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.

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.

Starting a business in a tough economic climate can be hard and more than likely, extremely tough. Competitive conditions aside, climates like the one we are experiencing in 2009 provide an opportunity for new businesses to compete against weak competitors and can allow you to capture a higher market share than what would have been previously possible.

What are the keys to succeeding and capturing this market share? The key to succeed is to copy success and learn from others who are “making it” in this climate and this information is given away readily and freely such as in the article below. I ran across the article titled “Time-Saving Techniques for Harried Hiring Managers” by Medelita.com which gives insightful information on “out-of-the-box” tactics on hiring in correlation to sifting through the multitude of responders in this larger job market.

“As a startup company launched in May 2008, with one year behind us, we’re lucky enough to be poised for future growth. Experiencing the worst recession since World War II, however, was nowhere in our business plan. So, how have we managed to grow our business? Our customers have a decent income, yet deem high quality, performance medical scrubs and lab coats as half necessity/half luxury. So we’ve relied on some luck and, almost always, “out-of-the-box” tactics to keep orders coming in…

Three innovative interview tactics we used to simplify our search:

1) Add mandatory questions to your job posting. Nine out of ten of those who replied flat out said “I’ve never seen questions before in a job posting,” which is exactly our style. Write four true-to-life questions, including customer or vendor scenarios, and ask interested applicants to answer three of them. The majority of genuinely interested applicants (and those we were interested in) answered all four questions. Important character traits — judgment, writing style, experience and confidence — can be ascertained from these answers. Candidates who don’t reply to the questions (even with a stellar resume) should be red flagged.

2) Only consider those who write a personalized note and/or go out of their way to show sincere interest in the position. A large percentage of candidates will simply “blanket” email all relevant postings within their areas of expertise. If someone takes the time to read your posting in full, go to your web site, and have something insightful to say, with an undertone of sincere interest – they’re worthy of a closer look…”

Clearly great ideas can be learned from new innovators in the field and there is no need to pay money to hear speakers talk about how to succeed when innovating businesses such as Medelita.com are giving it away for free.

To view this and more articles in their entirety, see http://www.medelita.com/medelita-articles.html

You spend countless hours in your medical scrubs. Isn’t it about time you wear scrub pants and tops that actually fit?

The medical field does not encompass only doctors and nurses.  Many women, of all professions wear medical scrubs and lab coats on a daily basis.  Medical assistants, lab technicians, physical therapists and even veterinarians, their assistants and techs wear scrubs each day while working.

It doesn’t just stop there though.  Women who are in those types of professions usually work long hours and therefore spend more time in their work clothes.  In fact, depending on schedules, many women find themselves managing their day-to-day tasks while dressed for work.  Stopping at the local grocery store on the way home from work, taking children to and from day care, even taking a lunch hour to run errands.  If you are a woman in a profession which keeps you long hours and requires you to wear medical scrubs, then you know it is extremely important to feel comfortable in what you’re wearing.

For the longest time, most stores that carry medical apparel had a limited selection in not only colors and prints but in sizes as well. Sizes XS – XL was standard.  What happens when you are a tall woman with small hips?  You need to buy scrub pants in an XL to make sure they will fit in length but then the waist is much too big.  Or what about those who are petite?  Most women who need to wear petite pants are forced into an XS but those XS pants may be too tight.

It’s a frustration that so many women in the medical field have been dealing with and it doesn’t have to be that way!  Women want to not only feel comfortable in what they wear but they also want to look great!  If you are a woman in the medical field then you would agree that you would never buy regular clothing that did not fit properly, so why should you have to buy work attire that doesn’t fit?

There are wonderful online stores that carry these medical scrubs and lab coats that actually fit your size.  Now you can find scrub sizes in 0 – 16 and regular pant lengths in sizes 0 – 16, and petite pants in 00P – 14P, and tall in sizes 0T – 16T.  This is an incredible selection, in multiple colors too!

If you are comfortable in what you wear, you feel better.  If you’re feeling good then your attitude and work performance is up to par.  Sometimes it is all about the clothes!

Kimberly Green has worked in the medical field for years and has first hand experience wearing various types and brands of lab coats and medical scrubs

It isn’t often that American culture creates a new rite of passage for the world. But that’s just what has happened with the White Coat Ceremony.

The ritual is believed to have originated twenty years ago, in 1989, at the acclaimed University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. Its purpose was to mark the transition between the initial science course curriculum and the beginning of their clinical and direct patient care training. It is a formal ceremony in which medical student’s don – for the first time – the traditional white lab coat that physicians have worn for more than a century. The primary elements in the White Coat Ceremony typically include: recognition of the students for completing pre-clinical studies, affirmation of a commitment to medical ethics, actual “cloaking” of the students in white lab coats, and recitation of the Hippocratic Oath. It is similar to a medical school graduation, in that parents and friends are encouraged to attend, in order to witness and recognize this important milestone.

From this modest beginning in 1989, the ceremony has evolved exponentially. Now, in addition to an ever increasing percentage of medical schools, the White Coat Ceremony is becoming a tradition at dental, podiatric, chiropractic, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, and veterinary schools throughout the United States – and the world. Of course, there are variations among the different types of schools consistent with their curriculum. In some specialties, the student’s clinical work occurs earlier in their training than is typically the case for medical school students, and thus, the timing of the White Coat Ceremony is altered. Most pharmacy students, for example, go through the ceremony at the end of their first year, while some chiropractic schools conduct the ceremony at the start of the first year. Regardless of when the ceremony occurs, it has become an important event symbolizing the induction of the student into their chosen healthcare career.

One aspect of the White Coat Ceremony – the white lab coat itself – has also evolved over the years. While many of the ubiquitous shapeless, often shabby white lab coats can still be spotted in daily use, recent interest in higher quality lab coats has increased. This is partly a result of the growing percentage of women in medical and clinical healthcare programs, and partly due to higher standards being set for appearance and cleanliness in the healthcare setting. The very best of the medical uniform companies have recognized this increasing need for quality lab coats and have introduced new styles that utilize stain-resistant performance fabrics – features uniquely suited for the environment in which they are worn. One particular uniform company, Medelita, has even tailored a line of unusually high-quality lab coats specifically for female physicians, clinicians and students of all medical specialties. Just as the significance of the White Coat Ceremony has grown, so has the interest among these schools in presenting students with lab coats that appropriately reflect the achievement being recognized, and the commitment to quality care they are pledging to provide to future patients.

To view the best of the lab coats available for White Coat Ceremonies, visit www.medelita.com

Kimberly Green has worked in the medical field for years and has first hand experience wearing various types and brands of lab coats and medical scrubs