Medical Design and Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech

The White Coat Can Be An Inadvertent Barrier To Care

May 20, 2014 By Cullen Truett

Don’t wear the white coat; it scares the kids.

Most children stare at me with that wide-eyed look.  Thinking from their perspective, the six-foot something curly headed giant with big round glasses probably appears very strange to the little human that barely scrapes my knee.  They do not cry. They just stare.  I smile, and they gape. Parents laugh as I grin sheepishly.  Towering over the patients, I likely appear more with the disposition of a clumsy giraffe.  Clad with a lime green bow tie, and cuff links made out of Legos, I did everything I could to appear comforting.  Arriving at the pediatric clinic, I had my white coat draped over my arm.  As I entered the clinic, I quickly realized no one was wearing their coats. Snatching my name tag, my coat would remain on that chair the remainder of the evening.

Thinking back a year ago when I was accepted to medical school, that white coat was the ultimate symbol of accomplishment.  The short student coat was the one physical possession that would demonstrate that I had jumped through all the hoops, gotten the grades, and possessed the qualities to be a medical student.  Upon starting classes, the white coat dangled in front of me like a prize.  Through that first gut-wrenching block the white coat remained just out of reach, inching closer and closer as the days passed. My white coat Ceremony was a blur.  One by one, my classmates and I filed across the stage, were draped by the faculty, received our gifted stethoscope, and wandered grinning off the stage.  The electricity in the air was palpable as the sea of white in the auditorium expanded, as we joined the ranks of physicians in training.

The white coat has long been the symbol of our profession. In the eyes of hopeful physicians, it represents the knowledge and authority to heal. For patients, it represents hope that something can be done.  I wanted the coat, and perhaps at even some points coveted those who could wear it.  Upon receiving my coat I was elated. My name tag dangled just below my embroidered name.  I wonder if the redundancy of identification is for the patients or for myself, saving me when I become too nervous and possibly forget my name. Wearing my coat for the first time motivated and empowered me. The white coat would be my armor and my shield in the battle of disease.  Exposing the vulnerability of the student physician, it is also our security blanket, reassuring us of the supposed authority and knowledge we possess.

I would be lying if I said I do not love the coat.  However, I feel the coat can be an inadvertent barrier to care.  For the same reasons it distinguishes us and makes us a symbol of hope, it also sets us apart from our patients.  It establishes an us and a them.  Subconsciously, our garb establishes our roles. Though the coat can identify us and our roles to the patient, it is also a social barrier between us and those patients who are overwhelmed by that symbol.  For some those patients, no amount of rehearsed small talk or genuinely good people skills can overcome that initial impression. Coupled with a physician’s stress, the white coat can quickly become a detractor, decreasing the patient’s participation in the dialogue necessary to the healing process.

Continue reading…

Related Articles Read More >

Lazurite ArthroFree wireless surgical camera system Minnetronix Medical
How Minnetronix Medical helped Lazurite with its wireless surgical camera
Medtronic Hugo robot-assisted surgery system
The road to a robot: Medtronic’s development process for its Hugo RAS system
A portrait of Stryker executive Siddarth Satish
How Stryker includes users for product design in the digital age
A portrait of Stryker executive Tracy Robertson
Stryker leaders talk medtech trends at DeviceTalks Boston: ‘If you’re slow, you’re going to lose’

DeviceTalks Weekly.

May 20, 2022
DeviceTalks Boston Post-Game – Editors’ Top Moments, Insulet’s Eric Benjamin on future of Omnipod 5
See More >

MDO Digital Edition

Digital Edition

Subscribe to Medical Design & Outsourcing. Bookmark, share and interact with the leading medical design engineering magazine today.

MEDTECH 100 INDEX

Medtech 100 logo
Market Summary > Current Price
The MedTech 100 is a financial index calculated using the BIG100 companies covered in Medical Design and Outsourcing.
DeviceTalks

DeviceTalks is a conversation among medical technology leaders. It's events, podcasts, webinars and one-on-one exchanges of ideas & insights.

DeviceTalks

New MedTech Resource

Medical Tubing

Enewsletter Subscriptions

Enewsletter Subscriptions

MassDevice

Mass Device

The Medical Device Business Journal. MassDevice is the leading medical device news business journal telling the stories of the devices that save lives.

Visit Website
MDO ad
Medical Design and Outsourcing
  • MassDevice
  • DeviceTalks
  • MedTech 100 Index
  • Medical Tubing + Extrusion
  • Drug Delivery Business News
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing World
  • R&D World
  • About Us/Contact
  • Advertise With Us
  • Subscribe to Print Magazine
  • Subscribe to E-newsletter
  • Attend our Monthly Webinars
  • Listen to our Weekly Podcasts
  • Join our DeviceTalks Tuesdays Discussion

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site Map | Privacy Policy | RSS

Search Medical Design & Outsourcing

  • Home
  • Medical Device Business
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Financial
    • Regulatory
  • Applications
    • Cardiovascular
    • Devices
    • Imaging
    • Implantables
    • Medical Equipment
    • Orthopedic
    • Surgical
  • Technologies
    • Contract Manufacturing
    • Components
    • Electronics
    • Extrusions
    • Materials
    • Motion Control
    • Prototyping
    • Pumps
    • Tubing
  • Med Tech Resources
    • DeviceTalks Tuesdays
    • Digital Editions
    • eBooks
    • Manufacturer Search
    • Medical Device Handbook
    • MedTech 100 Index
    • Podcasts
    • Print Subscription
    • The Big 100
    • Webinars / Digital Events
    • Whitepapers
    • Video
  • 2022 Leadership in MedTech
    • 2022 Leadership Voting!
    • 2021 Winners
    • 2020 Winners
  • Women in Medtech