Lab Coats: Rediscovering the Symbols of the Health Care Profession

For doctors, the serpented staff of Aesculapius or the Hippocratic Oath represent their profession. But such is different from how the public views a doctor. If you ask an ordinary individual what identifies a doctor from all other professions, it would have to be his lab coats and stethoscope hanging around his neck. Thanks to pop culture, white coats are associated with the medical profession in as much as they are connected to experimental science.

Tracing history

The practice of wearing lab coats for medical professionals was borrowed from the scientist's typical garb. During the later half of the 19th century, physicians sought the same respect that the public gave scientists especially when medicine became a distinguished branch of science. As medicine geared away from alchemy and superstition, physicians started adopting laboratory coats as standard medical uniforms. This is to represent the fact that medicine is as much a science and that developments under it can very well save the lives of millions.

And from there, medical fashions have always included lab coats along with scrub sets as wardrobe must-haves for every health care professional.

Colors

Laboratory coats where originally beige in color. People who worked in the hospitals were known to dress in black robes. The somber color seemed to reflect the fate that one has when he gets admitted into a health care facility during that time. The color became white when physicians started using them as medical uniforms. This was because white symbolized a renewed hope and confidence in the ability of medicine to cure illnesses through various research.

White as the traditional color for medical coat represented a lot of things. For starters, it stood for the purity of the profession. It was a call for doctors to always remember that they are not supposed to inflict harm on their patients and that all of their efforts are always geared at alleviating the pain and suffering of those who come to the health care facility.

Lab coats have come a long way. From being staples in the research facilities to being part of medical uniforms in health care facilities, these clothing pieces have become as much a part of medical fashion as scrubs and nursing whites.

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