What to wear on rounds?

[brsboarder]

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I don't have too many dress shirts/pants and I'm wondering if, during rounds, when I am doing my once a week preceptor thing will I need black pants and a dress shirt? What about a tie? Should I have a bunch of nice clothes for these things? Or will the lab coat cover up anything underneath and I don't need to worry too much

 

[pincheeric]

The general rule is that if you are interacting with patients you should be wearing professional attire. This would mean for you a collared shirt, tie, and slacks. This is also good practice anytime you have a one-on-one or small group interaction with a physician. I would recommend getting a couple more of each of those items since you will definitely be needing them in your clinical years. Except on OB/GYN and surgery you will likely be wearing professional attire almost everyday (with the possible exception of call and post-call days). They don't have to be fancy, so find a Loehmann's or some equivalent and buy some decent looking last-season clothes at a good price and be done with it.

 

[Law2Doc]

I don't have too many dress shirts/pants and I'm wondering if, during rounds, when I am doing my once a week preceptor thing will I need black pants and a dress shirt? What about a tie? Should I have a bunch of nice clothes for these things? Or will the lab coat cover up anything underneath and I don't need to worry too much

A bit dependent on the school, but in general, on medicine, neuro, peds type rounds you will be wearing slacks (needn't be black; tan/khaki or navy are most common), a button down dress shirt, shoes, and a tie under your white coat. On surgical rounds you will be wearing scrubs, and possibly sneakers. So yeah, you are going to need a number of business casual outfits for the wards.

 

[Law2Doc]

They don't have to be fancy, so find a Loehmann's or some equivalent and buy some decent looking last-season clothes at a good price and be done with it.

Places like Today's Man, Mens Wearhouse and department stores are probably good sources. I suspect you could even go a tier down and get stuff at Walmart or KMart if cost was a big issue. They only have to look presentable, and to some extent will be partially obscured by the white coat much of the time. I wouldn't skimp on the shoes though -- you may be rounding for many hours and on your feet the whole day.

 

[mikedc813]

Yes you will definitely need dress clothes. Do you really think you can "hide" anything else under your white coat?? Um, think again.

 

[brsboarder]

thats what I figured, thanks...off to macy's

 

[DoctorPardi]

Places like Steinmart, Marshalls, TJ Max and Ross Dress for Less are excellent places to get nice clothes for cheap. I went to steinmart yesterday and they had tons of very nice dress shirts for 20 dollars. They had Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger etc slacks for 39-59 dollars. Ralph Lauren polo shirts were 20-40 dollars.

Those places are hit and miss, sometimes they will be stocked full of excellent clothes and other times none at all. Also I saw what appeared to me to be nice looking Ralph Lauren suits for 120 dollars (slacks and coat).

If you're still a pre-med, you've got plenty of time to start collecting some nicer professional looking clothes. I plan on adding several new pairs of slacks and shirts to my wardrobe before third year.

 

[Law2Doc]

Also I saw what appeared to me to be nice looking Ralph Lauren suits for 120 dollars (slacks and coat).

You won't need a suit on rotations though. Save that for interviews.

 

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[diosa428]

On surgical rounds you will be wearing scrubs, and possibly sneakers. So yeah, you are going to need a number of business casual outfits for the wards.

Beware, this is school dependent. We are absolutely NOT allowed to wear scrubs on morning rounds on surgery EVER, and we're not supposed to wear them on afternoon rounds either, although sometimes the resident has you wear them if you're rushing to meet an attending after getting out of the OR. If you're rounding with surgery or ob/gyn, find out their policies before showing up in scrubs. It's always better to show up dressed professionally and be wrong than to show up in scrubs and be wrong.