitraAchra, I will not mention but sometimes you want to establish a little distance between the doctor and the patient.

 

[prettygreeneyes]

I was at a health fair this past weekend where optometry students were providing free vision services to the community. About 20 students arrived and every single one of them was wearing scrubs from top to bottom for the purpose of doing vision screenings. Can anyone give me a reason as to why they would be wearing scrubs (i.e. afraid of getting tears on their clothing)?

Hello all,

I'm a first year optometry student, and this strikes me as a little odd. We have screening requirements each semester, and part of that requirement is to show up in "professional" clothing. Apparently, my idea of professional and some of my fellow classmates' idea of professional are very differernt. Perhaps at the school you are referring to, they had a problem with people not dressing appropriately, and the easiest way to deal with it was to issue a "uniform" of sorts. They opted for scrubs. The same thing happened at the practice I worked at. Girls were coming in looking a little skanky (sp?) for the office, and the optometrists got tired of it. So, we all wore scrubs everyday. Generally, they were solid colored scrubs, and everyone has the same color, giving the office a sense of uniformity. I loved it, because getting dressed was easy. But, over time, I began to feel like a blob with no femininity or shape. I don't miss them at all...

That's the only reason I can think of, but... I haven't encountered any eye squirting diseases yet, so that's always a possibility.

 

[WhatUpDoc!]

Hello all,

I'm a first year optometry student, and this strikes me as a little odd. We have screening requirements each semester, and part of that requirement is to show up in "professional" clothing. Apparently, my idea of professional and some of my fellow classmates' idea of professional are very differernt. Perhaps at the school you are referring to, they had a problem with people not dressing appropriately, and the easiest way to deal with it was to issue a "uniform" of sorts. They opted for scrubs. The same thing happened at the practice I worked at. Girls were coming in looking a little skanky (sp?) for the office, and the optometrists got tired of it. So, we all wore scrubs everyday. Generally, they were solid colored scrubs, and everyone has the same color, giving the office a sense of uniformity. I loved it, because getting dressed was easy. But, over time, I began to feel like a blob with no femininity or shape. I don't miss them at all...

That's the only reason I can think of, but... I haven't encountered any eye squirting diseases yet, so that's always a possibility.

The Optometry Student has spoken!!!!!

 

[mac61]

Wait....I don't have to go through the hell that you call medical school in order to wear scrubs? You mean I can do something other than practice medicine and still wear scrubs? What the heck am I doing studying 120 hours a week so I can work 120 hours a week when I'm done? I'm so dropping out of med school, going to one of those stores in the mall (I thought you needed a DEA number to get scrubs there) and buyin' myself a grip o' scubs. Enjoy path...I quit.

 

[deleted109597]

At my hospital, you have to be able to get into the Pyxis for scrubs. So docs can't. Only nurses can.

Pretty ghetto.

 

[gostudy]

My question is...what is the appropriate garb for health fairs?

 

[Law2Doc]

haha i can understad why it may seem unnecessary to wear scrubs for any type of student at a health fair. as far scrubs being for medical professionals...i've worked in a hosptal lab for 4 years and most people in the lab wear scrubs (understandable with all that blood and urine floating around)..in fact the whole housekeeping staff and pathology secretaries (who don't do not work with the specimens) wear scrubs too. so really i guess wearing the scrubs is just a symbol of the health care industry as a whole?

Agree -- most of the people who wear scrubs at the hospital are not doctors. It's pretty decent odds to assume that if you see someone outside of the hospital wearing scrubs they are NOT a doctor. Sure they could be a surgeon or EM doc, but those folks more frequently change before leaving the hospital, as their garb tends not to be particularly clean by the end of their shift/call, and going home in blood and bacteria splattered clothing is considered bad form. If someone is wearing a suit/tie and a long white coat, the odds are much better that they are a doctor. So we should be more upset if optometrists wear ties.

 

[Law2Doc]

My question is...what is the appropriate garb for health fairs?

See http://www.mum.org/haloCost.htm

 

[gostudy]

See http://www.mum.org/haloCost.htm

That works.

 

[Soup]

how do you even find something like this? I don't mean to buy (really I don't)but to provide a link. I could surf the web for years and never come across this.

http://www.mum.org/haloCost.htm

 

[Law2Doc]

how do you even find something like this? I don't mean to buy (really I don't)but to provide a link. I could surf the web for years and never come across this.

http://www.mum.org/haloCost.htm

Legal research search engine skills translate well to google.

 

[Tessy]

Can anybody explain to me why residents always wear scrubs and doctors do not (i am not talking about surgeons, etc.)? Is the possibility of being splashed by body fluids is over once your residency is over?

 

[psipsina]

Can anybody explain to me why residents always wear scrubs and doctors do not (i am not talking about surgeons, etc.)? Is the possibility of being splashed by body fluids is over once your residency is over?

Maybe you're making enuf money that you're more concerned with your appearance than ruining your expensive clinic clothes.

 

[8744]

Can anybody explain to me why residents always wear scrubs and doctors do not (i am not talking about surgeons, etc.)? Is the possibility of being splashed by body fluids is over once your residency is over?

For your information, residents are doctors. I hate to post this because somewhere, in some internet cafe on a deserted street behind an adult novelty store, lurks an aspiring pre-med totally committed to the zen of medicine who is waiting, just waiting, to slap down any resident who will sully his future career by daring to call himself "doctor" before he finishes residency.

You know who you are.

Hey, we wear scrubs because they are comfortable and we spend long days at the hospital. It is now 12:17 PM Michigan time. I have been here since 7:00 AM and I probably won't get out until 10 Am tommorrow morning. I'm not getting hammered but it has been steady and I don't want to have to wear a shirt and tie for 30 hours straight, or for that matter even for a normal day of treking up and down the stairs and back and fourth through miles of corridors.

I'm not accusing you of this but I wish all of the anti-scrub people would just back off. Don't make me kick your ass. I'm going to be comfortable and **** you if you think it looks sloppy.

 

[Paws]

I think plenty of people wear scrubs as a stand in for the perception of "I am an important person." When someone really is in a position of authority like an attending, then they usually don't need an external stand in for that power. Actually, I think most attendings just wear normal clothes, sometimes no white coat and they hope and pray that people will leave them alone!

Where I did my ugrad education and studied premed it was considered extremely bad taste to wear scrubs outside the OR/ER and you were told to take them off. So, no scrubs in the main hospital, and absolutely you never saw people walking around with them on in the streets. It was considered really offensive and potentially dangerous. One hospital/research facility madated no white coats in the cafeteria. They had to be removed, and they politely offered a special closet for people to put them in before they entered the caf.

I agree with this thinking; we don't need external symbols of who we are. I know who I am. When I wear a white coat now, people treat me very differently than when I am just wearing normal clothes. Much nicer treatment. I don't think it should be that way and it makes me uncomfortable. Our power comes from within, not from what we wear.

 

[8744]

I think plenty of people wear scrubs as a stand in for the perception of "I am an important person." When someone really is in a position of authority like an attending, then they usually don't need an external stand in for that power. Actually, I think most attendings just wear normal clothes, sometimes no white coat and they hope and pray that people will leave them alone!

Where I did my ugrad education and studied premed it was considered extremely bad taste to wear scrubs outside the OR/ER and you were told to take them off. So, no scrubs in the main hospital, and absolutely you never saw people walking around with them on in the streets. It was considered really offensive and potentially dangerous. One hospital/research facility madated no white coats in the cafeteria. They had to be removed, and they politely offered a special closet for people to put them in before they entered the caf.

I agree with this thinking; we don't need external symbols of who we are. I know who I am. When I wear a white coat now, people treat me very differently than when I am just wearing normal clothes. Much nicer treatment. I don't think it should be that way and it makes me uncomfortable. Our power comes from within, not from what we wear.

Scrubs are comfortable. And easy to wear, easy to launder, and they do look professional under a clean white coat. I don't see how it could be offensive to anybody except people who deserve to be offended.

If there's anything I can't stand it's some uptight, old-school attending who wants the world to be exactly the way it was when he was a resident. Times have changed. He needs to let it go.

If my wife wants me to pick something up from the grocery store on the way home I don't think twice about wearing scrubs. It's just not that big a deal. It reminds me of when I was a Marine and we weren't allowed to wear our Battle Dress Utilities (camouflage uniforms) off base.

I have not worn street clothes since I started my new residency program and I like it just fine. In another seven months I will never have to wear street clothes to work ever again unless I want to.

 

[Law2Doc]

Scrubs are comfortable. And easy to wear, easy to launder, and they do look professional under a clean white coat.

Scrubs become a pain in the bathroom for guys -- without a zipper it becomes an ordeal. G-d forbid you accidently tied a tight knot and can't get it untied. I say the sooner one can get to the stage of wearing business clothes the better.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Scrubs are usually pretty comfortable, but I tend to wear them less nowadays because people in the hospital are more likely to ask me for directions if I have scrubs on.

Here's a related question. Why do doctors where lab coats? The don't work in the lab, and most of the time, the white coat is just for formal appearance. Seriously, if you need barrier protection, they recommend disposable covers (ER) or at least something that covers your front up completely (surgery).

I have always found it odd that when there is such a thing as "white coat syndrome," pageants such as "white coat ceremonies" tend to glorify the fact that doctors are distancing themselves from patients.

Ever try to fit a wallet, pda, pens, antibiotic cheat-sheet, alcohol wipes, cell phone, etc into that little pocket on scrub pants? Even putting change from the drink machine back there makes sitting uncomfortable, until if falls out. White coat = storage, plus you can hang it in your locker and somewhat minimize infecting your car and house with MRSA-laden scrubs. With thousands of staff, students, patients, and visitors running around, my school/hospital designates the dress code for ID purposes. Professional attire w/short coat for M3/4s, long coat and/or hospital scrubs for residents and attendings. Each department's staff has a different color retail scrubs, so radiology is black and lab is red and respiratory is blue, etc. So that when EM calls up for an OB consult, the desk staff (who wear regular clothes with a badge) don't accidentally send some high schooler lab tech into the pelvic room instead of the second year OB resident who looks like a high schooler lab tech, and the students know who not to snap at after an on-call nightmare of a day in the ER.

 

[QofQuimica]

I was at a health fair this past weekend where optometry students were providing free vision services to the community. About 20 students arrived and every single one of them was wearing scrubs from top to bottom for the purpose of doing vision screenings. Can anyone give me a reason as to why they would be wearing scrubs (i.e. afraid of getting tears on their clothing)?

Maybe they have to wear them as a requirement of participating in the health fair because their school feels it makes them look "professional." I spent four months working in a doctor's office in various capacities, none of which involved medical dealing with patients. Even at the beginning when I was in the back room filing charts and having zero patient contact, I still had to wear scrubs, because EVERYONE working in that office wears them, including the physicians and the office manager. Considering that I wanted to keep the job, I wore the scrubs.

 

[njbmd]

Scrubs are usually pretty comfortable, but I tend to wear them less nowadays because people in the hospital are more likely to ask me for directions if I have scrubs on.

Here's a related question. Why do doctors where lab coats? The don't work in the lab, and most of the time, the white coat is just for formal appearance. Seriously, if you need barrier protection, they recommend disposable covers (ER) or at least something that covers your front up completely (surgery).

I have always found it odd that when there is such a thing as "white coat syndrome," pageants such as "white coat ceremonies" tend to glorify the fact that doctors are distancing themselves from patients.

Anyone who works in a hospital can wear scrubs as a uniform. I have no problem with this as scrubs are usually more comfortable than the old white uniforms that nurses used to be required to wear.

Wearing a lab coat does not equal "working in the lab". Many physicians, including myself (a surgeon) are required to cover scrubs with lab coat when out of the operating room. Since I am also required to go from OR to ward and back to OR, I wear a lab coat cover (sometimes an scrub gown cover) but rest assured, my scrubs are covered.

White Coat Ceremony is the informal name given to the formal ceremony where an incoming medical student is welcomed into the medical profession by those of us already in the profession. It is an earned right of passage i.e. earned by getting accepted into medical school. The short white jacket is the universal symbol of the medical student and a ceremony welcoming them into the profession is very nice. We do not hold white coat ceremonies for lab technicians and other allied health people who wear white jackets and are not medical students.

Wearing a white lab coat does not "distance" a physician from their patients. On the contrary, patients tend to expect that their physicians will be wearing white lab coats and appreciate this fact. After all, I do not go to an auto mechanic for evaluation of the knock in my left rear tire and expect to see them dressed in a business suit wearing a white coat. In contrast, my patients do not expect to see me on the wards or in my clinic wearing street clothing without my clean white lab coat.

When I was covering the Surgical Intensive Care unit after hours, I could often be found wearing a Virginia Cavalier sweat shirt wrapped in a blanket studying under the "french-fry" heating lamps because I was cold most of the time. If a patient's family needed to speak with me, I would remove my sweat shirt, put on my white coat and speak to them.