Physicians may want to dig a little deeper into their closets or grab their white coats on the way out of the operating room, if they want patients to view them favourably, according to the largest-ever USstudy of patient preferences for doctors’ attire.
In fact, what medical doctors wear may matter more than most doctors – or even patients – might think, say the researchers behind the paper. Based on their findings, they call for more hospitals, health systems and practice groups to look at their dress standards for physicians or create them if they don’t already have one.
Just over half of the 4,062 patients surveyed in the clinics and hospitals of ten major medical centres said that what physicians wear is important to them – more than one-third said that what a doctor wears influences their satisfaction with their care. ….more