Controversy

[ladysprite]

There's an interesting debate raging in the pages of some of the veterinary journals I read. It's not about the current pet food contamination situation, or about vaccine protocols or humane handling of food and farm animals, or.... well, anything even remotely medical. No, this is a debate about wardrobe.

Many of the journals that focus on the practice and business end of veterinary medicine are heavily urging vets to dress nicely - button-down shirt and tie for men, slacks and blouses for women. They say that this helps our clients think of us as professionals instead of the squishy equivalent of Jiffy Lube technicians. They say that it makes us, and our services, seem more valuable, and that it invites more respect, and that showing up to work in scrubs is too casual and informal, and leads to undervaluing of our profession.

Most of the vets who respond are indignant. They like wearing scrubs, they say. Scrubs are comfy and washable and practical, and wearing a suit and tie to wrestle a rottweiler is just ridiculous. They also counter that clients who see them in scrubs think of them as sincere and down-to-earth, and that dressing up makes us look like salesmen.

(Most of the vets who respond are also men.)

And I read this debate, and I listen carefully to both sides, and all I can think of is one response -

I'd LOVE to wear scrubs to work. I'd love to not have to replace my dress pants on a biannual basis because they're so embedded with cat hair that my mere presence at a party triggers allergic reactions. I'd love to not have to wash Mystery Stains out of my nice blouses and daily contemplate the ridiculosity of making a profession dealing with bodily fluids wear white coats.

However, I'm female. And small. And the last time I wore scrubs to work, I was mistaken for a high school volunteer. As it is, even in business-casual clothes and my as-close-to-white-as-possible coats, I still have to deal with being the Young Lady Doctor, and I struggle daily with trying to get both my clients and my coworkers to call me Dr. Becky instead of just 'Beck.' Or 'honey' (a privelege reserved for gentlemen over the age of 75, with small and fluffy dogs that I happen to like). If I were any less formal, I'd wind up actively incapable of contributing to the wellness of my patients.

I know it's not just me dealing with this, either. In all of the clinics I've worked at, I've noticed that while almost all of the male doctors wear scrubs, most of the women still dress up, and I'm fairly certain it's for similar reasons.

I suppose gender equality will have truly arrived when I can show up to work in dancing-gecko scrubs and be taken as seriously as the men I work with. Until then, though, I'll console myself with the thought that, if at 32 I can still pass for student-age, then by the time I'm 40 I'll still look a heck of a lot better than they will.....

(NB: Yes, I do know about the contaminated pet food situation. But the word has already been spread, and ranting about it will only bring me and most of my readers down. I dwell on it enough at work; I don't need to do so here too.)

Comments

[wren13.livejournal.com]

Now, I totally understand your viewpoint on the dress controversy - and I agree with the men. In my case, I started out in practice in button down oxford shirts and workpants - and couldn't get men to look me in the eye when I talked to them. Dress in layered t-shirt, scrubs and smock - and they ignored the large squishy things on my front and paid attention to the words coming out of my mouth.
I think it all depends on your situation. "There is no one, true way"

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

How about smart-looking military-style jumpsuits with lots of pockets and straps and things? Sturdy, practical, and you'd look like a fighter pilot or a paratrooper, or something similarly badass.

[umbran.livejournal.com]

Or a Veterinary Battlesuit! With built in heat-seeking thermometers, a full rack of autofire vaccines...

[z-gryphon.livejournal.com]

That would be awesome! Though I think my version would be a little more...

... what's the word I'm groping for?

... hot.

(... okay, what, I have a women-in-uniform thing going on, big deal. :)

[madamruppy.livejournal.com]

My thoughts on this are simple - there is no hard and fast rule. I don't expect my large animal vet to were armani and I don't expect my companion vet to were dirty overalls. What you wear should be in par with the location of your practice, what you treat and what you are comfortable with. Also you might change your choices based on whether it is an all visit day or a surgery day. Your reasons for wearing what you do make sense - and until you are about 60 with grey hair and wrinkles you will always have to fight the little girl image. Also since you aren't in your own practice but visit other practices it behooves you to maintain a professional appearance.

[fractalgeek.livejournal.com]

Note 1: and this at the time that hospitals are advising/requiring doctors to stop wearing ties as they appear to be the 21st century equivalent of the bloody apron in terms of infection control.

Note 2: Doctors don't (generally) need scratch/bite proof sleeves...

[kiddr.livejournal.com]

I find even in the human doctoring world I wear dress clothes more so then men and i think its for very similar reasons..

[bess.livejournal.com]

I ran into the same problem when I was teaching -- if I didn't dress "up" then I got stopped in halls and asked if I had a hall pass by the other teachers. sigh.

[unclebooboo.livejournal.com]

Professors have similar debates about how to dress for teaching class.

I was told that I should dress formally to get the respect of my students. I quickly came to the conclusion that this didn't really help- anyone who's going to spend many hours in class with you over the course of a semester will have plenty of time to get over any shallow initial impressions. It's much more important how you interact with students. They will remember whether you were honest or dishonest, demanding or lax, cynical or positive.

Sue and I have been working with the same vet for over ten years now. I'm much more impressed by the fact that I can call her in an emergency than I am by how she dresses. Since she does mostly large animal work she dresses in barn appropriate clothing even when she's working on cats and dogs at the clinic.

I guess that in the small animal world you often have one-off contact with clients that you'll never see again. In that kind of situation first impressions can be much more important.

[redfishie.livejournal.com]

The same thing happens in engineering. I work in a business casual place, where we're allowed to wear jeans and nice shirts, and I almost never do since I don't get treated as well when I do. I've noticed in our stricter business casual offices, when are prone to dress more formally as well.

[elisethestrange.livejournal.com]

The veterinarian I worked for wore Elvis scrubs. I have to say it was a rather crushing blow when I realized I would not be able to wear glorified pajamas to work and have to show up in dress pants and uncomfortable shoes. I too find absurd to wear nice clothing to wrestle rottweilers, and if I can get away with it at all, I will wear scrubs in simple professional colors (light blue and light green seem to look very doctorly) to work. I also have these glasses that make me look ten years older, and not in a bad way. Maybe I can earn respect by forcing them to pronounce my last name correctly, instead of calling me "Dr. Julia".

But I'll probably end up dressing up for the same reasons you do.

[arachne8x.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean here. At my work people tower over me... and the guys are snappy dressers all, however, they all manage to get by wearing ball caps and t-shirts once in a while (how often this is acceptable has never really been specified) and I never feel ok doing that. I feel it is very hard for me to be as professional as I can be lest I be taken non-seriously. The fact that most of my really warm sweaters have hoods (sometimes fake fur tipped ones) does not help my case....

You might want to look into clothing lines that make fabrics that are meant to get dirty. I know LLBean makes some wrinkle and stain resistant shirts. With a pair of nice danskos you might be more comfy and more work saavy... this is assuming you don't already dress that way of course, since I have never seen you at work.

[arachne8x.livejournal.com]

Addendum....

When I do dress casual at work I try to do makeup and nice jewelry, just to let them know that I still take my job seriously, and I am a grownup... Do you think you might be able to do something similar with scrubs?

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

Makeup and jewelry are tough - no matter how hard I try to dodge, I get facelicked at least once a day, which can wreak havoc on makeup. (Not to mention I never really learned how to wear the stuff, so I have a tendency to avoid it). And jewelry needs to be small and understated - anything dangly is a risk for getting paws caught, so no hoop earrings, no significant drops, and no loose necklaces.

The LL Bean suggestion is a good one, though - I've been getting by with Old Navy, since they have some decent stain-resistant pants, but shirts like that would be *wonderful* - thank you!

[gyzki.livejournal.com]

First thought:
(a privelege reserved for gentlemen over the age of 75, with small and fluffy dogs that I happen to like)

Woo-hoo! Two-thirds of the way there! (Unless Lonnie's too big to count?)

Second thought:
I tend to react to scrubs as the medical professional uniform, both intellectually (see "wearing a suit and tie to wrestle a Rottweiler") and (as far as I can tell) emotionally. Maybe from watching "Scrubs" so much.

Third thought:
But I know I'm atypical in many respects, and I don't doubt that you really have encountered the reactions you describe. In which case, I'm sorry, and my first thought probably didn't help any to convince that I really do take you seriously. (Geez, if I disrespected everyone who's smaller than me, I would have been dead years ago.)

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Have you considered polishing this up and sending it in to the lettercol of one or more of the aforementioned journals? At the very least, it might give the discussion more dimension.

[hermitgeecko.livejournal.com]

I'm not a veterinarian, but I find myself suddenly wanting dancing gecko scrubs. I'm sure I could wear the tops to work, if not the bottoms. (grins)

[flaviarassen.livejournal.com]

Two words for you: LAB COAT.

A doctor's white lab coat would remove all doubt.
With your name: "Dr. (Good grief - what is your
last name? Didn't you change it?)" embroidered
on the one side, and a stethoscope draped around
your neck. You can wear anything you want under that.
I assume your hair is already pulled back at work...?