I never enter the Emergency Department to work a shift without first putting on my white coat, hospital badge, stethoscope and my glasses. (The glasses I feel make me look more scholarly and bookish and therefore make me fit the part of doctor better.) Occasionally I take off the white coat to do procedures and when I do, I must say I feel rather naked sort of like a turtle without its shell or a football player without his padding.
Some of my colleagues choose not to wear a white coat, but as a young woman physician I have always opted to wear it for a variety of reasons.
First it lets patients know that I am indeed their doctor and not their nurse. Even though it is 2019, the stereotype of a female nurse and a male doctor is still in the minds of some of our patients. When a patient comes into our ER, they interact with at least 2-3 other people wearing scrubs before I even have a chance to say hello to them. Yes, we all wear badges and introduce ourselves and who we are, but there is nothing like a bright white coat, a symbol of a doctor, to make the distinction clear. And it’s not that I feel my role as their doctor is more important than the role of the other team members, but I don’t want the patient leaving thinking they were never seen by the doctor.
But beyond that you must look the part of the doctor. The coat helps me do that. It symbolizes the education, training and experience as a doctor. It gives a formality to our relationship. It also helps me delineate the multiple roles I have. Aside from doctor, I’m also a wife, mother, daughter, sister, entrepreneur, author and fitness and nutrition coach. But when I don the white coat, I step into my alter ego as Emergency Physician, ready to save lives. It’s like Clark Kent transforming into Superman, Serena Williams, the mother, stepping into Serena the champion tennis player, or Shaun Blocker the father and family man transforming into Shaun T, the super trainer of Insanity. We all have an alter ego that we step into when the need arises. When I wear my white coat, it’s like a switch flips in my mind and I stop thinking about all that may be going on at home with my family, or in my relationships with friends or with my other businesses. And I put the patient first and helping them above all other roles in that moment.
My white coat is a chance to make a first impression. When I walk in wearing a crisp and gleaming white coat (like the Medelita one I’m wearing in this picture) it stands out. And even though my hair may look average, and I tend not to wear makeup and I may be wearing scrubs that don’t exactly match, the white coat steals the show and distracts from any other short comings. My name and title is embroidered on my coat and if anyone in the room is unclear as to who I am, they just have to look at the name on the coat to know that I earned with a lot of sweat and toil those two extra initials. M. D. that come after my name. Furthermore, one study of 400 people showed that patients trust their doctors more and have more confidence in them when they are professionally dressed wearing a white coat. Anything I can do to establish more trust and rapport with my patients in the emergency department is well worth it.
The final reason that I wear a white coat is that at the end of every shift, no matter how crazy, sad, tragic or benign I take it off and hang it up. I let go of the ups and downs of my shift as an emergency physician. It is a symbolic gesture and reminder to myself to let it all go, to leave the work stress at work and not take it home with me. I take off my glasses and stethoscope too and put them in my work bag. I breath a sigh of relief that it is all over. I drive home to my family and decompress along the way home. Then when I walk in the door to be with my family, I can be truly present with them.
If you are a woman doctor, do you wear your white coat? Why or why not?
Archana Shrestha, MD is a practicing emergency physician in Chicago. She is coauthor of “The Chronicles of Women in White Coats” and Cofounder of WomenInWhiteCoats.com. She is also an online health and fitness coach. Her healthy living lifestyle blog can be found at MightyMomMD.com and she can be followed on Instagram @MightyMomMD
As a fellow emergency physician, I do not wear a white coat. Aside from them being fomites (especially unless laundered every single time they are worn), I find them uncomfortable and constricting. I also don’t personally think it makes any difference in being identified as the physician, since our ED case manager, one of the NP students, and a physical therapist that wandered down from the floor the other day were all wearing attending-length coats.
I agree. The nurses all wear attending length white coats . They all have doctorates and many introduce themselves as Doctor even in the clinical setting
I do wear a white coat for many of the reasons you have stated. Many people wear scrubs and if your a female in scrubs you are easily not recognized as a physician. I think a fresh white coat with embroidered name and title help the patient know who you are. They need to have an easy way to identify the physcian
I am a pediatrician and too wear a white coat. Many of my colleagues, including male and female, do not. I completely agree with your article. I have often thought about not wearing it because it is heavy and hot but I can’t live without the pockets and it is like putting on a sign that’s says,” Let’s get to work!” My patients are used to it and know that I mean business. Unfortunately, I still had one dad tell her sleeping daughter on the exam table that she needed to wake up because the “nurse is here”. I quickly but respectfully told him that I was the doctor. He was embarrassed and almost speechless that he had made that mistake. They were not one of my families but it’s still frustrating. So I guess the white coat isn’t foolproof… Nevertheless I will still wear it because I earned it, dammit!
I finished medical school in 1985 and I wear my white coat for many reasons. It is a symbol of who I am, what I went through to get here, and yes, I feel a change when I take it off at the end of the day that helps me transition. Women’s clothes often have no adequate pockets, and I use my coat instead of a purse as I move through the hospital. I don’t wear a new one everyday, but I am an oncologist, and not as exposed to icky stuff….but any icky stuff makes it go right in the laundry.
In 1985 my white coat was proof to me that I had earned a place on the team, even when many around me, 99% men, questioned me. Now, it is not so critical, but the fact that it is becoming a choice we get to make, is a sign of how far we’ve come. A little sign, but still….and I wear mine with pride.
I agree with physicians wearing white coats. I’m a surgeon in my early 40’s and I’m still asked if I’m really “the doctor.” The white coat may get dirty but that keeps those germs off my body, too. We’re provided white coats for professionalism and uniformity— I don’t need whether I’m really the surgeon to be consuming my precious time a the patient and family.
Amen Dr! As woman in Medicine we must work harder than our male colleagues to command respect. It also defines the relationship as professional so they are no miscommunications when asking personal questions or performing a physical exam. I began my practice in a suit and patients called me by my first name. Now 26 years in practice, my staff and patients all address me as Dr.! I also have 5 coats ( so they are only worn once- #nofomites
Nearly 25 years ago when I finished my emergency medicine residency I wore a white coat over business casual attire to feel like an attending. I’ve never looked back. It sort of like putting on my armor. It makes me feel empowered and powerful and I enjoy the tradition.
You keep your white coat “crisp and gleaming”. I think you are in the minority. Look at the cuffs of some of your colleagues–they are disgusting. Terrible fomites. In my specialty of neonatology-I would be NOT BE HAPPY if a consultant stuck their hands in an isolette with a white coat on–most kinds of long sleeves, really. More people wash their hands now, but not always their coats. I wash my hands after I touch every patient, but why do we not think we have to change our cuffs–which almost certainly touch the patient during an exam? So–not an option for me. And just the other day, the familiar scenario well after introducing myself as Dr. P…., a mother or father on the phone will say–“I have to go, the nurse is here”. I gently correct them as I repeat my name. No obvious markers for docs in the NICU.
I have to also chime in that I do not wear a white coat. They do not stay clean, and transmit too many things. Regardless of the MD embroidered on my scrubs behind my name or my crystal clear MD badge, I get called a nurse all the time. And I’m not buying the “I put in on and forget my outside stressors/take it off and leave my work problems at work” assertion. Sorry.
As a female doctor working primarily in the ambulatory setting, I find that I HAVE to wear a white coat – not for the symbolism or patient impressions, but for the pockets! Women’s pants tend to not have pockets that can hold anything more than a mint or a lipstick (how’s THAT for sexism), so if I want to carry my two phones, pen, business cards, reflex hammer (yes, I still carry one), as well as a variety of random papers that I accumulate over the course of a session, I need to have a white coat. And a man’s white coat, as the women’s white coats from our supplier have minuscule pockets as well.
I love this essay and your reasons for wearing a white coat. 30 years in, I love that you have opened my eyes and heart a little farther and helped me see this symbol of physicianhood a little differently. I don’t wear a white coat unless I am being interviewed on camera. I am a family physician and have the great honor of getting to know most of my patients over time. I find that I have a hard time keeping any white garments clean and without stains. But more importantly, I noticed pretty quickly that children were less afraid of me when I left it off. And then I noticed that my adult patients seemed to be less intimidated and more willing to tell me vulnerable parts of their stories when I was not wearing the white coat. Thank you for your sharing and for your service and integrity
I don’t wear a white coat. I prove that I am a physician and a team lead through my depth of knowledge and my ability to connect with my patients. I do not want the white coat to be a barrier between me and my patients. They are part of my team and I want them to express their concerns without fear. I do not mind whether they call me Dr. Ali or call me by my first name as long as they acknowledge and respect my role as their physician.
I wear a white coat most of the time, in clinic and if I work in the ER. I have been a female family doctor for 33 years. I agree with you about looking more professional in a white coat, and that it distinguishes me from the nurses. AlsoI need the pockets for mini-ipad, pens, etc!
I am a
Medical oncologist and yes I always wear my white coat when I see patients. I was an intern when I learned I need my white coat all the time. I went to ER to see an admission wearing my scrubs and because I am a Filipino female everyone including the ER attending presumed I was a nurse. I also find it practical because of the pockets for my cell phone, eyeglasses, and pen. I agree that the white coat makes the patient feel more confident that they are seeing a professional.
I wore a white lab coat until I was in my 50s because it was expedient. I spent much of my training in the 1980s trying to convince people that this petite blonde really was a doctor so I could do my job. One instance was so bad that the patient flat refused to talk to me and insisted I fill their water pitcher while they talked to the 6’2″ male med student I was proctoring. However, now a days I guess I seem old enough to look the part. Some day you too, will be able to retire your white lab coat.(I agree with Kari, wear a freshly laundered coat every day or you risk transmitting MRSA and the like from patient to patient)
I have been a practicing family physician for more that 35 years and assert that you have one opportunity to make a good first impression. I have worked very hard to attain the knowledge and experience to bring the best to my patients and my colleagues. I have experienced discrimination with respect to race and gender throughout my career and recognized my need to maintain a higher standard. I spent more than 20 years in the Army and now almost 20 in the civilian medical world. Professional dress, a professional coat to distinguish my role, well groomed hair are all evidence of careful preparation for my role as someone to whom the most intimate and important aspects of people’s lives are entrusted. I am privileged to serve in that role and believe the white coat is one key symbol of professionalism. Why do you think others want to wear it even when they have not completed the journey we have? They know what it represents.
Yes I wear mine for many many reasons. The ones you described above but also:
1. it is a way to hide my body. As a female we have woman bodies regardless of how conservative you dress if you have a large chest is is obvious.
2. It gives me pockets for things like pens, cell phones , paper etc
3. Something to clip my id onto
4. A way to keep my cloths cleaner
5. Patients expect it as uniform
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