Elderly find doctors show too much flesh::NZ

From :: Stuff
14 March 2005

By JOANNA DAVIS

Christchurch's young doctors must remember they are dressing for work and not nightclubs, says a health lobby group fed up with hipsters, bare midriffs and the cleavage on show.


A letter of complaint from Elder Care Canterbury prompted the Christchurch School of Medicine to review its lack of dress code and update its student handbook to include one.

Elderly patients were concerned that junior doctors' standard of dress, particularly that of the women, was sometimes inappropriate and unprofessional.

"They were concerned about seeing far too many tummy buttons and the hipster trousers with the G-string out the back," said former Elder Care Canterbury facilitator Gill Coe..

Coe said dress was particularly at issue for older patients as the doctors already seemed so young.

"Especially the registrars – they all seem about 16 or 18 anyway. If you want to be taken seriously by older people, you would be wise to dress in a professional manner," she said.

Coe said it was important that people aged over 65, who made up more than half of patients in general medical wards, could respect junior doctors.

"If they dress like they're just going out to a nightclub, they won't get the respect they deserve because of the training they've done."

Elder Friendly member Keith Gibb said the young doctors did not need to wear formal clothing.

"It's a question of drawing a line. People don't want to see low decolletage and very short skirts when they have to bend over patients."

He said conservative dress would also be more economical for the students and junior staff.

"While at work they're not indulging in a display of fashion. It saves a certain amount of money if you're not trying to do so."

Christchurch School of Medicine dean Ian Town said students' dress had improved after receiving the guidelines and he was pleased with the standard this year.

"There are more important things facing our students in the scheme of things but we wanted them to dress and behave reasonably," he said.

The updated handbook advised medical students that patients could be uncomfortable with piercings, casual clothes such as shorts and sandals, midriff-exposing tops and long hair on men.

From my experience, with multiple visits to the JPL [Jabatan Pesakit Luar], our doctors' manner of dressing is not as problematic as what is happening in the UK or NZ. Most of the lady doctors are appropriately dressed up [some can be even be said to be dressing down, especially after office hours]. So patients will have no complaints regarding the showing off of too much body parts.
i happened to be in the local hospital today, all those doctors i encountered were appropriately dressed. In effect there was more covered up than uncovered ones. But among the ladies, slacks, pants and jeans appear to be the order of the day. There were not many wearing dresses and skirts like in the days gone by. But then again one is there to received appropriate medical treatment and not witness a fashion show. So for now, it looks like our doctors don't need a guidebook on medical dressing.