This weekend I was watching a cheesy movie that had a character who played a specialist in a big fancy hospital (aren't they all). I didn't pay any attention to the white coat the doctor was wearing, but my husband did! He rolled his eyes and said the "specialist" is wearing a medical student coat. Obviously the stylist on the movie didn't know the unwritten rules for hospital attire and should be fired!
I wasn't even fully aware of the rules until I started noticing that some people wore their scrubs tucked in and others untucked. Some people wore printed scrubs and others didn't. My husband explained to me that only doctors tuck in their scrubs, everyone else wears them untucked. A doctor would never wear printed scrub tops unless maybe they were in Pediatrics. Kind of convenient for judging people harshly when I am out and about the town. You are a doctor. You are possibly a vet tech.
What an interesting dress code. I wonder where it all started? Like who said only doctors get to tuck their scrubs in. What if I like to wear all my shirts tucked in but I am not a doctor? Or what if I am a doctor and want to leave my shirt untucked? Is there really a need to be able to tell who is who when everyone is wearing the same color scrubs? I guess there is, especially if your ego hasn't enlarged the size of your noggin by now. Couldn't they have come up with something else to identify the players?
I remember watching Gray's Anatomy, one of the two times I did, and my husband pointing out that white coats aren't that tailored! Sure they are boxy, but if I were a doctor with the appropriate white coat and scrubs tucked in, I could see having them tailored to fit. I like things to fit. You wear a big unshapely thing and you look big and unshapely. No thank you. I am vain like that!
Good thing I am not the doctor around here. Have you seen the awful shoes they have to wear! Clogs, no thanks. Crocs, wouldn't be caught dead. Tennis shoes.... maybe.
Are there any other dress code rules you know of?
I think it differs from place to place. I know some places have one scrub color for surgeons, one for other doctors, and one for nurses.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard the tucking in rule... I'll have to see if that is a thing here.
How could I forgot the color coding! My husband has the ugliest colored scrubs at this hospital:-) I like him in the dark blue ones best.
DeleteI remember first learning from my Dr.H that med students wear short white coats and residents and attendings wear long and that is how you could tell the difference in the hospital. But I think now its more that the residents stand out because they look like walking zombies with bags under their eyes, the attendings are older and either slightly grayed or bald and the med students look like wide-eyed balls of energy! xo
ReplyDeleteI agree with you!
DeleteThose med students look so young now! I guess that means we are getting older:( Residency certainly ages a person - just like Presidents who age significantly over 8 years!
DeleteYep the tuck/no tuck thing is a strange unwritten rule. I definitely wish people had different colored scrubs - ie nurses wore one color, secretaries another, residents another etc. Many times I have started to ask questions of who I thought was the patient's nurse only to have the person tell me they were the respiratory tech, the phlebotomist, housekeeper etc. And of course I've had many patients say they never saw the doctor the whole day when they did, they just assumed I was a nurse because I was young and female, despite me introducing myself (which is great when you don't WANT the patient to remember your name! Just kidding, I promise). Usually we all had good laughs over it, but it would help clear things up a bit. Or at least make the hospital more colorful...
ReplyDeleteA similar thing happened to me as a patient at the hospital. I had surgery on a Friday and my doctor wasn't on call over the weekend so another doctor was making the morning rounds. She came in my room wearing a college sweatshirt and was younger than I was expecting. It took me a while to figure out she was the doctor! She probably introduced herself but it was so confusing I might not have heard.
DeleteHospitals could certainly use more color!
Unfortunately at the hospital I work only the doctors wear blue scrubs and lab coats, the rest of the staff including CNAs, RNs, Lab, Radiology Techs, RT, PT, OT etc etc can wear whatever color scrubs they want. This makes it very confusing for all of us including the docs. Instead of talking to the appropriate staff, we all go around looking for credentials and name tags instead of just asking questions or looking someone in the eye. So very tacky if you ask me!
ReplyDeleteNurses have the best scrubs at the hospital - I get a kick out of the bright colours and characters. My Hubby works in a clinic so he doesn't do the "scrub" thing anymore - but he does wear dress pants, dress shirt, and a tie to work everyday. A few years back there was a study on the amount of germs found on Dr's ties (very alarming) - so now he takes them off BEFORE walking in the house and gets them dry-cleaned regularly:)
ReplyDeleteHey there, I'm a new visitor to your blog.
ReplyDeleteMy husband doesn't really wear his white coat at all, and neither do his colleagues. He said the place he did wear it was training in Cleveland, where they were told to wear the coats off campus too for their personal safety.... Apparently you're less likely to get mugged or carjacked if the mugger knows you could be the one treating them in the ER one day. :-S
Welcome Maggie and thanks for commenting. Some might argue wearing the white coat outside the hospital could make you a target for a mugging, they might mistakenly think a resident has some money on them:-)
ReplyDeleteHello! I just found your blog. This makes me laugh because we can't watch medical shows anymore for this reason--my husband can't get over all the stupid "mistakes" that are there...doctors wearing short coats, interns driving BMWs (bwahahahaha), etc. My husband is a military doc, so guess what? WAtching any show about the military is way worse. There are very strict rules about military uniforms, and it seems like TV shows never take the time to research any of them. Guys grilling steaks in their front yard wearing their uniform-way against the rules. Wearing a uniform to a political event (HOMELAND!)--totally against the rules. WAlking outside without your hat (cover) on--grounds for disciplinary action. Wearing your cover (hat) indoors? No no. Enlisted people hanging out with officers? Definitely against the rules. It's frustrating. Just a little research would be helpful :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you stopped by and commented! My husband has little tolerance for watching medicine on TV for that reason, too. He lets me watch them and usually studies, but can't help but listen for the slip ups.
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