Thanks to show like Grey’s Anatomy, doctors have become major sex symbol, at least on TV. When did all of this start exactly?

When did wearing a lab coat make someone a sex symbol? I know your mother always wanted you to grow up and marry a doctor, but I never really grew up thinking that doctors were sex symbols. Lab coats are essentially work clothes developed to keep gross stuff off of a doctor. What’s sexy about someone who looks down people throats and has handwriting so terrible that you need some kind of amulet to decipher it.

Apparently, in the past twenty years things have changed. Thanks mostly in part to TV shows the idea of doctors as sex symbols has gained much traction. It probably started with General Hospital. For those of you who have never watched the show, General Hospital is a long running ABC soap opera where a bunch of beautiful people work in a hospital. Typical soap opera stuff occurs in droves: lots of sexy doctors with their shirts off, lots of casual hookups, etc.

The continuing popularity of soaps like General Hospital led to an explosion in prime time hospital dramas in the 1990s. Famously two hospital dramas premiered in the 1994-95 season. Chicago Hope and ER both featured sexy doctors in dramatic situations. It made sex symbols out of people like George Clooney and Noah Wyle and essentially set the stage for what was to come for doctors in prime time for decades to come. Of course, Chicago Hope only lasted a few season while ER lasted for 15 years and become one of the most beloved dramas in television history.

While ER might have kick started the “sexy” doctor genre, it was ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy which came to symbolize just how “sexy” a doctor in a lab coat could be. It was a show that featured just as many in hospital hookups as medical cases. They actors were so sexy, in fact, that they were given sexy nicknames like “McDreamy and “McSteamy”. The female doctors were not hacks either. Katherine Heigl became a big star thanks to the show as she seems to spend as much time in tight clothing as she does in doctor’s gear.

Of course Grey’s Anatomy has led to a slew of copy cats on television. Now each network has their Grey’s knockoff featuring sexy doctors hooking up and working on cool cases in random city hospitals. I don’t really watch any of them but I know the stars thanks to the buzz. Are they sexy? Sure. Is it an accurate portrayal of doctors? Not really. Do real doctors mind being thought at as sex symbols? I’m sure they don’t.

Author Kimberly Green used to work in the medical field. Back then, wearing a lab coat was not at all sexy!

If you are in the medical profession you understand how important a lab coat is throughout the day. Chances are, you also know that there is a difference between a men’s and a women’s lab coat.

There are many things in the clothing universe that you just don’t think about. Like for example: is there a difference between men’s lab coats and women’s lab coats? I guess it really doesn’t matter unless you wear a lab coat all day, but if you do wear one then you probably know the answer: yes, there is. It might be subtle, but for doctors subtle is important.

In recent years a big industry has sprung up for both male and female specific lab coats. Maybe it’s all these doctor show’s starring beautiful people which are fueling this industry, but women have specific needs when it comes to fit and comfort just like men do. It’s not just the medical industry either, many companies have ditched unisex uniforms for male and female uniforms which are tailored to each sexes individual needs.

In the medical field, uniforms are very common. From receptionists to nurses to doctors to surgeons, everyone you see seems to be wearing a specific uniform tailored for their tasks. For nurses, scrubs are usually the norm. While there is not a huge difference in the tailored pattern for each sex, there are definitely design differences. For example, there is a huge market for themed scrubs. For women you can get anything from a pattern of cats to Big Bird from Sesame Street. For men, well, they usually go plain but the sky is the limit for them to. Scrubs can also run the gambit in cost from cheap pairs which you can change daily to something designer and expensive that can last the long haul.

For doctors, uniforms are a bit difference. For his time in his office a doctor will usually wear either slacks and a dress shirt, or a dress and pant suit, depending on the sex. When it’s time to visit the patients, though, it’s usually time to don a lab coat over your outfit. Most hospitals or clinics will usually allow doctors to pick their own lab coats and though most look the same (some variation of the color white and a few pockets), not all lab coats are created equal. Besides having different styles for both men and women, lab coats can feature different designs, strain protectors, fabrics and even pockets. Cost wise, they can go from a basic lab coat that will need to be tossed after a few months for around $30 to a designer lab coat that can repel stains and stay white for a couple hundred dollars. Since they spend so much time in them a doctor will usually invest in a more expensive coat so they don’t need to keep replacing them.

So there you go. There is a difference in men’s lab coats and women’s lab coats. See, you learn something new every day.

Author Kimberly Green is truly impressed with the men’s lab coats she has seen on medelita.com

Author: Kimberly Green

On the morning of Tuesday, January 23, 1849, a woman stood on the platform of the Presbyterian Church in Geneva, N.Y., and received a diploma showing she had earned a degree of Doctor of Medicine. This woman was Elizabeth Blackwell and she became the first woman to complete a course of study at a medical college and receive the M.D. degree.

Since that day the door for woman Doctors has been wide open and today women lead in all fields from health care to research. They have been a driving factor in developing new medicines, cures and have saved countless lives along the way. Women have thrived in a world that once relegated them to nurses or caretakers but the world of medicine; one that was traditionally male dominated has struggled to keep up with the demanding needs of the female professional. Since 1849 women have been serving the public with their knowledge, skill and caring in the doctor offices and hospitals but the attire (the well known lab coat and medical scrubs) have been designed for the male practitioner.

Of course those medical scrubs have been given flowery patterns, silly designs and sometimes with demeaning connotations. If you were lucky you could find scrubs designed in a pale shade of pink but that has been as close as you could get to scrubs designed purely with women in mind.

With recently new advancement in technologies and with a renewed sense of female empowerment companies have been developing new scrubs that are designed fit the female body and that are designed for practicality and comfortableness while working those long shifts in the emergency room. A new generation of clothing has been put out on the market that has rejuvenated medical scrubs and lab coats. No longer do you have to suffer with square scrubs made from uncomfortable materials.

Some manufactures have started using materials that effectively help to move moisture away from the body to help keep you cool on those busy days. Not only does this help to keep you dry he helps to repel any unwanted fluids that might otherwise get soaked into your scrubs. These manufactures have also designed scrubs that help repel odors from scrubs so they remain fresh. This helps them last longer so your investment ends up saving you money in the end because you will replace them less often.

With today’s changing tides in the medical fields it’s important to blend the traditions of yesterday with the new evolutions in technology of today and the world of medical scrubs is no different. Today’s scrubs for women are safer, longer lasting and flattering.

Halloween is not just for kids. It’s time of year when even the most mature professionals can let their hair down, be creative and have some fun donning disguises and attending costume parties. Along with witches and pirates, nurses’ uniform and doctors’ lab coat costumes prove to be among the time-tested favorites for both kids and adults.

Now, we’re not talking about the saucy variety of nurse’s costumes here. For the truly macabre (and mature) audience, however, a convincing costume must live up to certain standards of expectation. For instance, the reality is that doctors and nurses deal with blood on a daily basis. What could be more gruesome? To achieve realism, using ketchup as blood just will not suffice. Some will go as far as to buy  fake blood used on movie sets that, while it can certainly be more difficult to clean, gives a uniquely authentic appearance.

For additional authenticity, accessorizing with the right equipment – stethoscope, otoscope – can further enhance a genuine appearance. But don’t go out of your way to get the genuine articles as these are expensive, highly specialized tools. The caveat is if you can get someone to give you broken or outdated equipment. There are plenty of costume accessory kits available at a fraction of the cost. There are also some great recipes online for making fake body parts and guts using gelatin and old pantyhose.

If you’re opting to turn a pair of old scrubs or an old lab coat into a Halloween costume with requisite stains, be sure that the garment you’re using is not a modern lab coat or scrubs. The nicer medical apparel you can get these days tends to be very effective at repelling stains, so instead, you’ll want to use a pair of cheap scrubs or lab coat that will absorb stains very easily (ask anyone you know in the medical field and they’d be happy to lend you an old set that already has stains).

Following these few simple ideas will ensure that your Halloween costume turns out exactly as you had envisioned, whether you want to go dressed as Dr. Jekyll or Dr. McDreamy.

Author Kimberly Green loves dressing up her old lab coats for Halloween!

Everywhere you look in the professional world, clothing style, length and cost signifies a little more than you might imagine. Like ancient tribes and civilizations used to determine a person’s rank or social status by the type of feathers, robes or medals they wore, today’s workplace is littered with examples of how what you wear signifies where you are on the corporate ladder. Be it a simple suit, casual work clothes or a white lab coat, work uniforms and dress codes are a lot more telling than you might think.

Next time you visit an office building, think about the different styles in dress you see and what positions they each signify. While each company has a different dress code, “lower totem pole,” behind-the-scenes employees are usually going to dress in a much more casual way (since customers or corporate partners only hear their voice) than managers, supervisors, presidents and human resource managers. Chances are anyone in a position of authority or having outside physical contact with clients and stockholders will be donning a suit and tie during their workday.

Another locale to keep an eye on work uniforms and wear is at middle to high end restaurants. Here, everyone from the busboys to the managers are dressed in different, telling attire. A busboy is mostly working on clearing and setting tables, so they are usually dressed in simple attire that is good for the constant moving and collecting they are prone to do. Since a waiter has more one on one interaction with the customer, they are going to be dressed up, usually each donning the same uniform throughout the workplace (men and women vary of course) with a sport coat sometimes included. A restaurant manager (or owner) is usually the best dressed one out of the lot (especially in a fancy restaurant), wearing a different colored shirt or sport coat than the waiters so that he can stand out. Then there is the kitchen, which is a whole different animal as head chefs usually don custom aprons, coats and hats that distinguish them from the other chefs.

One workplace where you might not pay much attention to the work uniforms and what they may signify is at the hospital. While a lab coat is a functional and very important piece of clothing to a medical professional (many are custom made with breathable fibers and advanced stain guards), few people know that its length may hold a secret to the medical professional’s seniority in the office.

In many hospitals, senior doctors wear longer lab coats, while medical students tend to wear shorter lab coats. One way to tell a student doctor apart from a senior one is that their lab coat is around hip-length. It is not until they graduate with a professional title, that they wear knee-length white coats, which signify seniority at many teaching hospitals. Today, some nurses, physician assistants and technicians wear long lab coats or medical scrubs, which are becoming a more comfortable option for many male and female nurses. Each hospital has its own tradition that determines the code.

Again, these aren’t steadfast rules in today’s workplace, but just something to keep your eye out for. A person’s work uniform might give off a little more information than you might think.

Author Kim Green has worked in the medical field and has had the opportunity to wear different styles of lab coats and medical scrubs – Medelita is the company she prefers to buy from.