White coats increase your ability to pay attention, EMS uniforms though...

[hippocratical]

So according to the NY times people putting on a white coat felt more, well, "doctorly"

Mind Games: Sometimes a White Coat Isn’t Just a White Coat

Does wearing your EMS gear affect your behavior or cognition even? I feel pretty fancy in mine - that is, while they're clean. Post patient contact though...

I just wish they looked less like Police gear.

 

[Medic Tim]

We have white shirts. I hate them with a passion

 

[EpiEMS]

Problem is, EMS is a public safety agency, not just a medical one. So public safety-style gear is appropriate to some extent.

 

[adamjh3]

I'm way more confident in my uniform than I am normally, it's like I'm a whole different person.

I even had a partner comment on this. We worked a multi-day event three counties north of us, so the company paid for a hotel for the night before so we could drive up and be well rested for the 12+ hour shift the first day. We carpooled up there and did the whole get to know you thing since we had just met, crashed in the hotel for the night and went to work the next day. He told me after the first shift that he had doubts that I'd be able to control scenes with how soft-spoken and "shy" I was when he met me and was surprised by my command presence while working.

It's a bizarre thing. I know it happens to me and I can't understand it.

 

[hippocratical]

I'm way more confident in my uniform than I am normally, it's like I'm a whole different person.
...
It's a bizarre thing. I know it happens to me and I can't understand it.

Totally me too. In a business suit I feel Dr. Professional and love my clicky-on-granite shoes. Having the English accent clearly makes me James Bond in interviews.
Similar theme to EMS gear (all black here - very slimming ) where I'm in goddamn control.

Normal wear? I do a neat line in Alcoholic Student Slacker.

 

[adamjh3]

Having the English accent clearly makes me James Bond in interviews.

Actually laughed out loud at this :rofl:

 

[Aprz]

I oddly feel like a phony since people expect so much out of us, but also feel good too. :\

 

[CritterNurse]

And here I thought it was just me. I always seem to feel more confident in something 'official' looking than I do in what ever jeans and t-shirt I happened to be wearing.

 

[Handsome Robb]

I always feel better when I am dressed nicely, be it in a uniform or nice clothes. I've noticed I get a little more acknowledgement from people, especially in my uniform, since I am on younger side of the age bracket.

 

[medicdan]

Should we return to this?

 

[usalsfyre]

I like Acadian's original uniform

I think once the novelty of wearing a uniform wears off the results are probably null.

 

[Hunter]

Should we return to this?

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo we wear white shirts here and I hate it, I can't imagine all white jump suit!

 

[NomadicMedic]

We wear flight suits here, and it seems that we get treated with more respect than the EMTs and paramedics that are wearing jeans and T-shirts or polo shirts and EMS pants.

 

[mycrofft]

Look up the psychology of uniforms. Boots especially (ask the lady "bootistas" nowadays too), the give you additional height and a longer kick to your stride. The process of "suiting up" can also be a transformative moment. After a nasty run some folks will invariably be seen taking extra solo time to straighten or preen their uniform.


In a real disaster in late Seventies, a gas leak caused an explosion in an auditorium near a medical school. Students wearing lab coats but still bearing student IDs were admitted by police/fire officials while more-experienced MD's bearing their IDs but not wearing traditional doctor garb were kept out.

 

[usalsfyre]

We wear flight suits here, and it seems that we get treated with more respect than the EMTs and paramedics that are wearing jeans and T-shirts or polo shirts and EMS pants.

Noticed the phenomenon when I flew a patient in one day and was treated well, then went and worked a side job the next day and got treated like crap ground pounding one in.

 

[mycrofft]

The reverse can be true also. I caught a reflection of myself wearing my CERT uniform, and frankly an old fat guy makes it look bad, and the guy looks silly.

 

[bigbaldguy]

I'm way more confident in my uniform than I am normally, it's like I'm a whole different person.


It's a bizarre thing. I know it happens to me and I can't understand it.

+1 right on the money!

 

[medicdan]

Indeed, the psychology of appearance and uniforms is facinating-- as is heuristics in presentation/public speaking...
It's interesting, I find myself more comfortable in certain areas when in uniform, and uncomfortable when in civilian clothes. I (can/could) walk through the entirety of a hospital in uniform and not be questioned once (wearing appropriate ID), but in personal clothes (and the same ID), and the same confidence, be questioned constantly.

 

[hippocratical]

Actually laughed out loud at this :rofl:

On a midterm scenario, my examiner (whom I'd never met before) told me that she thought my performance was "really interesting to listen to! Maybe the accent..."

If you've got it, flaunt it!

*Incidentally, I'm incredibly attractive too

 

[mycrofft]

I was teaching international students first aid/CPR (contract workers in another country than ours). In preparation, I grew my beard out a little and made it neater, got a haircut. I tried in one class wearing scrubs, and the next wearing what most folks were (clean work clothing). The class in scrubs was seemingly better-received, but I was not as comfortable essentially wearing a tailored bedsheet. The attention to facial hair (mine is mostly gray) was to try to engage respect for elders, which was part of many of their cultures.

Works both ways, but culture must be taken into account.