Doctors wearing semi casual yet formal clothing

Anyone prefer their doctors to wear semi casual business clothing like many PCPs nowadays? I was always turned on by doctors wearing such clothes with only the stethoscope wrapped around their neck to indicate that they are doctors. They would usually be wearing plaid shirts and business pants (male) and the biggest turn on for me was always females wearing teacher style dresses skirts and short sleeved shirts or sweaters depending on weather.

How can something be semi casual yet formal? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

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For general physical exams and non-surgical dental treatment I prefer street clothes with a full length lab coat. Scrubs are overkill and street clothes often with a tie was the rule. Ties are however not a good idea because ties never get washed because they are ruined by dry cleaning and or washing by any means so they became bacteria carriers.

There are a few articles that claim white lab coats are germ factories that spread bad stuff to patients. Lots of medical professionals wear their lab coats home - to the store etc and then go to work in them. I suspect some of it is hype or "hype-steria" (new word I just made up) for someone trying to find a new cause to champion. I agree with the following statement by Dr John Schumann:

Dr. John Henning Schumann said, “I’d give up my white coat instantly if I knew it was spreading harmful bacteria. But colonization with bacteria is different from transmitting them to another person. Bacteria live on all of us, so are white coats necessarily worse than our other garments or even our own skin?”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/01/21/doctor-dress-code-germs/4718253/

https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/your-doctors-white-lab-coat-is-a-gross-squirming-bacteria-factory

https://www.physiciansweekly.com/should-doctors-wear-white-lab-coats/

Also, an OSHA article on how they should be cleaned:

http://blogs.hcpro.com/osha/2009/09/lab-coat-qa/

Oh, you should come to the UK. For ten years or more it's been verboten to wear a tie or anything below the elbows. We normally wear suits to work without a tie, and take the jacket off and roll up the sleeves when we're with patients.

My last doc wore an Under Armour dry-fit polo from our Alma mater!

Gotta be scrubs for me

I have actually never been to a doctor who wore scrubs in his office. Every doctor I have seen for a physical wore dress slacks and dress shoes with a dress shirt. Some wore ties and some wore white coats. Personally, I think business attire rather than scrubs creates more of a contrast with a patient who is undressed for an exam. This adds to my sense of vulnerability and lack of power as the patient.

I actually went to one ophthalmologist and her partner who wore scrubs and running shoes in the office some days and slacks on other days. I knew they were very good docs and it didn't bother me at all. Scrubs and sneakers or running shoes are very common attire for residents during residency, though most graduate to dressier clothes when they start to practice.

Eric

Generally I don't have a preference - I like male doctors who sport scrubs (blue) or who wear a shirt, tie and khakis with perhaps a white lab coat. Regardless of what he's wearing, he has the stethoscope is around his neck or hanging the pocket of the lab coat.

The most important thing is the energy/confident the doctor projects - regardless of what he's wearing that day.

I like golf clothes and casual dress

My new GP showed up to my intake consult in a suit and tie. He reviewed my records, discussed my current health situation in a matter-of-fact manner and then handed me a referral for a colonoscopy and endoscopy, saying it was about time I submitted both my ends for those procedures. I didn't see any scrubs or lab coat while in his exam room, so I am assuming he conducts full physicals in a suit and tie.

If I were a medical professional with my own practice, I'd definitely go into an exam with scrubs on, just in case something unexpected came up which required basic covering, and could quickly change for the next patient.

No lab-coat seems strange. A tie and white shirt under the coat would be nice and old school, but I rarely see it these days. It is funny though how some doctors I frequented wore an open lab coat over casual clothes. Still felt professional.

Most unusual I encountered was doc wearing jeans and short-sleeve off-white casual shirt. I guess the shirt made his look acceptable on the first sight. But his big gut and the fact the shirt was open very low made him look like Bud Spencer in "Detective Extralarge". He was also quite casual about the exam. It was hilarious and contrasted with the accompanying female trainee doc dressed in a proper coat.

All of my doctors have dressed professionally, most have worn ties, but my current doctor prefers to avoid the tie and presents wearing a button down shirt with khaki pants. His manner of dress is much more complete than mine! Given how I am asked to present, I have not given much thought to how the doctor appears.

I’ll gladly sign on to the casual dress doctrine. I work in a technology/medical environment where jeans and sneakers are the norm for work attire and that translates fine for me.

When I do play exams I actually make it a point to wear the same thing I do in my day job. I understand that certain attire like a white coat does it for certain people. In my own head though, it’s important that I don’t feel like I’m leaning on some kind of costume. I give a very good physical exam the same way I’d want it done to me. I find that quality and authenticity through rapport and skill, not wardrobe.

I have no doubt some people would still prefer the costume, but I just can’t do my best that way. And so far at least, I have had way more satisfied patients than not.

I happen to love the look of old timey wimey doctors. Suit and ties. Something about a well dressed man just gets me going 😃

I like the way my primary doc dresses - clean, nice business shirt and pants... sometimes a white lab coat over it.. Looks professional.

I love to see a guy dressed up in a dress shirt and dress pants. A tie and a suit are definitely a bonus. My doctor usually wears a dress shirt and dress pants with his lab coat which is often undone. Sometimes his stethoscope is around his neck but often in the pocket of his lab coat

I think a stethoscope on a button down shirt looks great 😉

Over the years, sometime in the previous decades, our family doctor stopped wearing medical whites at some point. I didn't really notice when, but it was quite a while ago, maybe 20 years or so at least?

In any case, in our present collective medical situation, I was surprised to see him back in medical whites first time I saw him during the pandemic, back in June I think and a few times since for a flu shot and sundry.

In a way it was jarring. I wasn't used to him dressed in whites anymore. I actually had this thought in my mind that he was dressed up to play in a medfet scenario ... ha ha. As a doctor, purely in a medical way, it was hard not to think he was playing dress-up in a doctor's coat along a mask of course.

When I went back last month for a last follow-up on my appendectomy at hospital, I noticed that the surgeon was of course wearing a mask, but wasn't dressed in whites though. He was in a suit and tie, something light-brown/beige if I remember correctly (probably not ... ha ha).

I see my cardiologist doctor more than my gp doctor, and so far I've seen him in both the green surgery scrubs, a white lab coat and I've also seen him without the lab coat over his clothes. The scrubs kinda scare me a bit so i definitely prefer him in the lab coat or just everyday clothing 😃