Dress and deportment of medical residents: Formal or informal?

作者：Reid David R J; Makinde Kehinde A; Wilson Merne P; PausJenssen Anne M; Barton James W; Wilson Thomas W^*

来源：Clinical and Investigative Medicine, 2014, 37(4): E258-E261.

DOI：10.25011/cim.v37i4.21732

Purpose: Health care workers, including physicians, have adopted more casual dress. The appearance of a physician may influence patients%26apos; opinion of physician knowledge, competence and trustworthiness. We hypothesized that medical inpatients and outpatients would rate these attributes higher in residents who dressed and acted in a more formal manner. %26lt;br%26gt;Methods: Prospective cohort included both inpatients and outpatients. One hundred thirty three patients, aged 62.3 +/- 16 years, 49% of whom were female, were surveyed. One of two male resident physicians approached each patient, ostensibly to obtain consent to a brief mini-mental status examination. The physician was dressed, and acted, either %26quot;formally%26quot; (F) or %26quot;informally%26quot; (I). Patients then completed a six item questionnaire, using a 5 point Likert scale, to assess their confidence in the resident. Total scores could be 6 to 30. Total scores were compared using one-way ANOVA. %26lt;br%26gt;Results: Patients%26apos; perceptions were high for both F and I:25.5 +/- 3.1 vs. 24.1 +/- 3.0, respectively (p=0.013). This difference was driven by the %26quot;labcoat%26quot; question: patients generally preferred physicians to wear a labcoat (3.9 +/- 1.0 vs. 2.8 +/- 1.3, p%26lt;0.0001). Responses to four of the other fivequestions were numerically, but not statistically, higher in F. There was no difference in preference between the two residents: 24.6 +/- 2.8 vs. 24.9 +/- 3.5, p= 0.56. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusion: More formal dress and demeanor by residents leads to a modest, but significant, increase in patient perception of the resident%26apos;s value. Wearing a white lab coat, in particular, has a positive effect.

• 出版日期2014
• 单位Saskatchewan; Saskatoon