Residents' PapersResident physician attire: does it make a difference to 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
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