Residents' Papers
Resident physician attire: does it make a difference to our patients?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2004.02.022Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

This study was performed to examine the preferences of patients regarding physician attire, and if their perception of physician competence was influenced by the physicians' clothing style.

Methods

Patients attending the obstetrics and gynecology clinic in which residents provided the majority of direct patient care were invited to participate in this study by completing a questionnaire. Patients were first asked to respond to 3 questions about their preference regarding physician attire. They were then asked to examine a series of photographs illustrating a variety of physician clothing styles worn by a model. Patients were asked to respond to 2 questions: 1) If your doctor is dressed in this outfit, would that make you more or less comfortable talking to your physician?, and 2) If your doctor is dressed in this outfit, would it make you feel more or less confident in his/her abilities?

Results

The majority of the respondents expressed no preference for their physician wearing a white coat (60%/110/183), or they did not respond that a physician's dress influenced their comfort level (63%/111/179) or the confidence (62%/114/181) they had in their physician. However, for both male and female physician models, the comfort level of patients and their perceptions of physician competence were the highest in response to images of physicians dressed in scrubs with a white coat, and least for casual dress.

Conclusion

Resident physician attire makes a difference to patients. Our patients prefer the white coat with surgical scrubs. Casual clothing is less well liked by our patients.

Section snippets

Material and methods

Patients attending the Aultman Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology clinic throughout 2000 were invited to participate in this study. The clinic serves an uninsured/underinsured population and resident physicians (PGY I–PGYIV) provide the majority of direct patient care. There are approximately 12,000 patient visits per year. During a regularly scheduled visit for either obstetric or gynecologic care, patients completed a 10-minute questionnaire while in the examination room. The questionnaire

Results

A total of 188 questionnaires were distributed. One hundred eighty-four subjects (98%) responded to the 3 preliminary questions, while 156 subjects (83%) responded to the 12 pictures of the different styles of dress.

Seventy-six percent of the subjects were Caucasian, and 19% were African American. Approximately two thirds of the subjects were high school graduates and were less than 25 years of age. The responses to the 3 questions are presented in Table I. Regarding their preference for the

Comment

The psychosocial interaction between physicians and their patients is a complex relationship potentially influenced by many variables. Patient expectations regarding professional clothing may differ depending on their age, religious, cultural, and educational background, as well as geographic location, and the standards at a particular place and time in history. This study was specifically limited to the evaluation of the perceptions of patients receiving care from resident physicians at an

References (10)

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (0)

View full text