White coat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A white coat or laboratory coat is a knee-length overcoat/smock worn by professionals in the medical field or by those involved in laboratory work to protect their street clothes. The garment is made from white cotton or linen to allow it to be washed at high temperature and make it easy to see if it is clean.
Like the word "suit", the word is sometimes used to denote the wearer, i.e. the scientific personnel in a biotechnology or chemical company.
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[edit] White coats in medicine
White coats are sometimes seen as the distinctive dress of physicians, who have worn them for over 100 years.<ref>Jones VA, "The White Coat: Why not Follow Suit?" JAMA. 1999;281:478. Full Text.</ref> Recently, white coat ceremonies have become popular amongst those starting medical school.
A recent study found that the majority of patients prefer their doctors wear white coats, but the majority of doctors prefer other clothing, such as scrubs.<ref>"Doctors 'should wear white coats'", BBC News, 2004-05-13. Retrieved on 2006-07-18.</ref> The study found that psychiatrists were among the least likely to wear white coats, perhaps in part due to the stereotyping that the pop culture phrase suggests. Some medical doctors view the coats as hot and uncomfortable, and many feel that they spread infection.
Some doctors in institutions such as the Mayo Clinic are instructed to wear business attire, to convey professionalism, as the clinic dislikes the message that white coats represent to the patient.<ref>Mayo Clinic article</ref>
[edit] In psychiatry
The term is also used as verbal shorthand for psychiatric orderlies or other personnel and may be used, in a usually jocular manner, to imply someone's lunacy. For example, the statement "Anyone who believes that needs a visit from the men in the white coats" means that the subject of the remark should be carted off to a psychiatric institution.
[edit] White versus black
It is also interesting to note that until the mid 1920's, students who were examining cadavers would wear black lab coats to show respect for the dead. Black lab coats were used in early biomedical and microbiology laboratories because any dust (i.e. contamination) that settled on them was easily visible.
[edit] Biology
In biology, the subject can be divided into two areas; white coat and green coat. White coat being biology confined mainly to laboratory work, green coat, named after green outdoor jackets, being biology studying nature.
[edit] Argentina
In Argentina white coats are worn by students and teachers of most public primary schools as a daily uniform.
