Perceptions of Physician Attire

Thanks to Dr Varnado-Sullivan and her colleagues for the article, “The Impact of Physician Demographic Characteristics on Perceptions of Their Attire” in the October 2019, issue of Family Medicine.¹ Related to their findings, I have a personal anecdote other readers might enjoy. Early in my career, I looked a lot like Opie from The Andy Griffith Show and I found that dressing formally in a white coat, dress shirt, and tie helped me get past the “you’re too young to be a doctor” assumptions by patients. I also liked all the pockets my white coat had for carrying the various tools and toys I thought I needed right at hand. However, once in practice, those same pockets led to serious consternation because I couldn’t keep from catching them on the arms of the chairs in my office. One day, my wife, who was tired of sewing my pockets back on and tired of my pretending I couldn’t do it myself, issued an ultimatum: “ditch that white coat and figure out something else.” So I did.

I looked around our house and noticed my fishing vest had plenty of pockets that were too high to catch on the chairs. Because I thought a used fishing vest might be unseemly to my patients, I mail-ordered a brand new one. As Varnado-Sullivan and colleagues noted, I also perceived the importance of a name tag and had one professionally engraved with my name and role. Because I was concerned the vest might be too informal for some of my patients, I continued to wear a dress shirt and tie underneath. I was overwhelmed at how well my patients accepted the transformation. Working in a residency clinic, it is very important to me that I develop trust as efficiently as possible with many patients who are very different from me. Children, especially, are curious about my vest and much less intimidated than they were by my white coat. Older patients who suddenly realized they were talking with a fellow fisherman instead of just a doctor, began sharing their lives with me in a whole new way and, occasionally, put me on to some great fishing holes. Some of my colleagues still find my choice of attire quirky but I brushed them off years ago—I’m having too much fun wearing a fishing vest to work.