What ever happened to dress code?!?!

[TAI786]

I'm at LECOM-B and our school's been doing interviews for a while now and on more than one occassion I've seen interviewees dressed *way* down. Just the other day I saw a guy wearing work type khakis with a woven belt and no jacket. Have the trends changed so much over the past year? Maybe I'm just behind, but if not: I'm giving this as a polite tip, especially for anyone interviewing at an institution (like LECOM) that packs a regular dress code, show up in suit and tie! If anyone has any questions please feel free to message me. Best of luck!

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[Doctor Bagel]

that is so weird because there was a discussion earlier about people at lecom-e wearing things like flip flops to their interviews. i haven't seen anyone wear anything but a suit at any of my interviews, so i'm wondering if it's a lecom thing. why, though?

the most casual thing i've seen is women wearing open toed shoes with their suits, which i think is maybe pushing it.

 

[drgreeneatutk]

At my interview at PCSOM I was one of the first interviewees (of about 13) there. After sitting in the meeting room for a few minutes, with others filtering in, one guy came in with the frat look going on. Kahki pants, white shirt, tie and the classic navy blue blazer. This surprised me a bit, I thought a solid dark colored suit was pretty standard for guys. Okay, it wasn't a suit but at least it was a coat and tie, cause a few minutes later another guy came in with kahki pants a tie (the knot to which wasn't nearly tight enough to look professional. he kinda looked like the stereotype of a computer programmer or something) and no coat at all. I was like woah! Anyway, I'd love to know what the interviewers/adcoms thought of that. Can't imagine it's a good idea though

 

[Redneck]

I went with the usual suit and formal clothes. However, would it really be such a bad thing to be dressed down for medicine as a whole? There are studies that show that mens ties don't get washed and are actually a reservoir for pathogens in clinical settings. *cough* *cough* Where do the germs go? I personally have no problem being treated by a physician with dreadlocks, tattoos, flips flops, cut off jeans, and a coors shirt. Or even wearing a stained sweatshirt with pj pants and slippers. If he or she helped me with what ever my problem is ailing me I'm happy. Clothes are nothing more than status symbols. Just another tool to label and differentiate between people. I say make clothes all about function - for all people, ages, and levels of society. Bring on the clothing revolution!

... I like to dress simple.

 

[dr.z]

I was at an interview, and one guy came in with khaki pants, tee-shirt and tennis shoes. I couldn't ask why he was dressed that way, but he told us that his suit got lost on the airplane luggage.

 

[Raven Feather]

I went with the usual suit and formal clothes. However, would it really be such a bad thing to be dressed down for medicine as a whole? There are studies that show that mens ties don't get washed and are actually a reservoir for pathogens in clinical settings. *cough* *cough* Where do the germs go? I personally have no problem being treated by a physician with dreadlocks, tattoos, flips flops, cut off jeans, and a coors shirt. Or even wearing a stained sweatshirt with pj pants and slippers. If he or she helped me with what ever my problem is ailing me I'm happy. Clothes are nothing more than status symbols. Just another tool to label and differentiate between people. I say make clothes all about function - for all people, ages, and levels of society. Bring on the clothing revolution!

... I like to dress simple.

That is a good point and do whatever one wants to AFTER becoming a physician, but if an applicant wants to get into a med school, especially one with a strict dress code like LECOM, he or she might want to conform for a couple of hours for the interview.

 

[Megalofyia]

I say do away with clothes entirely.

 

[Raven Feather]

I say do away with clothes entirely.

he,he,he....now there's a thought!

 

[mx_599]

I personally have no problem being treated by a physician with dreadlocks, tattoos, flips flops, cut off jeans, and a coors shirt. Or even wearing a stained sweatshirt with pj pants and slippers.

please...

 

[Canuck99]

please...

seriously, thumbs down, there has to be limits.

 

[nrddct]

I saw a guy at an interview wearing a suite but a shirt with french cuffs!! He was walking around like he owned the damn place! I talked to him a little and needless to say, he was a pretty arrogant guy.

 

[Redneck]

For the thumbs down folks...Why must there be limits? Please elaborate.

 

[daveyjwin]

I say do away with clothes entirely.

Not in Michigan... or Erie for that matter.

 

[mx_599]

For the thumbs down folks...Why must there be limits? Please elaborate.

you tell me in 4 or 5 yrs. this is the most stupid thing to even discuss. i'll laugh my ass off if i ever see you as a physian coming to work looking like a rag

you do what you want

 

[Canuck99]

you tell me in 4 or 5 yrs. this is the most stupid thing to even discuss. i'll laugh my ass off if i ever see you as a physian coming to work looking like a rag

you do what you want

again, I agree. there really should be no explanation.

 

[medkarma]

what about a bowtie?

 

[Redneck]

you tell me in 4 or 5 yrs. this is the most stupid thing to even discuss. i'll laugh my ass off if i ever see you as a physian coming to work looking like a rag

you do what you want

again, I agree. there really should be no explanation.

Both your responses are poor. Neither of you answered the question. Once again I ask, please give reasons to justify your thumbs down. I have stated my point and a few of my reasons, but maybe you both need some clarifications.

I have worked in hospital for several years, and have family members who are physicians on down to nurses and hygienists. It has been my observation from the times I've seen a doctor work in a polo shirt or suit that the quality does not change. If you extrapolate that decrease in quality of professional dress to the point of 'rags' I don't believe it will mean a darn thing. Professional dress really doesn't make the physician. Do shamans or healers of some tribe roam around in suits? No, they simply have tattoos or jewelry that distinguishes them as healers. So then you can argue, aha, it is acceptable to feed into status symbols and distinguishment! But that is where I counter argue, no, any one in society from a high school basketball player on game day to someone showing up at court will wear a suit and professional clothing. It distinguishes nothing. The white coat on the other hand does. But wait - it is entirely possible to wear a white lab coat with the 'rags' and still be identifiable as a healer and still be a competent one too. As I stated earlier I see professional clothing as nothing more than an unnecessary division of society by status symbols. Once again bring on the clothing revolution!

 

[lakare]

I think the reason you have gotten such "poor responses" to you question is that as you have stated it is an irrelevant topic of discussion. Why worry about dress codes; I'm more concerned about practicing medicine, which I believe is your whole argument. You say bring on the dress code revolution, why not take it a step further and start practicing in a cardboard box on a street corner. See how many patients you get. I hate dress codes personally, I had to wear school uniform, so I know what it's like but western society places great value on professional decor. If you really are that worried about wearing your van halen shirt and ragged jeans(my personal favorite) then go practice in a 3rd world country and you will receive that appreciation no matter what you wear; hey you could even wear a suit on friday's for fun(antithesis to hawaiian). The other thing you could do is work in a hospital and wear scrubs all day, except maybe getting to work and back.

Anyhow good luck, let me know when I can wear pj's to work

 

[drgreeneatutk]

It has been my observation from the times I've seen a doctor work in a polo shirt or suit that the quality does not change. If you extrapolate that decrease in quality of professional dress to the point of 'rags' I don't believe it will mean a darn thing. Professional dress really doesn't make the physician.

This is a terrible argument to make your point. I think, like some of the others, that it's a moot point to argue b/c society will demand at least a certain standard of dress and behavior or you wont be able to make money. But that aside, if a doctor wore nothing but a speedo to work in and peed on himself while he took a throat swab from your throat, it wouldn't change the quality of his work. He'd could still perform a routine physical on a patient while soaked in pee. I just use this as an example and I realize it's an extreme, but it makes my point. Things like dress, behavior, and attitude will have an affect on what others (patients, family members, and colleagues) will think about you so why not make it a good impression instead of a mediocre or bad one? Every society will have standards that it expects from it's professionals. Behavior, dress, family lineage ect... this will be different in every society, and will flucuate within societies but it will always be there. As for me personally, my doc doesn't have to be in a suit, wear a white coat or even have on a tie, but if he appeared to be the same as a hobo off the street I wouldn't let him look at me, it would automatically make me lose trust in him. If he doesn't even care about his own appearance ( a minor thing) why would he care about his patients any more. And in closing, I'll just say this, we can all wear scrubs (which are essentially rags anyway) and they're comfy AND professional. I mean whey they asked me in my interviews why I wanted to be a doctor I said "Cause it will be so cool to wear scrubs to work everyday" (okay not really, but who could complain about scrubs?)

 

[mx_599]

Both your responses are poor. Neither of you answered the question. Once again I ask, please give reasons to justify your thumbs down. I have stated my point and a few of my reasons, but maybe you both need some clarifications.

I have worked in hospital for several years, and have family members who are physicians on down to nurses and hygienists. It has been my observation from the times I've seen a doctor work in a polo shirt or suit that the quality does not change. If you extrapolate that decrease in quality of professional dress to the point of 'rags' I don't believe it will mean a darn thing. Professional dress really doesn't make the physician. Do shamans or healers of some tribe roam around in suits? No, they simply have tattoos or jewelry that distinguishes them as healers. So then you can argue, aha, it is acceptable to feed into status symbols and distinguishment! But that is where I counter argue, no, any one in society from a high school basketball player on game day to someone showing up at court will wear a suit and professional clothing. It distinguishes nothing. The white coat on the other hand does. But wait - it is entirely possible to wear a white lab coat with the 'rags' and still be identifiable as a healer and still be a competent one too. As I stated earlier I see professional clothing as nothing more than an unnecessary division of society by status symbols. Once again bring on the clothing revolution!

shut up

we're in the US not the freakin' amazon. how old are you??? if a doctor ever came into the room to treat me wearing a stained COORS shirt in slippers i would send him or her their way

( by the way, i don't mean to be a jerk to you...but your line of thinking is whacked. you must be like 20 or 21 or so. if you're past 25, you missed the professionalism boat somewhere a long the way!)

 

[Redneck]

This is the internet not a drunken bar room political debate going nowhere. Think of this similar to the socratic method, with some questioning, and responses to the specific questions maybe something can be gained be each person. So please focus.

drgreeneatutk,

Thank you for at least attempting to argue my point by raising the issue of social standards and mores for which we reside. Do you suppose that these existing values are indeed slipping as possibly hinted at by the OP? Somewhat continuing my original question, should these professional clothing standards be perpetuated, and why?

mx_599,

Once again you've resorted to poor attempts to justify your point. Why don't you explain why you would send the doc away that is wearing slippers and a coors shirt? You have made it clear you are capable of forming an opinion, but can you justify it?

 

[mx_599]

mx_599,

Once again you've resorted to poor attempts to justify your point. Why don't you explain why you would send the doc away that is wearing slippers and a coors shirt? You have made it clear you are capable of forming an opinion, but can you justify it?

i said a stained COORS shirt

how old are you??

 

[Shodddy18]

I saw a guy at an interview wearing a suite but a shirt with french cuffs!! He was walking around like he owned the damn place! I talked to him a little and needless to say, he was a pretty arrogant guy.

That would be more funny if I knew what French cuffs were

 

[strawberryfield]

That would be more funny if I knew what French cuffs were

They're usually white (the cuffs and collar) on the body of a colored shirt. I think what they're getting at is that it might look a bit more pretentious than a less high fashion solid colored shirt with a suit.

 

[strawberryfield]

Anyhow good luck, let me know when I can wear pj's to work

Hey... that's what I call SCRUBS!!! they're just as comfortable and easy as pj's...

 

[HunterGatherer]

I was watching Raging Bull with Robert Deniro and Joe Pesci yesterday and all the wiseguys were wearing french cuffs. Made me laugh to myself when I read this post. I honestly don't think it's that big a deal.

That would be more funny if I knew what French cuffs were

 

[TAI786]

Seems you guys have a healthy (Socratic?) discussion going on here. In any case, Goodrain, what you plan to do in your future life is not something I'm going to concern myself with. However, this is a premedical forum and it is my kind suggestion to you, and anyone sharing your views, to not be a Socratic dresser when it comes to med school interviews, you may *unnecessarily* hurt your chances of gaining admissions (judging by your first post you already have this down). Good luck!

 

[nrddct]

That would be more funny if I knew what French cuffs were

The cuff around the wrist is a bit thicker and you usually wear cuff links where the button is. As stated, it is a bit pretentious to wear this at an interview since it is usually worn by someone of importance.

 

[Duchess]

I have never heard of people dressing down for interviews....I always assumed that everyone wore a suit. Hmmmm...

To be honest, if I was on the interview committee and someone came in wearing shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops then I would assume that they didn't even care enough about the interview to dress appropriately. You're interviewing for the preparation for a future professional career...you should look the part.

 

[mx_599]

You're interviewing for the preparation for a future professional career...you should look the part.[/COLOR]

would this include stained COORS shirts and slippers as well, i'm sure the doctor would still be good at what he does.

 

[HunterGatherer]

I would say it is usually for more formal occassions and more acceptable in other professions but you don't need to be important to wear french cuffs with cuff links.

The cuff around the wrist is a bit thicker and you usually wear cuff links where the button is. As stated, it is a bit pretentious to wear this at an interview since it is usually worn by someone of importance.

 

[Redneck]

Pathetic.

Part of the reason why I was hitting this thread hard was to see if SDN is capable of actually having a discussion based on questions and answers TO the questions. I honestly don't care what clothes I wear. Whether I'm in overalls or a suit I always look damn good. My comments about a clothing revolution were an artistic addition to emphasize my point. I simply wanted to see if the discussion could go something like this without dingbat responses or secondary topic highjacks:

OP asks - have interview clothing trends changed over the past year? First few responses didn't go anywhere so essentially no one knows...

I try to save the thread and pose the question so what? is it really that bad to look like a 'hobo?'
This is where some one like drgreeneatutk responds to say he would lose trust in the physician by a bad impression and it would violate societal standards. Although rough in his post, he gets the point across.
I follow up with wanting to know if these existing values are indeed slipping as possibly hinted at by the OP? I also asked if these professional clothing standards should be perpetuated, and why?

At this point someone (like mx_599?) could have easily responded by saying you know I believe, yes, our existing requirements for professional dress could be slipping especially because of the current young generations are getting older and propagating their pj pants and pants to the ankles attitudes toward clothing.
An you know, I believe it is time for a change of existing professional standards and we should take on a more realistic approach to our dress, recognizing how dress doesn't affect performance, we should dress like mongrels. Plus I hate wasting all that money on these expensive clothes and spending the time to keep them ironed and clean. Where's my jack daniels shirt with a BBQ stain? Now the real question is will we ever see it happen in the future?

OR.....

Someone could have responded you know I don't really believe that the existing dress standards by future professionals are slipping. I believe these few cases that people have witnessed are nothing more than the outliers of a game of statistics and some just lost their luggage. Hell no! We shouldn't change the existing professional dress code. If confers a sense of authority, its tradition and the status associated with it is great. Besides, I love spending all the time ironing my clothes and spending money on them. It lets my SO know I'm domesticated and not some beast and we are able to spend time together shopping. Now the real question is how do we strengthen the status quo to keep from wearing beer shirts in the future?

Was that so hard to do? Wow, an actual discussion posing questions and responding to them without belittlement of posters or off topic rants.


mx_599,
You are incredibly incompetent at responding to questions and threads on SDN. I was very impressed by KCOM and the many students I spent time with and I won't let you detract from it. If you are one of them I'm amazed at your other side, but if not and I do decide to matriculate there I would like to meet you in person. It's not every day I would have the opportunity to shake hands with an internet idiot.

Canuck99,
I hope you enjoy your sojourn of illiteracy amongst the posts of your betters.

 

[Canuck99]

Pathetic.

Canuck99,
I hope you enjoy your sojourn of illiteracy amongst the posts of your betters.

lol, ok dude, whatever you say.

 

[iwillbesoon]

I was actually so amazed/annoyed at goodrain that I had to go check the acceptances link to see where in God's name he/she might be accepted out of curiosity.

Not often that someone annoys me so much that I don't even want to go to their school by association.

Wear whatever you want. I'm a live-and-let-live sort of person.

 

[Redneck]

iwillbesoon,

So what schools did you find I was accepted to on that acceptance link?

You don't want to attend the same school as me because I annoyed you? Did you put any thought into your comments before you posted? I suppose you are now reconsidering being a doc because some have made choices that landed them in jail. You wouldn't want to be associated with them now would you? Seriously, THINK. You can't run away from every person who rubs you the wrong way.

 

[Nate]

Okay, enough with the back and forth personal attacks. If we are done discussing the original topic we can let this thread go now, thanks.