Different rules for dressing appropriately

Editor - I read Zain Kapasis letter on dressing appropriately with great interest.¹ Although I agree that what he wears makes no difference to how he treats a patient, it does make a difference to the way patients perceive him.

The first issue is about white coats, which are worn by both doctors and doctors to be. The recognition, symbolism, and formalism of a white coat improves communication and facilitates the doctor-patient relationship.² Also, people in white coats seem more hygienic, professional, scientific, competent, knowledgeable, and approachable. The wearing of white coats is, however, in decline, and the only two major groups still wearing them are consultants and students.

White coats are important for recognition by colleagues and patients, for the pockets, and to keep clothes clean. In paediatrics and psychiatry, the converse is true, as children and patients regard formally dressed doctors as competent but not friendly and prefer casual clothes.

The second issue is about different dressing rules applying to men and women. Although women have a wider variety of choice, what they wear has to be practical. Recently, I went shopping for a suit to wear for my clinical finals, and I realised the dilemma. Storage space and pockets do matter, when you have to carry a minimum of, for example, a stethoscope, pens, a torch, a red hatpin, and a tape measure for the finals; men are at an obvious advantage.

Both female and male students have problems in choice, albeit in different ways, but what they wear should be practical, presentable, and professional—with or without the white coat.

1. Kapasi Z. Different rules for dressing appropriately. studentBMJ 2002;10:164. http://studentbmj.com/back_issues/0502/letters/164.htm (May.)
2. McKinstry B, Wang JX. Putting on the style: what patients think of the way their doctor dresses. Br J Gen Pract 1991;41:270, 275-8.