White Coat: Status Symbol or Personal Protective Equipment?

Have you ever visited a hospital cafeteria or coffee shop? There, you might find several doctors wearing white coats, with stethoscopes on their shoulders, enjoying coffee, snacks, or sometimes a meal, still in their white coats. Are you comfortable with this, especially if you know they've just come from a clinic where they saw a patient who was coughing or sneezing? Although we believe that doctors sanitize and wash their hands before coming to the cafeteria, it's worth considering what else might be on the coat that we can't see.

It's time to reconsider what the white coat represents. Is it a status symbol, a recognition of medical professionalism, or is it personal protective equipment? As lab professionals, we have always been taught that a white coat, often referred to as a lab coat, is our personal protective equipment. It remains in the lab to ensure that what is in the lab stays in the lab, offering protection from accidental exposure to chemicals or biological materials. We, as lab professionals, never take our lab coats home or wear them while driving. Shouldn't the same principle apply to doctors and medical professionals, encouraging them to think similarly about their lab coats and ensure safe usage?

However, there are other advantages to wearing a white coat, as highlighted by an internal survey of physicians. These advantages include:

Quick identification by patients, nurses, and other doctors.

Large pockets make it easy to carry a stethoscope and other items.

Adherence to the social standards expected of physicians.

Conveyance of a sense of cleanliness.

Regulation of body temperature in the cool hospital setting.

While these benefits are significant, it's vital to balance them with infection prevention and biosafety practices. Keeping the white coat within the clinical setting and ensuring its cleanliness is essential in mitigating the risk of cross-contamination. This approach aligns with lab professionals' practices, emphasizing the need for medical practitioners to view their white coats not just as symbols of their profession, but as crucial tools in maintaining a safe and hygienic healthcare environment.