Scrubs in the Gross Lab?

[Firebird]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone ever wears scrubs in the gross lab. I've always heard that students come out of there smelling like formaldehyde, formalin, and everything else...so does anyone ever wear scrubs to keep their clothes from getting stinky?

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[mpp]

I would think that most people wear scrubs in the gross anatomy lab.

 

[Doc Ivy]

I would think that most people wear scrubs in the gross anatomy lab.

I guess it depends on the school, but everyone in my class wore scrubs and gowns except a couple of people who just wore ratty sweats.

 

[IlianaSedai]

I would think that most people wear scrubs in the gross anatomy lab.

Not at mine. Many students did, but not the profs and TA's. They just wore their normal clothes and kinda looked at scrubs with an expression of "What's the big deal?" So I just followed their example and did what they did.

Our lab was well ventilated, and I only spent 4 hours per session, twice a week in there. I just wore the same set of clothes for 2 weeks, then put them through the laundry.

 

[lattimer13]

just get a white lab coat. that should do you fine. plus you don't have to waste time changing in and out of scrubs. maybe they let you keep the coat in the lab too.

 

[Gerg]

I'll be wearing scrubs, I find them quite comfortable.

 

[Wrigleyville]

Do yourself a favor and get some scrubs to wear to lab. You can wear old clothes if you like, but just keep in mind whatever you end up using you'll want to throw in the trash at the end of the semester.

 

[Blade28]

I just wore regular clothes. Changed afterwards.

 

[Firebird]

just get a white lab coat. that should do you fine. plus you don't have to waste time changing in and out of scrubs. maybe they let you keep the coat in the lab too.

Actually, they're providing blue lab coats for everyone this year. But I just figured why wear real clothes under the lab coat if they're gonna come out smelling like preservative?

 

[jbish]

I found that the smell really permeated my body so it didn't matter if I had a change of clothes because I could still smell preservative on my hands (even though I double-gloved. Go figure) and my hair until I took a shower. So, I just wore whatever I was wearing that day and took a shower as soon as I got home.

 

[starayamoskva]

It depends on how antiquated the gross lab is at your school and how many hours you are in the lab. I suppose if you have the newer systems that are super ventilated then you will be fine. At our school, there is minimal if any ventilation and you are working over an open vat of formaldehyde and phenol with a body that you just lifted out of the juice when you walked in.
We spent upwards of 4 hours a day in the gross lab during gross anatomy and just wore scrubs through out the entire day (our group met for body reveiw every morning at 6 spent 2 hours in the lab before class then formal lab for 3-5 hours in the afternoon). My experience is that you are permeated with the stench of the gross lab to the point that people on the elevator with you know you are a 1st year med student.
We provided our own lab coats and my advice if you are responsible for washing your own is to take it to a laundry mat and wash it completely seperate from anything!
Febreeze in your locker to spray down your scrubs and hair is somewhat helpful and purell hand sanitizer helps with the hand stench.
Good luck in your endeavors and it definately gets better after the first year so hang in there.
S.

 

[DoctorWannaBe]

On a similar note, what kind of gloves do people recommend using in the lab? I've been using double latex gloves during the pre-matriculation program at my school, but some people recommend nitrile gloves. The nitrile gloves are $18, while I can get latex gloves from a drug store for $5. Any suggestions? What about goggles or other protective gear?

 

[!dr_nick!]

What about goggles or other protective gear?

I think thats a bit extreme... this isnt dawn of the dead!

 

[Scooby Moo]

On a similar note, what kind of gloves do people recommend using in the lab? I've been using double latex gloves during the pre-matriculation program at my school, but some people recommend nitrile gloves. The nitrile gloves are $18, while I can get latex gloves from a drug store for $5. Any suggestions? What about goggles or other protective gear?

Double latex gloves were the standard for my class. That being said, 3 or 4 people used nitrile gloves and 1 preferred neoprene-lined kitchen gloves...all reusable so the increased cost turned out to be a flat fee for the year.

IMHO, there isn't really a need for goggles, face shields, etc. (as long as everyone in your lab group is reasonably careful guarding against splash).

 

[Doc Ivy]

Double latex gloves were the standard for my class. That being said, 3 or 4 people used nitrile gloves and 1 preferred neoprene-lined kitchen gloves...all reusable so the increased cost turned out to be a flat fee for the year.

IMHO, there isn't really a need for goggles, face shields, etc. (as long as everyone in your lab group is reasonably careful guarding against splash).

I don't see how you can get a good "feel" for the dissection and the tissues in kitchen gloves, but hey that's just me--- latex gives you a good feel, but they'll tear if you just look at them funny-- we used the purple nitrile special

 

[Wednesday]

The good thing about scrubs (or a dedicated pair of ratty clothes) is that you aren't going to worry about leaning over into the body because if you do you're just mucking up your lab clothes. It's a fairly greasy business.

As for gloves, I would definitely invest in nitrile. I found that if I wore latex (even double latex) or those weird non-latex non-nitrile gloves (the clear ones that are really loose) my hands smelled bad for the rest of the day. With the nitrile they didn't really smell at all, which improved my QOL a great deal.

 

[KyGrlDr2B]

NITRILE GLOVES! Get nitrile gloves. If you use latex, you will need to double glove and your hands will probably still stink anyway. With nitrile, my hands rarely smelled and you get pretty colors such as purple and blue. I even knew of a couple people who double gloved the nitrile ones just to be safe (you don't want to eat a sandwich with your hands smelling like gross lab).

I also found that if I was in the lab for more than 2-3 hours I had to shower and wash my hair vigorously. My arms and hair would stink so bad for the rest of the day. But if you are only in there for a little bit, you can get away with not showering and you won't stink. We often used febreeze and perfume if we had another class after lab. Also, if you want to wash your scrubs or the clothes that you wore under your scrub top, do so the same day! I had no problem getting the funk out of my t-shirts as long as i washed them when i got home with a generous helping of tide and oxy clean.

Enjoy gross lab! It was really hard, but was a blast!

 

[DrBravesgirl]

IMHO, there isn't really a need for goggles, face shields, etc. (as long as everyone in your lab group is reasonably careful guarding against splash).

there usually isn't a need for goggles or face shields, but a couple of people in my class had problems with their contact lenses once they got around all that formaldehyde, so they invested in goggles. never heard any complaints after that.

 

[Blade28]

I used regular, thin latex gloves. Yes, they occasionally tore. Yes, my hands would stink afterwards. It's ok, no big deal!

Then again, I've also been squirted and splashed by a myriad of things while in the gross lab. Bone fragments while a classmate was sawing open a skull? Check. Preservation juices coming out of a portal triad when a friend squeezed a piece of liver in my direction? Check. Pieces of impacted feces while trying to clean out a segment of toxic megacolon with my soon-to-be-ungloved fingers? Check.

Ah, the memories...

 

[rchrest1]

The nitrile gloves are $18, while I can get latex gloves from a drug store for $5.

Considering our profession and tuition costs, I think the extra $13 is well worth it!! I only used a box and a half for the entire course. Barrier cream was provided, which helped a lot also.

 

[ZOT! ZOT!]

In most of my UG labs, we used aprons... what do you guys think about that?

 

[NateatUC]

Most everyone wore scrubs to gross lab here. As far as I'm concerned, it really doesn't matter what you wear; you'll still smell for the rest of the day, and so will everyone else. Its a fact of first year. Get used to it.

Our school, in cooperation with the hospital, actually has a "scrub service" where you pay a $25 deposit and you basically get all the scrubs you can wear. There is a machine that lets you exchange dirty scrubs for clean ones. You're technically allowed to have 2 pairs out at any given time, but everyone knows how to trick the machine to get more.

As for gloves, unless someone was allergic to latex, I think most everyone here wore latex. Of course it helped that during orientation one of the student groups sold them for seriously cheap.

 

[KidDr]

Go to a thrift store, buy 1 or 2 sets of scrubs, wear them in lab, and throw them away at the end.

Wear your oldest, nastiest shoes, and throw those away at the end too. NO SANDALS!

Wear nitrile gloves, 2 pairs if you need to. They're worth the cost.

And take a lot of showers, espeically after you've been in lab. You may get used to the smell, but your non-med school roommates won't.

 

[Doc Ivy]

Go to a thrift store, buy 1 or 2 sets of scrubs, wear them in lab, and throw them away at the end.

Wear your oldest, nastiest shoes, and throw those away at the end too. NO SANDALS!

Wear nitrile gloves, 2 pairs if you need to. They're worth the cost.

And take a lot of showers, espeically after you've been in lab. You may get used to the smell, but your non-med school roommates won't.

This is sooo true, I always feel so awful riding up the elevator with other people knowing I smell so weird... how do you explain the funk to non-med people? Everyone in my apartment bulding must think I have horrible hygiene

 

[the_equalizer]

go check out scrubs from your hospital, they should be somewhere around surgery. just walk in, find someone in scrubs, and say "Hi, I'm a med student here, could you please tell me where the scrub room is?" Then act like you're listening to their directions and when they least expect it pounce upon them, beat the #%@# out of them, and steal their scrubs.