On Wednesday we had a discussion class about the significance of the white coat. I have very mixed feelings about it and would like to hear your thoughts.
On the first day of medical school we are given our first white coat. It is short -- comes to our waist -- and is meant to get us through four years of school. After graduation, once we earn our M.D. degree, we are given a long white coat. Most patients do not know that a hierarchy exists amongst these coat-wearers, so it usually is a means of establishing a hierarchy within the profession. Here I am on stage receiving my short one in 2012:
Some physicians choose to wear it, some don't. Americans have come to expect their doctors to look doctorly, which, in everyone's minds, means donning this uniform coat. Would you respect your doctor if he or she wasn't wearing one? Would you still heed your doctor's recommendations with the same amount of adherence?
There are several reasons I ask. There are the practical reasons: coats (and men's ties) are infectious incubators that increase infections spreading between patients. They get dirty quickly and are not cleaned as often as you would like. Also, some patients experience white coat hypertension, a rise in blood pressure when they visit doctors. It is believed to be more related to the coat than to doctors themselves. These reasons alone are enough to rid of them.
On the flip side, its copious pocket space is a wonderful way of toting around snacks and tools.
Yet... there is something to be said about preserving this symbol of the profession. The white coat is a sign of responsibility, a uniform, that projects knowledge and ability. The thing is, one is still a doctor when not wearing it. Medicine is a career, not a job, that does not stop the minute one takes off the coat at the end of the day.
I can go on and on about the pros and cons of this debate. We wrote about it before attending class, then discussed it for the afternoon. Until I figure out my feelings on it, I'll wear the coat because it is pretty much required of medical students.
On the first day of medical school we are given our first white coat. It is short -- comes to our waist -- and is meant to get us through four years of school. After graduation, once we earn our M.D. degree, we are given a long white coat. Most patients do not know that a hierarchy exists amongst these coat-wearers, so it usually is a means of establishing a hierarchy within the profession. Here I am on stage receiving my short one in 2012:
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| (blurry, I know) |
There are several reasons I ask. There are the practical reasons: coats (and men's ties) are infectious incubators that increase infections spreading between patients. They get dirty quickly and are not cleaned as often as you would like. Also, some patients experience white coat hypertension, a rise in blood pressure when they visit doctors. It is believed to be more related to the coat than to doctors themselves. These reasons alone are enough to rid of them.
On the flip side, its copious pocket space is a wonderful way of toting around snacks and tools.
Yet... there is something to be said about preserving this symbol of the profession. The white coat is a sign of responsibility, a uniform, that projects knowledge and ability. The thing is, one is still a doctor when not wearing it. Medicine is a career, not a job, that does not stop the minute one takes off the coat at the end of the day.
I can go on and on about the pros and cons of this debate. We wrote about it before attending class, then discussed it for the afternoon. Until I figure out my feelings on it, I'll wear the coat because it is pretty much required of medical students.
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