By being well dressed, the cosmetic plastic surgeon inspires confidence in the patient regarding his success as a surgeon and his awareness of contemporary trends.

On the day of the procedure, rest assured that the surgeon and everyone connected with the procedure will be correctly attired.

At all times, the enviornment of a cosmetic plastic surgeon’s office adheres stringently to its highly covetted Quad A rating. This rating document should be prominently displayed in the physician’s suite. If the patient can’t see it, ask for it.

Reason: if it’s over 50 degrees outside, I sweat. And the white coat makes me sweat more. I dislike that.

It has nothing to do with separating myself from a patient, or professionalism, etc. I’m just uncomfortable wearing the darned things.

My usual uniform is a blue oxford shirt and khaki slacks. My patients, the nurses, everyone, knows this is my uniform, and it doesn’t seem to bother them.

med24 You’re right – could have been 4th year (but he was really jumpy). I have had experience with non-doctors wearing long coats, but not white. Often horrible shades of mauve or seafoam. I’m sure it happens a lot. Doesn’t mean I think it is appropriate.

The coat means something. The coat is earned.”

The guy coulda been a 4th year.

Anyways, I disagree with you about the white coat. Everybody and their brother wears it. Nurses wear it. Resp techs wear it. Lab techs wear it. CNAs wear it. Phlebotomists wear it.

There was a day and age in which only doctors wore the white coat, but then everybody else decided they wanted to wear it too.

Wearing a white coat means absolutely nothing about your status. You could be the chief of staff, or you could be a tech with 6 months of training out of high school.

In the Level one trauma center/asylum I work in our coats are often covered in bright red blood. The hundreds of african american males in my city who get shot every year come to my ER. We get 2 coats a year as part of our benefits. What does that tell you about the doctors who work here?

I my doctor’s office there is a uniform for every employment level. The administrative staff wear a certain color of scrubs. The nursing staff wears a different color. So you always have some idea of the job and skills of the person you’re talking with. The physicians all wear the long white lab coat.

I was in my doctor’s office last week and saw a tall young man I hadn’t seen before. He was wearing a short white coat. The nurse said “Oh, he’s the intern”. I said, “Really? I bet he’s a 3rd year med student, not an intern.” She asked how I knew and I told her “Look at his coat.”

The coat means something. The coat is earned.

Now, when you’re just going in for some consultation, or seeing a doctor that isn’t normally touching you, the white coat isn’t necessary and I wouldn’t mind at all if he or she were dressed nicely.

It might, however, just serve to point out that the doctor is rich, and the patient is not. This might negatively impact the relationship a little bit if the patient is sensitive to that sort of thing. But in some fields (cosmetic surgery), it probably wouldn’t matter.