Re: Clothes Make the Doctor

[Guest guest]

hello all. i'm mike i live in Indiana. would like to make friends all over and

Indiana. who have R.A. maybe we could pick each others brains and learn

something to help us all. sense i been to the doc on the 8th i have been really

down and worried. and i've found out talking to someone helps. i really hope

the enbrel works for me????????????? i guess time will tell. thanks for

listening to me moan & groan. your friend mike

<Matsumura_Clan@...> wrote:Clothes Make the Doctor

January 10, 2004 06:04:00 AM PST , HealthDay

By Kathleen Doheny

HealthDay Reporter

SATURDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDayNews) -- Casual Fridays may be

embraced by American workers everywhere who love dressing down for their

jobs, but when they go to their doctor they want to see white coats and

stethoscopes every day of the week.

That's the finding of a recent University of Tennessee survey of

496 patients who visited two different local clinics and were asked what

clothing they'd prefer their doctor to don.

Patients surveyed say they want to see their physicians in white

coats, complete with a name tag and a visible stethoscope. Least

desirable foot attire included sandals, clogs and tennis shoes, adds

study author Dr. Amy Keenum, an assistant professor of family medicine

at the university. Her report appears in a recent issue of the Southern

Medical Journal.

" I wasn't surprised by the [preference for] white coats, " Keenum

says. " But sandals? "

Keenum conducted the survey with the other two female doctors in

her practice. She admits she is no fan of high heels. " We were kind of

hoping they'd like clogs, " says Keenum, who prefers her pair of English

walking shoes for comfort during her workday, which often involves 12

hours of seeing patients and being on her feet.

Doctors' attire isn't just an appearance issue, according to

Keenum and others who have studied the topic. If patients are

comfortable with a doctor's image -- and much of that is conveyed by

what he or she wears -- it can help patient-doctor communication and,

theoretically, that can improve the outcome of the treatment.

The findings from the current study do differ a bit from similar

ones conducted two decades ago, Keenum says., Back then, patients

preferred white coats and shirts and ties for male doctors and dresses

for female doctors. In her survey, pants were deemed desirable for women

doctors.

Ponytails on male doctors got a thumbs-down, as did perfume on

women doctors.

Patients younger than 40 were less likely to prefer traditional

attire on their doctors than those over age 40, Keenum found.

The study results make sense to Cheryl Wadlington, creative

director of Evoluer Image Consultants in Philadelphia.

" One of the psychological factors of fashion or style or image is

Americans are not quick to change, " she says. When they think of a

doctor, the image is one of a professional, perhaps the " Marcus Welby "

look. Often, she says, that is the image they want to keep even as they

have become more casual in their own workday attire.

Patients do seem to prefer a traditionally dressed physician

rather than a casually dressed one, Keenum agrees.

http://health./search/healthnews?lb=s & p=id%3A52023

[Guest guest]

,

I have read this article in other newspapers, magazines, etc. and then look

at my deck of Doctors. ALL and I mean ALL of the surgeons (medical, ortho,

etc.) seem to not own a stitch of clothing except for scrubs. Most of my

internists where the white lab coats and give all of their patients a good case

of

" White Coat Hypertension " . I finally asked my ortho surgeon if he didn't own

any other clothes. He says that at every hospital, he has a " pile " of clothes

and then once a month, he brings them all home to the cleaners and he can begin

all over again. And yet, I have one doctor (nephrologist) who never wears a

coat or scrubs. He comes in in Dockers and a polo shirt. Oddly enough, this

is the one doctor that I have the most faith in, trust the most and does the

most for me. My second bout with sepsis he beat the ambulance when they

brought me in. Now it is said that his personality is one that you either LOVE

or

HATE, there is no in between!! Just my thoughts! Interesting article.

Hope that you are staying warm during these long winter days.

Gentle, tender, angel hugs,

Debs in FL

Manager, Whine Cellar

[Guest guest]

It is a curious thing, Debs. I confess that I'm one of those who prefers

that physicians wear professional attire, but I can be quickly won over

by a quick mind and warm heart!

Re: [ ] Clothes Make the Doctor

> ,

>

> I have read this article in other newspapers, magazines, etc. and then

look

> at my deck of Doctors. ALL and I mean ALL of the surgeons (medical,

ortho,

> etc.) seem to not own a stitch of clothing except for scrubs. Most of

my

> internists where the white lab coats and give all of their patients a

good case of

> " White Coat Hypertension " . I finally asked my ortho surgeon if he

didn't own

> any other clothes. He says that at every hospital, he has a " pile " of

clothes

> and then once a month, he brings them all home to the cleaners and he

can begin

> all over again. And yet, I have one doctor (nephrologist) who never

wears a

> coat or scrubs. He comes in in Dockers and a polo shirt. Oddly

enough, this

> is the one doctor that I have the most faith in, trust the most and

does the

> most for me. My second bout with sepsis he beat the ambulance when

they

> brought me in. Now it is said that his personality is one that you

either LOVE or

> HATE, there is no in between!! Just my thoughts! Interesting

article.

>

> Hope that you are staying warm during these long winter days.

>

> Gentle, tender, angel hugs,

>

>

> Debs in FL

> Manager, Whine Cellar