White Coats

Started by samac
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
samac

samac

Rojo extraordinaire, gave away my tinfoil to PSV
Verified Member
10+ Year Member
Physician
Contest Winner!
So I'm a second year and I had a bit of a fiasco and a pen in the dryer with the white coat I was given (whoops). I need to order myself one but Im having an issue finding short ones. The one I ordered off amazon for $15 is significantly longer than my white coat at 29 inches and I can't seem to find shorter. Any opinions?

Thanks guys!
 
.... How did I end up in pre medical?
I swore I thought I clicked osteopathic.
There's my second whoops in this thread. Mods wanna bump me over?
 
Last edited:
Don't pitch your ink stained coat.

Depending on the kind of ink, it may be salvageable.

Soak it in isopropyl alcohol (90% if you can get it. 70% will do the trick.) I mean, really soak. Like put it in a 1 gallon size ziplock and pour enough alcohol in to completely saturate it. and still have some fluid sloshing around. Let it soak for an hour or two, then rinse it out. It should draw out a lot of the ink. If it doesn't , then never mind, this isn't going to work. If it does, great! Repeat. More than once if necessary. Don't dry it out in between rinsings. Isopropyl is like $1/liter, so don't be afraid to use plenty of it. After 2-3 soaks in alcohol, do one with vinegar, hydrogen peroxide, or oxyclean. (Don't mix! Always rinse well with water in between each flush with a different agent!)

It may cost $10 or so for supplies, and take 2-3 days of intermittent effort, but you can get even large, saturated ink blotches out of white fabrics. When I was a nursing student, I had no money for new uniforms and had to use this method a few times.

Also, when you get a new or freshly salvaged white coat, get some waterproofing spray from an outdoor supply store... the kind you use to waterproof tents, boots, and other rugged outdoorswear. Follow the instructions and waterproof your coat. (I recommend doing this outdoors, so that you don't get the overspray in places you don't want it. A white coat that repels body fluids, and which has a barrier to keep ink from sinking into the fibers is a coat to be treasured.
 
Also, Google "Unisex Short White Coats" I'd provide the links I found, but it is probably easier for you to just get them yourself that way.

Or, buy some white thread and a needle and hem the too long coat you ordered to the length you need it to be. Or, cheat and use fabric tape.
 
Promethean said:
Also, Google "Unisex Short White Coats" I'd provide the links I found, but it is probably easier for you to just get them yourself that way.

Or, buy some white thread and a needle and hem the too long coat you ordered to the length you need it to be. Or, cheat and use fabric tape.
Click to expand...
I thought about getting it hemmed, I'm pretty sure my mother could hem it with her sewing machine. Thanks for the advice on the cleaning material!
FrkyBgStok said:
Does your school have a bookstore that sells the white coats? any time i needed anything, the book store had it all.
Click to expand...
Our school's bookstore doesn't sell any medical school supplies. We have that whole "KYCOM advantage" thing where they provide us with all materials electronically.
hallowmann said:
http://www.metawear.com/meta-labs/15103.html

This is literally the exact coat my school gave me. Look at your coat's tag and just buy the same one if you're not sure.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link! I tried to find mine, but it's a landau that apparently you can't just go online and buy.
 
samac said:
I thought about getting it hemmed, I'm pretty sure my mother could hem it with her sewing machine. Thanks for the advice on the cleaning material!

Our school's bookstore doesn't sell any medical school supplies. We have that whole "KYCOM advantage" thing where they provide us with all materials electronically.

Thanks for the link! I tried to find mine, but it's a landau that apparently you can't just go online and buy.
Click to expand...

If your mom could do it, that's the way to go.

Here are the only Landau's I saw online that seem like they would work:

Women - http://www.landau.com/women/category/lab-coats/3230-consultation-coat
Men - http://www.landau.com/men/category/lab-coats/3224-mens-consultation-coat
 
samac said:
That's actually the one I have but its about 3 inches longer than mine. It's 29 inches and the one the school gave me was 26.
Click to expand...
It's 28.5- do you think anyone will actually notice the difference between 26 and 28.5 inches? Our school actually gave out different lengths that were custom tailored to each student, was yours just tailored down to 26, or do you all have the exact same coat?
 
Oh, also, if it's plain white (or even if not, since what the hell do you have to lose at this point), your best bet is actually probably ammonia btw, so long as there's no patches or whatever on it. The instructions on uni-ball's website for taking out ink stains are pretty solid:

HAVE ANY TIPS FOR REMOVING A UNI-BALL INK STAIN FROM CLOTHING?
First, act swiftly. Then, test any stain removal technique on a hidden part of the garment, such as the seam allowance, to prevent color loss or further damage. Stain removal techniques vary for the type of ink:

  • WATER-BASED INK - Found in the uni-ball Vision (fashion colors), Vision Exact, Onyx

    Washable Garments
    • Step 1 - Soak in skim milk 1/2 hour to 1 hour. With old toothbrush or cuticle brush, scrub stain. Rinse with warm water.
    • Step 2 - Combine powdered color-safe bleach, such as Clorox 2, with warm water to make a paste the consistency of undissolved sugar. Put this mixture on stain for 1/2 to 1 hour. With old toothbrush or cuticle brush, scrub stain. Rinse with warm water.
    • Step 3 - Repeat Step 1 and Step 2, if needed.
    • Step 4 - Launder with protein-based detergent, such as Era Plus. Make sure the stain is completely removed BEFORE putting article of clothing in dryer, as this may set stain.
    Dry Clean Only Garments

    Take the item to a commercial dry cleaner who employs a “spotter” and advise him/her that the water-based ink stain contains water-soluble dyes.

    OTHER INKS - Found in Deluxe, Roller Grip, Vision (in black or blue), Vision Elite, Micro & Fine Roller, 207, all Gel and Jetstream pens

    Washable Garments
    • Step 1 - Use household ammonia* and water (*1 teaspoonful of ammonia per gallon of water). Add a protein-type detergent, such as ERA.
    • Step 2 - With old toothbrush or cuticle brush, scrub stain. Rinse with warm water.
    Dry Clean Only Garments
    Take the item to a commercial dry cleaner who employs a “spotter” and advise him/her that the stain is a pigmented, water-based ink.
 
Nice cleaning tips. I will add them to my toolkit. Though, I still swear by isopropyl as the universal ink solvent, it will be good to have some options if that doesn't work right away.

Oh, btw. If you get blood on anything, soak it in hydrogen peroxide, while it is still wet, if possible. If the blood dries, it is much harder to get out, but if you pour H2O2 on it right away, it will pretty much get it all out in under a minute, and it will look good as new. If you have to let it dry and treat it later, expect to need to soak it a while and use a color safe bleach or some other agent to get the rest out. But yeah, I kept a bottle of hydrogen peroxide handy in the OR, so that we could get stray blood spatter off surgeon's shoes and scrub pants before they would go out to talk to the family.
 
Mad Jack said:
It's 28.5- do you think anyone will actually notice the difference between 26 and 28.5 inches? Our school actually gave out different lengths that were custom tailored to each student, was yours just tailored down to 26, or do you all have the exact same coat?
Click to expand...
It's 29 measuring with my measuring tape. I was curious because they hit so different. They weren't custom fitted but they had significantly different ones for females than males. I am short so while the one they gave me hits at my hips, and this one just noticably lower to me anyway, but I was just curious if there was like a "med school white coat site" that weren't consultation coats.
My coat is patched though.
 
samac said:
It's 29 measuring with my measuring tape. I was curious because they hit so different. They weren't custom fitted but they had significantly different ones for females than males. I am short so while the one they gave me hits at my hips, and this one just noticably lower to me anyway, but I was just curious if there was like a "med school white coat site" that weren't consultation coats.
My coat is patched though.
Click to expand...
Your school should have a way of acquiring extra patches and embroidered coats- mine sells them for 45 bucks if you need an extra. You can always get yours tailored as well- tell them to take 3 inches off and you're good. But each school custom orders their coats, generally through a uniform company to very specific standards. There isn't some generic med school white ciat site.
 
Just get the 29" coat. It really isn't a big deal. Nobody will even notice, and if they do, nobody will care. When you get on the wards, you'll never want to wear your coat anyway.
 
SurgeDO said:
Just get the 29" coat. It really isn't a big deal. Nobody will even notice, and if they do, nobody will care. When you get on the wards, you'll never want to wear your coat anyway.
Click to expand...
I really hate wearing the coat as is, we just have required clinic hours where were forced to wear our white coats.
I'll get the coat embroidered. I just didn't know if there was a resource I wasn't finding with true medical student coats instead of consultation coats.

I appreciate everyone's help and advice!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.