Wearing scrubs all the time--how bad does it look?

[as90]

Hi all,
I know that there were threads on this topic in the past but I thought I would get an idea on a situation I have.

I had bought plenty of scrubs during the 1st 2 years for anatomy and anatomy tutoring. I ended up getting a discount on a bulk order, and had plenty that were unused.

Since, my Pediatrics rotation was primarily in-hospital, I decided to wear scrubs there and no one minded at all. My Internal Medicine rotation is office-based, the doctor wears formal clothes and is really nice. He has never said anything about me showing up in scrubs.

However, some of my colleagues and 4th years have really said that I am ruining the school's image by not dressing in an appropriate manner. I've truly been breaking the bank with Step 1 studying, living expenses, so I have not spent a lot on business attire. Truthfully, I have only 2 business attire clothes (they look quite old-fashioned too). Scrubs have been easy to wear and clean.

I have also never formally asked my preceptors what the attire is, though I probably should have. But I wanted to get some honest feedback, in terms of how it is perceived by others if a medical student wears scrubs or not (even in an office setting)?

I have an Internal Medicine rotation and a Psych rotation up next and I just wanted to know if it "truly" looks that bad? I mean I wear my white coat on top of the scrubs, and I make sure that they are washed regularly and not smelly.

I just don't want to do something that looks too eccentric.

I hate to sound like I'm pinching pennies, but all these NBME tests, Uworld for 1 year, books, and the lovely $60K tuition has been taking a toll on me. My parents are also not able to help me out as much financially as my mom lost her job and my dad has had to cut back on the hours he works due to his declining health/family issues.

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[imperturbable]

At least for us, the default dress code is clinic attire (dress shirt + tie + slacks/khakis + white coat), even for some lectures. Scrubs are only worn in the hospital. Our admin stresses this a lot. Don't be that guy if you can avoid it. I think the general rule is to match or dress better than your current preceptor.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Hi all,
I know that there were threads on this topic in the past but I thought I would get an idea on a situation I have.

I had bought plenty of scrubs during the 1st 2 years for anatomy and anatomy tutoring. I ended up getting a discount on a bulk order, and had plenty that were unused.

Since, my Pediatrics rotation was primarily in-hospital, I decided to wear scrubs there and no one minded at all. My Internal Medicine rotation is office-based, the doctor wears formal clothes and is really nice. He has never said anything about me showing up in scrubs.

However, some of my colleagues and 4th years have really said that I am ruining the school's image by not dressing in an appropriate manner. I've truly been breaking the bank with Step 1 studying, living expenses, so I have not spent a lot on business attire. Truthfully, I have only 2 business attire clothes (they look quite old-fashioned too). Scrubs have been easy to wear and clean.

I have also never formally asked my preceptors what the attire is, though I probably should have. But I wanted to get some honest feedback, in terms of how it is perceived by others if a medical student wears scrubs or not (even in an office setting)?

I have an Internal Medicine rotation and a Psych rotation up next and I just wanted to know if it "truly" looks that bad? I mean I wear my white coat on top of the scrubs, and I make sure that they are washed regularly and not smelly.

I just don't want to do something that looks too eccentric.

I hate to sound like I'm pinching pennies, but all these NBME tests, Uworld for 1 year, books, and the lovely $60K tuition has been taking a toll on me. My parents are also not able to help me out as much financially as my mom lost her job and my dad has had to cut back on the hours he works due to his declining health/family issues.

Scrubs do look bad if you are the only one wearing them. It can affect your evaluations under the "professionalism" category. They are fine if you've been on call, or have been helping out with procedures, or doing Ob/Gyn or Surgery rotation. They are not fine for IM/Peds/FP clinic, psychiatry rotation when not on call, or anything office based.

My advice to you would be to get some inexpensive business casual clothes. That's what I did. Hit up the local Target, or similar store. Definitely go to a thrift store like Goodwill, typically the best stuff is at the Goodwill nearest where your attendings live. You'll be surprised what you can find (Macklemore FTW).

If you are male, get one pair of khaki chinos, one pair of navy slacks or chinos, some button down shirts, dress belt, one pair of comfortable black or brown shoes, socks that match your pants, and maybe a couple of ties (optional for the most part). This you can do for $200, and you don't have to do it all at once.
Anyway, you only need like two "uniforms" to wear to work and mix and match shirts and pants. Slightly conservative, old fashioned and respectable is ok in medicine. Sloppiness is not.

 

[hrandani]

You can go to any Costco in the United States, grab 5 high quality, wrinkle free formal dress shirts @ $20 a piece, two pairs of dress pants at 40$, and some ties for less than $200 total. None of that will even need to be dry cleaned, and their house brand lasts forever.

Decent shoes are going to be a lot more difficult, I will grant you.

Considering that you're going to need to dress this way for the rest of your life, and considering how much stock people put into your appearance subconsciously, it's really not asking very much. If you can't afford to drop $500 on dress clothes, you need to ask your financial aid department to bump your aid up a notch. You're already dropping six figures on this education, don't sabotage yourself to save a few bucks.

As a final note, you absolutely cannot wear scrubs during your psych rotation. On the flip side, generally they don't ask you to wear a tie, because as we all know, psych patients are psychotic cop killers and the presence of formal wear makes them want to attempt to strangle you with it (wtf guys? like someone can't attempt to strangle me unless I'm wearing a tie? seriously?)

 

[mehc012]

You can go to any Costco in the United States, grab 5 high quality, wrinkle free formal dress shirts @ $20 a piece, two pairs of dress pants at 40$, and some ties for less than $200 total. None of that will even need to be dry cleaned, and their house brand lasts forever.

Decent shoes are going to be a lot more difficult, I will grant you.

Considering that you're going to need to dress this way for the rest of your life, and considering how much stock people put into your appearance subconsciously, it's really not asking very much. If you can't afford to drop $500 on dress clothes, you need to ask your financial aid department to bump your aid up a notch. You're already dropping six figures on this education, don't sabotage yourself to save a few bucks.

As a final note, you absolutely cannot wear scrubs during your psych rotation. On the flip side, generally they don't ask you to wear a tie, because as we all know, psych patients are psychotic cop killers and the presence of formal wear makes them want to attempt to strangle you with it (wtf guys? like someone can't attempt to strangle me unless I'm wearing a tie? seriously?)

Yeah, I questioned this once too when I was told that pens were OK on the ward but pencils were not, because people could snap wooden pencils and use them to stab/cut things. OK, but you do realize that pens are pointy objects too, right? OMG THAT PT HAS A PEN THEY WILL STAB ME IN THE EYE!!

Actually, I think psych ward regulations in general almost FORCE you to think of ways that everyday objects could be used to hurt yourself or others. It's like "Hmmm, they don't let you bring deodorant in (that was one of the biggest complaints I heard from patients)...how could I harm myself with deodorant" *brain goes crazy contemplating...well not really, that one is straightforward, but SOME of them are convoluted*
It's like psych units are self-fulfilling prophecies...even if you don't go in there thinking about those things, you almost can't help yourself!

 

[imperturbable]

You can go to any Costco in the United States, grab 5 high quality, wrinkle free formal dress shirts @ $20 a piece, two pairs of dress pants at 40$, and some ties for less than $200 total. None of that will even need to be dry cleaned, and their house brand lasts forever.

Decent shoes are going to be a lot more difficult, I will grant you.

Considering that you're going to need to dress this way for the rest of your life, and considering how much stock people put into your appearance subconsciously, it's really not asking very much. If you can't afford to drop $500 on dress clothes, you need to ask your financial aid department to bump your aid up a notch. You're already dropping six figures on this education, don't sabotage yourself to save a few bucks.

As a final note, you absolutely cannot wear scrubs during your psych rotation. On the flip side, generally they don't ask you to wear a tie, because as we all know, psych patients are psychotic cop killers and the presence of formal wear makes them want to attempt to strangle you with it (wtf guys? like someone can't attempt to strangle me unless I'm wearing a tie? seriously?)

Good advice, and wearing a tie would probably increase the success rate of strangling you to death. It's kind of sad to think about because you know it had to have happened before and in significant enough numbers for schools to implement this policy.

 

[laconfidential]

OP, your IM attending maybe hasn't said anything to you, but will quite possibly note something about your unprofessional attire on your evals.

While a student, safe bet: no scrubs in a clinic setting. Never ever.

Frankly I'm kind of shocked nobody has said this to you yet. Bet they're thinking it, though.

 

[evilbooyaa]

No scrubs in clinic.

Scrubs on Surgery/OB Gyn as long as you're in the hospital/OR.

Inpatient IM/Peds is a possible question mark. On long call days we would wear scrubs (like our residents). On short call, dress clothes.

Basically, see what people around you are wearing. If the resident/attending/other med students are all wearing dress clothes, you should be too.

Echo the advice for Costco for easy set of professional attire for < 2-300 bucks.

 

[wolfvgang22]

You can go to any Costco in the United States, grab 5 high quality, wrinkle free formal dress shirts @ $20 a piece, two pairs of dress pants at 40$, and some ties for less than $200 total. None of that will even need to be dry cleaned, and their house brand lasts forever.

Decent shoes are going to be a lot more difficult, I will grant you.

Considering that you're going to need to dress this way for the rest of your life, and considering how much stock people put into your appearance subconsciously, it's really not asking very much. If you can't afford to drop $500 on dress clothes, you need to ask your financial aid department to bump your aid up a notch. You're already dropping six figures on this education, don't sabotage yourself to save a few bucks.

As a final note, you absolutely cannot wear scrubs during your psych rotation. On the flip side, generally they don't ask you to wear a tie, because as we all know, psych patients are psychotic cop killers and the presence of formal wear makes them want to attempt to strangle you with it (wtf guys? like someone can't attempt to strangle me unless I'm wearing a tie? seriously?)

Heck, Costco sounds nice. I'm going to check that out!

I think the no-tie thing in psych is mostly because a lot of us don't care much for ties. Ties on the inpatient unit are discouraged, but not usually outright banned. We could wear bow ties or clip-on ties, but most of us don't.
Medicine guys that don't like ties argue that they spread infection (which they can). So can white coats, but they like those so they keep wearing them though a study shows they can also spread infection.

Gimme an every day object and I can probably come up with a true story of a psych patient doing something bad with it, having been on call a lot in a high acuity facility. Lots of patients just take off their scrub tops and try to hang themselves with that, but we still give them scrub tops. It's about balancing risk vs. benefit, like anything else in medicine.

 

[JJMrK]

IMO, you should be wearing professional attire unless told that scrubs are OK. Usually OB/gyn peeps are OK with them, and occasionally IM/peds on the weekends or while on call. I've always worn dress clothes in and out for surgery rotations and changed for cases. Clinic should always be done in professional attire as a student.

 

[cabinbuilder]

You should not be wearing scrubs for clinic unless you are the attending and that's how you run your office (I had an attending who never wore real clothes). Scrubs are for ER, OR/Surgery in hospital only.

Rounding, all clinics are preofessional attire.

I, too, am surprised you wearing scrubs has been tolerated in clinic. I would have sent you home to change.

 

[K31]

I love scrubs, and am so happy to be in a specialty where they are all we wear--I have only one month my intern year when I may have to dress up. That said, in medical school there are many rotations where scrubs aren't acceptable.

I agree with the advice to match what you are wearing to those around you. I would always dress up the first day (shirt and tie--and I hate ties), and then back it off later if it seemed appropriate.

I never wore scrubs in a clinic setting unless the attending and I were coming straight from the OR. Heck, my FM preceptor wore scrubs daily and I still came in business casual.

On inpatient rotations, ask the residents your first day. My experience is it was fine to wear scrubs days your team was on call.

For ED and ICU rotations, scrubs are standard. Surgery too, obviously.

 

[Kahreek]

imagine you could wear pajamas at work, yeah. Only reason i came to med school .
To be honest i would like to wear more scrubs when doing ward work, especially at im dep, so many attendings diss the scrubs and love the white coats.

 

[as90]

Thanks for the advice. I think my preceptor is just too nice of a guy because he didn't mention anything about unprofessionalism.

Costco this weekend!

 

[Bacchus]

IMO, you should be wearing professional attire unless told that scrubs are OK. Usually OB/gyn peeps are OK with them, and occasionally IM/peds on the weekends or while on call. I've always worn dress clothes in and out for surgery rotations and changed for cases. Clinic should always be done in professional attire as a student.

Same. I rounded yesterday morning in shirt tie while on surgery. We were extremely busy but I still changed back into shirt/tie from scrubs when we went to the office.

 

[mimelim]

I used to be a big proponent of wearing a tie unless I was in the OR or the ICU. Now, I can't remember the last time I wore anything besides scrubs.

 

[wolfvgang22]

Now, I can't remember the last time I wore anything besides scrubs.

Spoken as a true surgery resident

 

[JediZero]

Echoing the above advice and expanding it: when I call a rotation site a few weeks before I start to check in and make sure everything is all set up, one of the questions I always ask is attire, because this can vary so much (white coat or not, tie or not, office wear vs. scrubs, etc.). If what you're wearing does not match what your preceptor or fellow students wear, then you need to fix it. When in doubt, ask- OP, you should talk to your preceptor as soon as you get a chance and sort this out. Depending on the doctor, it might be worth apologizing and reminding him that you (presumably) just started third year.

In general, your clothing should be:
-Clean
-Hole/Rip/Tear free
-Stain/Bleach/Blotch free
-Relatively wrinkle-free (or freshly ironed, in some more formal cases)
-Relatively well-fitting (doesn't have to be perfect, but try not to look like you're in your dad's hand-me-downs or those pants that fit in 9th grade)

New stuff can be expensive, but the cheap stuff can be so crappy that you're replacing it more often and it's a wash. The initial investment is scary, but you'll spend less in the end. Costco has decent quality for a decent price, and it's easier to buy shirts there. Thrift shops are excellent for ties, as you don't have to worry about sizing and there are some really great brands for ridiculous prices.

Personally, spent the first couple years building my wardrobe because I knew I'd need it now. It was a good investment.

 

[ferning]

Hey Jedi, is it ok I wear a dirty garbage bag to the site?

I can't believe you posted this and call a site weeks before. No residency will want this total lack of common sense

 

[Bacchus]

Hey Jedi, is it ok I wear a dirty garbage bag to the site?

I can't believe you posted this and call a site weeks before. No residency will want this total lack of common sense

There's nothing wrong with what he is doing. It's better to know than show up the 1st day and look aloof. He's not calling simply to ask about dresscode, but rather when to arrive, where to be, etc. This is called being proactive and informed. And even if all of his tips are commonsense to you, a good number of medical students do not follow them.

 

[HolySmokes]

Even in the hospital we are only allowed to wear scrubs on call and post-call days. Otherwise it's clinic attire everywhere.

 

[KnuxNole]

There's nothing wrong with what he is doing. It's better to know than show up the 1st day and look aloof. He's not calling simply to ask about dresscode, but rather when to arrive, where to be, etc. This is called being proactive and informed. And even if all of his tips are commonsense to you, a good number of medical students do not follow them.

I think ferning is having some moodiness lately for some strange reason...it's been the same attitude in numerous threads

 

[Tizoc]

Thanks for the advice. I think my preceptor is just too nice of a guy because he didn't mention anything about unprofessionalism.

Costco this weekend!

That's my thought too. I found this surprising since every preceptor I've had so far has mentioned their dress code when I spoke to them before I started my rotation.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Even in the hospital we are only allowed to wear scrubs on call and post-call days. Otherwise it's clinic attire everywhere.

What... What do you wear in the L&D and during surgery? Bunny suits all the time?

 

[jonb12997]

Wow, I can't imagine how you've gotten away with this on clinical rotations (OP, are you in the US doing rotations at a teaching hospital??).... I'd be very upset if I had a med student wearing scrubs at a Peds or IM office. You might want to go talk with that attending and see what he really thought.

Here's my thoughts (i'm going to work on the assumption you're a guy, if you're a female adjust accordingly)
IM - only if you're in the ICU and only then if everyone is wearing scrubs. Everywhere else should be shirt and tie, and depending on the hospital very likely your white coat (IM tends to be the most formal at most places)
Surgery - ok if you're in and out of the OR and perhaps on rounds if you're going back into the OR. If you're going to clinic you need to be in shirt and tie.
Peds - only if you're in PICU/NICU, newborn nursery and there's a chance you'll be going to a c-section, other than that you should be in Shirt and Tie. Never go to outpatient clinic in scrubs. White coat is hit or miss depending on the hospital/clinic.
Psych - no need for scrubs, really ever that I can think of.
OB - ok to be in scrubs when you're in the hospital. If you're at the clinic and wont be going to the hospital, you should be in dress clothes.
FP - dress clothes unless you're doing long overnight call. Other than that, dress clothes.

Basically you should ALWAYS be dressed the same or better than the residents and your attending. If you're attending is wearing scrubs, you're likely ok, but it never hurts to be dressed better. If you're attending is wearing shirt/tie/dress clothes there really isn't an excuse to be in scrubs in my mind. Your job as a medical student is to figure out the social norms of the rotation and fit in accordingly.

Get yourself to JC Penny's or Sears. Spend $20 on some nice button down oxford shirts (mix of white and conservative blues), some basic dockers (you don't need anything crazy expensive), and some ties. You should be able to get everything you need for under $500. You don't have to go to brooks brothers or even Men's wearhouse (although you will need to go to men's wearhouse and get a suit or two for your interviews next year)

You're spending thousands and thousands of dollars on your education. don't ruin everything over a little bit of money you don't want to spend on some clothes.

 

[username456789]

I think ferning is having some moodiness lately for some strange reason...it's been the same attitude in numerous threads

Actually, I think he got upset with Jedi specifically over his failed sexual harassment thread a few days ago, and has been stalking his posts (including very old ones) and replying unkindly to them as a form of "revenge."

 

[meliora27]

One of the hospitals I rotate at has a strict tie policy (must be tucked into shirt and covered by buttoned white coat as to not transmit germs between patients.) Because of this, most guys have just resorted to wearing slacks and an open collar shirt and ditching the tie.

 

[Kaustikos]

I don't understand how people don't like to dress up/buy ties. I'm so glad I have a reason to wear them now. First two years I was in the mens department and hating that if I bought these ties I couldn't wear them yet. Now I can. But then I also wear the whole suit to the hospital and leave my white coat there. A) Because white coats shouldn't be worn outside of a hospital...eck. B) Suits just look awesome.


But a word of advice... be careful about what ties you wear. Some attendings/residents can get kinda annoying/mean when they think your tie is too obnoxious.

 

[VisionaryTics]

I don't understand how people don't like to dress up/buy ties. I'm so glad I have a reason to wear them now. First two years I was in the mens department and hating that if I bought these ties I couldn't wear them yet. Now I can. But then I also wear the whole suit to the hospital and leave my white coat there. A) Because white coats shouldn't be worn outside of a hospital...eck. B) Suits just look awesome.


But a word of advice... be careful about what ties you wear. Some attendings/residents can get kinda annoying/mean when they think your tie is too obnoxious.

The place I'm doing my away requires suits or sport coats for clinic. Heaven.

 

[Doctor Bob]

I don't understand how people don't like to dress up/buy ties.

When I was on my first trauma rotation I wore scrubs every day in the TICU... the trauma attending would come for rounds in a dress shirt, khakis and a tie. One day he gave me a hard time about how I never wore a tie. So I bought a clip on tie and started to wear it with my scrubs for rounds.

Now, the caveat to that story is that I was a resident at the time and had good rapport with the attending. If I had tried to pull that off as a medical student I probably would have been canned.

Because of that move (and a few other similar things), the attending started giving me the scalpel for the emergent thoracotomies instead of the senior surgery resident (which made them upset but they weren't going to argue with their attending).

 

[KnuxNole]

I usually don't wear ties. Just dress shirts and pants.

However, only do the above if everyone else is the same. If everyone wears a tie, you do too. If they don't(or if they tell you it's ok) you can make a choice.

Wearing ties in the summer should be illegal

 

[Siggy]

Yeah, I questioned this once too when I was told that pens were OK on the ward but pencils were not, because people could snap wooden pencils and use them to stab/cut things. OK, but you do realize that pens are pointy objects too, right? OMG THAT PT HAS A PEN THEY WILL STAB ME IN THE EYE!!

I've never drawn blood from myself when using a pencil. I have, on the other hand, drawn blood from my 0.38 tip pens when I had the pen side up instead of the clicky button side up.

 

[HolySmokes]

What... What do you wear in the L&D and during surgery? Bunny suits all the time?

On surgery you change into scrubs for the OR but prerounding/rounding is generally clinic attire. On L&D I think you're allowed to wear scrubs. Most inpatient services though are strictly clinical attire except call/post-call.

 

[Siggy]

What... What do you wear in the L&D and during surgery? Bunny suits all the time?

From my 3rd year experience, it was very dependent on the service.

Surgery: Clinic days: Shirt/tie, otherwise scrubs.
IM: Call: Scrubs, otherwise shirt/tie
Inpatient family med: Scrubs
Peds: Clinic: shirt/tie Inpatient/newborn: scrubs
OB/Gyn: Clinic: shirt/tie OR day and L&D: Scrubs
Psych: Shirt, no tie.


The reality was that as 3rd year wore on I almost never wore a tie, even on the "shirt/tie" rotations.

 

[Gfliptastic]

Just let it be known that the "default" is almost always professional attire. You can't really get in "trouble" for dressing up, but you CAN for dressing down too much.

The IM chief resident would stop any med student wearing scrubs in the hallway to ask what team they were on, to check if they were ICU or long call or you would be busted for unprofessional attire!

The only time I was told NOT to dress up was OB clinic. My attending said, if we have to deliver a baby, he didn't have time for me to change. So that was my only always-wear-scrubs rotation.

Posts about psych are true. NO ONE wears ties, but absolutely NO ONE wears scrubs. Not nurses. No one. (I am at a state mental hospital)

What I would worry about is NOT being corrected. Either your attending has already written you off as unprofessional or has low expectations from you. For the most part, your superiors are there to teach you, including being professional or having proper attire.

 

[tiedyeddog]

On surgery you change into scrubs for the OR but prerounding/rounding is generally clinic attire. On L&D I think you're allowed to wear scrubs. Most inpatient services though are strictly clinical attire except call/post-call.

ah, I thought you ment you had to wear dress attire even when going to the OR.

 

[tiedyeddog]

From my 3rd year experience, it was very dependent on the service.

Surgery: Clinic days: Shirt/tie, otherwise scrubs.
IM: Call: Scrubs, otherwise shirt/tie
Inpatient family med: Scrubs
Peds: Clinic: shirt/tie Inpatient/newborn: scrubs
OB/Gyn: Clinic: shirt/tie OR day and L&D: Scrubs
Psych: Shirt, no tie.


The reality was that as 3rd year wore on I almost never wore a tie, even on the "shirt/tie" rotations.

My inpatient peds rotation makes us wear dress attire unless we are on call (can change to scrubs after the sign-out at 5:30) or on weekends.

I am jelly.

 

[Raryn]

I at all the posts up there generalizing on IM. It really depends on the culture of your hospital. At the Mayo Clinic for example, everyone must always be in a suit+tie. A lot of the east coast hospitals require shirt+tie+white coat every single day on the wards.

At my medical school in the midwest, you could wear scrubs on call days, post call days, and weekend days, so it ended up being that you would have to wear a shirt+tie ~3 days a week.

Now at my residency program, you only have to wear a collared shirt on days you have clinic. Almost no one wears ties. The last time I wore a tie in a hospital (not counting residency interviews) was during my medicine subi during med school >1 year ago. The senior residents (who no longer have clinic mid-rotation, but have it between inpatient rotations) wear scrubs 99% of the time on the wards (except for a few of the women that like to dress up regardless).

OTOH, in IM, at every program I'm aware of outside of the mayo clinic, we pretty much always rock the white coat.

 

[D elegans]

When in doubt, dress clothes. F*ck, I saw an attending get onto another attending today who wore scrubs to clinic.

Inpatient wards are trickier. Generally it seems that med students are always the best dressed, followed by the attending who usually dresses as well but can say "f*ck it" anytime and wear non-matching scrubs with POS worn out sneakers, and of course the residents last who uniformly wear scrubs regardless of call, post-call, or whatever.

 

[SouthernPharm87]

How is this honestly even a question? I saw this come up on my FB feed for the "thread of the day" are you serious? If you have to ask this question... that is a problem. Not only are you making yourself look dumb on rotations, you are making yourself like dumb on here.

 

[Doctor Bob]

At the Mayo Clinic for example, everyone must always be in a suit+tie.

Is that just for the floor/clinic residents? Please tell me the ED and critical care people don't wear suits and ties all the time.

I've seen suit and tie ERs and ICUs and I just shake my head.

Staff: "look at my nice clean suit and tie"
Patient: <vomits blood and feculent material onto staff>

 

[VisionaryTics]

Is that just for the floor/clinic residents? Please tell me the ED and critical care people don't wear suits and ties all the time.

I've seen suit and tie ERs and ICUs and I just shake my head.

Staff: "look at my nice clean suit and tie"
Patient: <vomits blood and feculent material onto staff>

Just clinic. You can wear scrubs with white coat in the hospital.

 

[random1234]

Are different colors okay? I have quite a few scrubs from working in a clinical lab: pink, maroon, navy, black, etc. I haven't started med school yet, so pardon my ignorance

 

[Siggy]

followed by the attending who usually dresses as well but can say "f*ck it" anytime and wear non-matching scrubs with POS worn out sneakers,

On my 3rd year surgery rotation, on weekend the attended said "f it" and rounded in jeans and a t-shirt.

 

[Raryn]

Just clinic. You can wear scrubs with white coat in the hospital.

Not at Mayo. Even the pathologists, who don't go anywhere near a patient, are expected to suit up, at least when they're anywhere outside their labs.

Not sure about the ER.

 

[DrBowtie]

Are different colors okay? I have quite a few scrubs from working in a clinical lab: pink, maroon, navy, black, etc. I haven't started med school yet, so pardon my ignorance

Most of those colors are wore by nursing and techs. In general physicians wear ceil blue, or green.

 

[VisionaryTics]

Not at Mayo. Even the pathologists, who don't go anywhere near a patient, are expected to suit up, at least when they're anywhere outside their labs.

Not sure about the ER.

I did a rotation there. Clinic days were suits, OR days were scrubs (including morning and evening rounds, conference). Physicians on call, working in the unit, etc were all in scrubs.

 

[KnuxNole]

Most of those colors are wore by nursing and techs. In general physicians wear ceil blue, or green.

I see OB attendings wear pink scrubs. I'm sure next month all of them will be rocking pink everything.

 

[Cali2]

Are different colors okay? I have quite a few scrubs from working in a clinical lab: pink, maroon, navy, black, etc. I haven't started med school yet, so pardon my ignorance

If you do this, people will think you are a nurse. Look at the colors worn by MDs at your hospital and wear those.

 

[jerseytrash]

I at all the posts up there generalizing on IM. It really depends on the culture of your hospital. At the Mayo Clinic for example, everyone must always be in a suit+tie. A lot of the east coast hospitals require shirt+tie+white coat every single day on the wards.

At my medical school in the midwest, you could wear scrubs on call days, post call days, and weekend days, so it ended up being that you would have to wear a shirt+tie ~3 days a week.

Now at my residency program, you only have to wear a collared shirt on days you have clinic. Almost no one wears ties. The last time I wore a tie in a hospital (not counting residency interviews) was during my medicine subi during med school >1 year ago. The senior residents (who no longer have clinic mid-rotation, but have it between inpatient rotations) wear scrubs 99% of the time on the wards (except for a few of the women that like to dress up regardless).

OTOH, in IM, at every program I'm aware of outside of the mayo clinic, we pretty much always rock the white coat.

This +100

At my residency I know at least a few senior residents who only wear scrubs, ever. It's not technically allowed but our program directors don't really care that much. The generalizations are pretty funny.

We're expected to wear shirt/slacks/white coat for the hospital (white coat frankly is optional although it has lots of pockets for interns carrying notes/papers) on non-call days. In the ICU, CCU/cardiac units, night float, and on call days, we are allowed to wear scrubs the whole time because of ease/comfort and because we do lots of procedures in the units so we have to use sterile technique and scrub.