MD & DO - Should non-physicians wear white coats? (2024)

I noticed that nowadays doctors don't wear white coats anymore. But nurse practitioners and PAs wear them. What gives?

I've had several instances where doctors are mistaken for nurses while nurse practitioners and PAs are referred to as "doctors."

Age old problem. Doctors wore scrubs and white coats, everyone else in the hospital copied the look. Residents started wearing north face fleeces so everyone else in the hospital copied the look. Residents switched over to patagonia, everyone else in the hospital copied the look. So on and so forth.

Everyone wants to be a doctor but no one wants to lift no heavy ass books

Psai said:

Everyone wants to be a doctor but no one wants to lift no heavy ass books

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Psai said:

Age old problem. Doctors wore scrubs and white coats, everyone else in the hospital copied the look. Residents started wearing north face fleeces so everyone else in the hospital copied the look. Residents switched over to patagonia, everyone else in the hospital copied the look. So on and so forth.

Everyone wants to be a doctor but no one wants to lift no heavy ass books

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I wonder what's next after our Patagucci phase.

The best look is the no white coat, just dress clothes look. People know you're a doctor when you don't have to worry about wearing clothes that get covered in blood and **** on a day to day basis.

Of course that's mostly doable in the outpatient setting. Those are the people that look most like doctors.

I haven't worn a white coat in over 2 years, the only time was for a professional photo.

I usually round with a group of residents and students when I'm in the hospital, and I am the only one without a coat with snazzy dress clothes. In clinic I usually wear dress clothes only as well.

Bring plague doctor back

Psai said:

Everyone wants to be a doctor but no one wants to lift no heavy ass books

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That Ronnie Coleman quote... This made my day

evilbooyaa said:

The best look is the no white coat, just dress clothes look. People know you're a doctor when you don't have to worry about wearing clothes that get covered in blood and **** on a day to day basis.

Of course that's mostly doable in the outpatient setting. Those are the people that look most like doctors.

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The appeal of Rad Onc, never forced to wear a white coat.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

evilbooyaa said:

The best look is the no white coat, just dress clothes look. People know you're a doctor when you don't have to worry about wearing clothes that get covered in blood and **** on a day to day basis.

Of course that's mostly doable in the outpatient setting. Those are the people that look most like doctors.

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Idk my favorite look is scrubs, surgeons cap, and tennis shoes that may or may not have blood on them. Dress clothes feel so restrictive

At my med school's affiliated hospital, the door-greeter wears a long white coat.

Basically, everyone wants to leech off the respect that doctors used to get, and scrabble a little higher in the hospital hierarchy. Part of the problem is that doctors don't run hospitals anymore - most administrators are not physicians, and many boost other groups (nurses, ACPs, etc.) as a counterweight to doctors.

Little Green Mensch said:

At my med school's affiliated hospital, the door-greeter wears a long white coat.

Basically, everyone wants to leech off the respect that doctors used to get, and scrabble a little higher in the hospital hierarchy. Part of the problem is that doctors don't run hospitals anymore - most administrators are not physicians, and many boost other groups (nurses, ACPs, etc.) as a counterweight to doctors.

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This right here. We should start to resist a bit...it seems like everyone wants to push doctors around and we're gonna get beaten up if we don't resist or even try

Psai said:

Age old problem. Doctors wore scrubs and white coats, everyone else in the hospital copied the look. Residents started wearing north face fleeces so everyone else in the hospital copied the look. Residents switched over to patagonia, everyone else in the hospital copied the look. So on and so forth.

Everyone wants to be a doctor but no one wants to lift no heavy ass books

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You do realize that physicians started doing it to legitimize themselves by copying the scientists, right?

HueySmith said:

Not going to lie, some of the PA students I rotate with have such a giant chip on their shoulder, saying bull**** like "Doctors don't own us", "we can do everything a doctor can do", "We are independent." So ignorant and arrogant.

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And then the train wreck comes in the door and they instantly page the doc. If only it were legally or morally acceptable to simply reply, "I thought you could do everything I could do...."

Rekt said:

I wonder what's next after our Patagucci phase.

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Probably Marmot, I don't really see Fig becoming that big even if their scrubs are all the rage right now

RNthenDoc said:

You do realize that physicians started doing it to legitimize themselves by copying the scientists, right?

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Whatever helps you sleep at night. You know who you're pretending to be.

Psai said:

Whatever helps you sleep at night. You know who you're pretending to be.

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...I’m a Med student, so I wear a short coat...? Not pretending to be anything.

Also, you didn’t respond to my point at all. I think it’s because you’ve been proven wrong. In these situations it’s best to just take it gracefully, not to imply that I suffer insomnia.

Mad Jack said:

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I feel like this should be posted in pretty much every thread in allo at least once

VA Hopeful Dr said:

I feel like this should be posted in pretty much every thread in allo at least once

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I might just start doing that. It's like the "bruh" by TG for every pre-allo thread that gets bounced to the Lounge

AnatomyGrey12 said:

And then the train wreck comes in the door and they instantly page the doc. If only it were legally or morally acceptable to simply reply, "I thought you could do everything I could do...."

Probably Marmot, I don't really see Fig becoming that big even if their scrubs are all the rage right now

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Figs honestly ugly AF. I like Jaanu but their colors suck. Either way both are too expensive

Dona Nobis Pacem said:

I noticed that nowadays doctors don't wear white coats anymore. But nurse practitioners and PAs wear them. What gives?

I've had several instances where doctors are mistaken for nurses while nurse practitioners and PAs are referred to as "doctors."

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I'll save TG the time...

Dona Nobis Pacem said:

I noticed that nowadays doctors don't wear white coats anymore. But nurse practitioners and PAs wear them. What gives?

I've had several instances where doctors are mistaken for nurses while nurse practitioners and PAs are referred to as "doctors."

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It's garbage. The world was a mistake.

Im an MS3 and i hate wearing it. I get way too warm with it on. Im only on my second clerkship and the only time I’ve had to wear it is when rounding in the hospital. In clinic i didnt have to and inpatient psych was the same way. I imagine something similar will present itself for peds.

Yeah, it is symbolic and the “rite of passage” thing, but has totally lost its significance. I see pharmacy students, pa students and others all in them daily.

FourniersGreenGang said:

My favorite was the attending who told me about a PA student "they're basically doctors" as the student looked on smugly behind him. It took every ounce of strength not to say "except they go to half the schooling and none of the residency. Oh I forgot that they're in accelerated med school because of how much smarter they are, my bad." Obviously the last part would have been dripping with sarcasm.

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Not “smarter than,” obviously, but being in PA school also doesn’t mean someone is less intelligent, as it seems to be implied at multiple points in this thread. Not sure what PA schools the students you guys are rotating with are from, but I’ve worked alongside a lot of PA students over the last two years, and I’ve never heard a single one state or even imply that they’ll be able to do the job of a doctor when they’re done.

Lnsean said:

This right here. We should start to resist a bit...it seems like everyone wants to push doctors around and we're gonna get beaten up if we don't resist or even try

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doctors will always get beaten around as long as they continue to beat their own.

Waldeinsamkeit said:

I'm going to come in dressed as a nurse to mindf*ck everyone.

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HueySmith said:

Not going to lie, some of the PA students I rotate with have such a giant chip on their shoulder, saying bull**** like "Doctors don't own us", "we can do everything a doctor can do", "We are independent." So ignorant and arrogant.

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Sounds like residual salt from a bad Mcat score

Only reason I enjoy wearing my white coat:

So much **** to carry

The higher you climb the ladder the less you have to use status symbols to convince others of your worth. I just can't wait for the day I can sign off my emails with:
" -akuko2

Sent from my iPhone"

I don't wear a white coat.

I don't care what everyone else wears.

If I get mistaken for a nurse--who cares?

EleanorAbernathyMD said:

Only reason I enjoy wearing my white coat:

So much **** to carry

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I might have a small addiction to pockets. Not that I actually put anything in them, but just imagine what I could put in them.

EleanorAbernathyMD said:

Only reason I enjoy wearing my white coat:

So much **** to carry

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This is why I wear a fleece jacket with pockets and have my back-up medical bag stashed nearby for extras: storage, without that annoying and increasingly dirty white coat!

I get that it’s annoying and some are obviously trying to impersonate docs. But from a logistical standpoint, nurses, techs, phlebotomists, respiratory therapists have to carry tons of crap like multiple iv start kits, gauze, blood tubes, etc. Kinda makes more sense for them to be utilizing all those extra pockets.

The extra pockets could also help the DNPs unload that chip off their shoulders.

Ho0v-man said:

I get that it’s annoying and some are obviously trying to impersonate docs. But from a logistical standpoint, nurses, techs, phlebotomists, respiratory therapists have to carry tons of crap like multiple iv start kits, gauze, blood tubes, etc. Kinda makes more sense for them to be utilizing all those extra pockets.

The extra pockets could also help the DNPs unload that chip off their shoulders.

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lmao spicy af

FYI: It's a regulatory requirement for the lab techs and often interpreted as one for the phlebs to wear the white lab coats when working with blood or body fluids.

People should have their role/qualifications noted on their badges though.

Ho0v-man said:

I get that it’s annoying and some are obviously trying to impersonate docs. But from a logistical standpoint, nurses, techs, phlebotomists, respiratory therapists have to carry tons of crap like multiple iv start kits, gauze, blood tubes, etc. Kinda makes more sense for them to be utilizing all those extra pockets.

The extra pockets could also help the DNPs unload that chip off their shoulders.

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DNP’s are pretty well rounded; they usually have a chip on both shoulders.

IknowImnotadoctor said:

DNP’s are pretty well rounded; they usually have a chip on both shoulders.

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He's bbaaaacccckkkkk

Chibucks15 said:

He's bbaaaacccckkkkk

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Never left. Prefer to lurk.