White Lab Coats Combine Protection With Prestige
Quick! Think of your favorite science fiction movie. What are the mad scientist and his assistant wearing while they experiment on his frightening creature? If you said "white lab coats, " go to the head of the class!
White lab coats have evolved from a knee-length smock in the mid-1800s to a starched white garment, over embroidered with a doctor's name and sometimes a name or logo or the hospital or laboratory. As in its original version, white lab coats are used to protect doctors' clothes from blood and other contaminants that made get on a doctor's clothes.
Since Columbia began the ritual, some 100 U. S. Medical schools have adopted the practice of "white coat ceremonies." To some people the ceremony seems anachronistic, while others welcome it as a way to impress medical students that they're called to be professional and empathetic with their patients.
Once made from linen, white lab coats today are more likely to be made from a cotton polyester blend (usually 65 percent polyester, 35 percent cotton) or cotton twill, in white or a light color. Contaminants such as blood and other bodily fluids are easily seen on white lab coats, so they can be thoroughly washed, and in some cases sterilized, to kill any germs.
So why do doctors keep wearing white coats today? For much the same reasons, believe it or not.
Even with advanced medical techniques, doctors are still treating the human body, one of the dirtiest organisms known on the planet. Blood and other kinds of bodily fluids can be present any time there's an injury to the body. A white lab coat still serves to protect a medical worker from contamination. That's why doctors change from their hospital scrubs and lab coats into street clothes before they leave. Medical uniforms are considered contaminated, even if nothing shows, by the germs of dozens of people. They're thoroughly washed and sterilized before being used again.
A British study several years ago found that patients liked their doctors to wear white lab coats; it gave them a sense of being treated by a professional. However, a more recent American study found that patients preferred it when their doctors wore street clothes. Respondents in the American study said they felt like their physicians were more approachable when not wearing the familiar lab coat.
Despite these findings, dressing doctors in white lab coats has taken on new meaning because of a growing number of "white coat ceremonies" for medical students. The ritual involves "robing" new medical students in a white lab coat as a symbol of service and professionalism. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons began the practice in'93 and more than 100 U. S. Medical schools have adopted the ritual.
White lab coats have evolved from a knee-length smock in the mid-1800s to a starched white garment, over embroidered with a doctor's name and sometimes a name or logo or the hospital or laboratory. As in its original version, white lab coats are used to protect doctors' clothes from blood and other contaminants that made get on a doctor's clothes.
Since Columbia began the ritual, some 100 U. S. Medical schools have adopted the practice of "white coat ceremonies." To some people the ceremony seems anachronistic, while others welcome it as a way to impress medical students that they're called to be professional and empathetic with their patients.
Once made from linen, white lab coats today are more likely to be made from a cotton polyester blend (usually 65 percent polyester, 35 percent cotton) or cotton twill, in white or a light color. Contaminants such as blood and other bodily fluids are easily seen on white lab coats, so they can be thoroughly washed, and in some cases sterilized, to kill any germs.
So why do doctors keep wearing white coats today? For much the same reasons, believe it or not.
Even with advanced medical techniques, doctors are still treating the human body, one of the dirtiest organisms known on the planet. Blood and other kinds of bodily fluids can be present any time there's an injury to the body. A white lab coat still serves to protect a medical worker from contamination. That's why doctors change from their hospital scrubs and lab coats into street clothes before they leave. Medical uniforms are considered contaminated, even if nothing shows, by the germs of dozens of people. They're thoroughly washed and sterilized before being used again.
A British study several years ago found that patients liked their doctors to wear white lab coats; it gave them a sense of being treated by a professional. However, a more recent American study found that patients preferred it when their doctors wore street clothes. Respondents in the American study said they felt like their physicians were more approachable when not wearing the familiar lab coat.
Despite these findings, dressing doctors in white lab coats has taken on new meaning because of a growing number of "white coat ceremonies" for medical students. The ritual involves "robing" new medical students in a white lab coat as a symbol of service and professionalism. Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons began the practice in'93 and more than 100 U. S. Medical schools have adopted the ritual.