Scrubs vs Suit with White Coat

Started by MedicalSonata
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Which?

  • Suit

    Votes: 62 41.1%

  • Scrubs

    Votes: 75 49.7%

  • Neither

    Votes: 14 9.3%
  • Total voters
    151
MedicalSonata

MedicalSonata

Friendly Pre-Med, PM me!
10+ Year Member
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So...some doctors wear scrubs with their white coat...others wear a suit. Which do you prefer? I'm just curious for reasons why someone would like one over the other? I know we're PRE-meds, but certainly you've given it some thought?

I prefer scrubs and white coat - the suit and tie looks too professional and unaproachable.
 
At least during your third and fourth years, what you get to wear will be dictated by the administration. I've found that there are certain clerkships where scrubs are pretty much required (EM, surgery) but otherwise business attire is the standard.

I vote for scrubs because it requires far less effort than finding non-wrinkled dress clothes at the crack of dawn.
 
Kind of depends on the situation. You will rarely wear a full suit. I know a few that do, but its a little more rare. If you run the risk of getting any kind of bodily fluid on you then scrubs are best. If you are in the office, you are most likely not going to wear scrubs. I've never encountered a patient that thought the doctor was too formal if he or she was at least business casual.

They both have their uses. Many don't like wearing the white coat. It can be a bit of a hassle. The only people that I see wear scrubs all day are anesthesiologists and many EM people. Even surgeons switch over to street clothes many times when going back to their office.
 
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beachblonde said:
I vote for scrubs because it requires far less effort than finding non-wrinkled dress clothes at the crack of dawn.
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x2

But... working in a hospital, you might run the risk of being confused with some one else if you wear scrubs with a white coat. There are a lot of employees now who sport the white coat so others that don't know you might have to do a double check before they realize your significance. Maybe recognition isn't a concern for some people though?
 
MedicalSonata said:
So...some doctors wear scrubs with their white coat...others wear a suit. Which do you prefer? I'm just curious for reasons why someone would like one over the other?
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of preference, it's usually a question of necessity/convenience and hospital policy.

Some hospitals do NOT let doctors wear scrubs outside of the OR, endoscopy suite, or interventional radiology suite.

Other times, doctors will be forced to wear scrubs because they're between cases in the OR, and have 15 minutes to run out and see a patient on the floor.

So it's rarely (if ever) a matter of preference.
 
Nevadanteater said:
Tie = Fomite = Fail.
Click to expand...

The data behind this train of thinking is actually very thin(think almost non-existant). Even the UK's health department's "evidence base" to justify their no ties and bare below the elbows policy states that the data does not support the action.

That being said, I don't wear a tie unless my preceptor is a stickler for them.
 
Scrubs hands down. That is one of the perks of going into medicine.
 
beachblonde said:
At least during your third and fourth years, what you get to wear will be dictated by the administration. I've found that there are certain clerkships where scrubs are pretty much required (EM, surgery) but otherwise business attire is the standard.

I vote for scrubs because it requires far less effort than finding non-wrinkled dress clothes at the crack of dawn.
Click to expand...
Wrinklefree dress shirts? I'm not talking cheap either, I'm talking department store... not that Van Heussen is the most expensive. 😎
 
MedicalSonata said:
So...some doctors wear scrubs with their white coat...others wear a suit. Which do you prefer? I'm just curious for reasons why someone would like one over the other? I know we're PRE-meds, but certainly you've given it some thought?

I prefer scrubs and white coat - the suit and tie looks too professional and unaproachable.
Click to expand...

Some pre-meds actually think about this sort of stuff???
 
I recently had this convo with my cousin who is a cardiothoracic surgeon. He said when he first started he always wore the shirt and tie every day and changed when he had to do surgeries and then changed back. But he said he got quite tired of doing that so now he just wears scrubs and a white coat every day.

Funny side story:
A friend of mine recently had a baby and it seemed like everyone walking around had on white coats, then a guy with a sweater on with a stethoscope walks up and everyone is like oh he must be the doctor lol. Its like nowadays you almost don't need the coat to actually look like a doc.
 
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I like wearing a suit... although I loved wearing scrubs when I volunteered in the L&D department...

Also it depends on the color of the scrubs... Maryland has transparent pink or yellow scrubs that the med students wear depending if they are in the VA or the main hospital, and they are kind of see through and if you are wearing dark colored boxers, then everyone will know...🙄
 
Sorry but - get into a school first, eh?
Then pass a class once you're there! 😉
Just talking priorities here.

Ask any doctor that's been practicing for a few years and they are most likely to look at you like you're from mars. That is - aside from being a premed and early M1 - you won't be thinking much about this decision.

Like others have said - often it's dictated by other things aside from what look that you like. Psychiatrists usually avoid the white coat for fairly obvious reasons... LOL. Surgeons are not supposed to show up wearing scrubs but change once they get to the locker room (but most take 'em home cause at 4am who the heck wants to bother...)
 
funkydrmonkey said:
Also it depends on the color of the scrubs... Maryland has transparent pink or yellow scrubs that the med students wear🙄
Click to expand...

Okay that just sounds like someone's cruel joke on the med students. (or the patients, depending on which side you're on, I suppose...) Wow!
 
Scrubs are overrated. They aren't THAT comfortable.
Full-suits are too formal, especially for a hospital setting.

T-shirt + sweatpants/shorts (anything comfortable) would be ideal
 
medaholic said:
Scrubs are overrated. They aren't THAT comfortable.
Full-suits are too formal, especially for a hospital setting.

T-shirt + sweatpants/shorts (anything comfortable) would be ideal
Click to expand...

Yeah the hospital scrubs are usually too big for me, so I have to double knot the pants to keep them from continuously falling down, which they do anyway, and then it's a pain to go to the bathroom b/c i have to undo the really tight double knot. And the shirt is baggy so girls have to wear something under them if they don't want to flash everyone every time they lean over.
 
quite a few attendings skip the white coat altogether. I think I'm gonna go that route.
 
Orthodoc40 said:
Sorry but - get into a school first, eh?
Then pass a class once you're there! 😉
Just talking priorities here.

Ask any doctor that's been practicing for a few years and they are most likely to look at you like you're from mars. That is - aside from being a premed and early M1 - you won't be thinking much about this decision.

Like others have said - often it's dictated by other things aside from what look that you like. Psychiatrists usually avoid the white coat for fairly obvious reasons... LOL. Surgeons are not supposed to show up wearing scrubs but change once they get to the locker room (but most take 'em home cause at 4am who the heck wants to bother...)
Click to expand...
Just curious, where do you practice as an orthopedic surgeon?
 
diosa428 said:
Yeah the hospital scrubs are usually too big for me, so I have to double knot the pants to keep them from continuously falling down, which they do anyway, and then it's a pain to go to the bathroom b/c i have to undo the really tight double knot. And the shirt is baggy so girls have to wear something under them if they don't want to flash everyone every time they lean over.
Click to expand...

:laugh: One time I had to get scrubs in the middle of the day, and the only ones left were XL. It's not a good sign when the strings, even after you tie the knot, are still long enough to wrap around your waist again.

Scrubs aren't that comfortable, for me. They're thin, and I get really cold in them.
 
Orthodoc40 said:
Okay that just sounds like someone's cruel joke on the med students. (or the patients, depending on which side you're on, I suppose...) Wow!
Click to expand...

Well, they are not completely transparent, but rather see-through though...
 
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Owning a suit for every day of the week and paying for it to be dry cleaned would be expensive and a real pain.
 
Yes, I want all you *guys* to wear suits. Few things are better looking than a guy in a suit. Seriously, the world would be a better place if the guys I knew wore suits.

(Since ladies have plenty of flexibility in formal businesswear, I definitely voted suit).
 
How is it that pajamas are losing to a suit in this poll?
 
Orthodoc40 said:
Sorry but - get into a school first, eh?
Then pass a class once you're there! 😉
Just talking priorities here.

Ask any doctor that's been practicing for a few years and they are most likely to look at you like you're from mars. That is - aside from being a premed and early M1 - you won't be thinking much about this decision.

Like others have said - often it's dictated by other things aside from what look that you like. Psychiatrists usually avoid the white coat for fairly obvious reasons... LOL. Surgeons are not supposed to show up wearing scrubs but change once they get to the locker room (but most take 'em home cause at 4am who the heck wants to bother...)
Click to expand...

Wait... I guess I'm slow tonight, but what are the obvious reasons? I've seen psychiatrists walking around in white coats, although the psych nursing & ancillary staff are NOT allowed to wear scrubs, interestingly enough... (the patients are the ones in scrubs...)

Tangent: So what hospital staff get to wear a white coat, aside from physicians? When I first started working in the hospital, I got confused because some nurses on the floor also wear white coats. A portion of these white coat nurses take patients, while a portion just circulate around & talk to patients... this still kind of confuses me. Then, the pharmacists also get to wear the white coats. Med students wear (short) white coats. A lot of residents I find don't wear white coats...

The one sure thing is that the gal wearing the Flintstones scrubs is a nurse 😉

Back on topic: Scrubs LOOK comfortable, but they seriously aren't. The pant elastic is uncomfortable, the top is too big and somehow always ill-fitting on me & stiff... seriously, why can't some company make some more comfy scrubs? So I guess I prefer business attire... which at least LOOKS sharp, and can be comfortable.
 
baggy-pants.jpg

^^^Is it ok to dress like this? If it's not..I'm screwed.
 
Ok guys, this may be a technicality, but no one wears a SUIT with a white coat. You don't put a white coat on over a suit coat. You either wear professional clothing with a white coat, or you wear a suit with no white coat.
 
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Voted suit cause what else am I going to do with this stupid thing once I'm done with interviews
 
Depends on what you're doing? And how chill your attending is.

I think business casual gets me by on most primary care things.
 
MedicalSonata said:
I'm a guy too, and a lot of girls are turned on by that, so it works for me. 😀
Click to expand...

As a woman a few years older than you, I'd like to gently suggest that the type of girl who might be turned on by seeing boxers are, well, quite frankly, not the type of girl you're going to want to introduce to mom and dad.
 
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