Doctors' fashion faux pas

There's a lot to be said for first impressions, and a doctor decked out in cut-off jeans and an old Alma Mater T-shirt may not be making the right one on her patients.

"It's terribly important," Dr Jean Carruthers, a BC facial cosmetic surgeon, told The Globe and Mail. "How you dress yourself will give [patients] cues on how you will take care of them."

Last month, NRM brought you the latest on effort to improve doctors' garb to minimize the spread of germs (see the illustration, below, for a diagram of clothing infection-risk areas).

But beyond practical concerns, docs need to express their individuality through fashion, like everyone else, say experts -- so long as their manner of dress exhibits "precision, intelligence and maturity." As Andre Agassi once said, "Image is everything."

Image: National Review of Medicine

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