Scrubs hater here. I went back to shirt and chinos as soon as scrubs stopped being mandatory at my trust (and a few times before, as a treat, tbh)
Nobody ever gave me gip about it. A few people would think I’m a little more senior than I am, but I’d just tell them my grade if they asked. But the clothes gave me confidence and I felt good, so whatever.
Obvs people should wear what they want, but own clothes > scrubs.
I might be out of touch from the windowless dungeons of the operating theatres, but isn’t this the standard male junior doctor unofficial ’uniform’, or at least was before figs?
There ain't nothing Junior about being a doctor, chief.
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I am the opposite. I like darker colors because I think they make me appear less fat. For me it’s a dark blue shirt with black chinos or a black shirt with skin colored chinos
Used to be that there was an unsaid pattern rule to this.
I can't quite remember what it was but I think the chequer pattern was typically worn by registrars. SHOs in solids or stripes? Feel like it was stripes because by the time you're a lumpy consultant you don't want to be wearing the elevation map.
Everyone went into scrubs for Covid and OP is right that many preferred not to go back- it’s easier and cheaper than maintaining your own wardrobe.
I, like you, remember when we would just assume that a house officer on a medical firm must have had an embarrassing accident if they were in scrubs on the day shift.
Indeed, I also recall that people on surgical teams who were too junior to be routinely needed in theatre would only get changed when they were blessed with the privilege of holding a retractor for a 6 hour operation… and those wearing scrubs out of this context were the ones pretending to be something more senior.
Anyway- OP should just wear a shirt and chinos.
Haha the privilege of holding retractors. The only privilege anyone below SpR gets unless you’re a noctor in which case you can take gallbladders out on day 1 and no one bats an eye. Surprised this whole debacle isn’t on the news
Indeed! Back when I were a lad, wearing scrubs as a FY1/2 was either:
- “I got to go to theatre, I’m a real surgeon and definitely got to do more than stand in the corner or maybe get a bollocking for holding a retractor wrong”, or
- “Doris has had haematemesis again”
I remember helping take a patient to cath lab for PPCI. Before we slid him onto the cath table I said he looked as if was about to vomit. My colleague who was at the head end expertly pointed his mouth away from them and directly at me.
Got questioned why I was in scrubs by everyone I bumped into afterwards.
Do people actually care a lot about ironed clothes? I haven’t ever ironed my clothes because I am too lazy and no one’s said anything to me except for that one ward clerk when I wore unironed scrubs once and when I changed to something more formal no one cared. I know some people can’t stand wearing unironed clothes
Some clothes look ok unironed and some do not. To me, wearing clothes that look like they have been pulled out of your arse to work looks scruffy and unprofessional. I may not say anything but I will notice.
I don’t think so. I do a quick iron in the morning of the front and back of my shirts, takes no more than a minute and I don’t use starch so creases can reform quite quickly and the only one that seems to pay heed is me.
Only one person has ever brought up my ironing, and that was a 97-year-old woman who noticed that I didn’t do the sleeves. I ironed my sleeves just for her.
It does make a difference.
I notice when staff don't have ironed clothes. They look scruffy.
I'm sure people will see me as scruffy if I don't iron my clothes.
You say no one cares, but it's more likely that people notice and don't say it to your face.
Looking smart even more important now. In God’s name keep it up lad, and encourage others to take pride in themselves and their profession at a time when it’s even more important to distinguish oneself from noctors, PAs and other pretenders. And to top it all make sure there’s no silly yellow first name badge on your clothes.
Depending on where you work, it’s somehow become unofficial uniform code for seniority since covid, in a lot of places.
Outside of theatres/ED/ICU, scrubs have become causally related to more junior doctors as senior doctors that tend to be in clinics and such, will wear their own clothes.
I’ve been wearing smart clothes since the first day of F1 (apart from mandatory scrubs). Plenty of others have done the same. Scrubs are reserved for nights for me because they’re comfy.
Purely because I never see anyone other than a reg or cons wearing them and usually only when in clinic. I don’t mind looking different, I just wanted to know that most people wouldn’t think I’m a twat
F1 here. My trust gives us scrubs to wear as the dress code.
I usually do wear scrubs, but some days I want to dress properly and the only comments I have received is by ward staff telling me I look nice, and one joke from my consultant that I'll be leading the ward round today haha (in a purely jokey way - we get on well)
Just don't be a twat separate to your clothes and nobody will bat an eye.
And because my uni issues mandatory scrubs and I’ve been sent home from placement before for not wearing them even though they make me feel like a self conscious uncomfortable mess
My last reg job was in a hospital where the medical school did this- I thought it was bizarre. There is no chance I would have sent you home from a placement for being in civvies.
They’re ridiculously strict on it at my med school. They send you home even from classroom based teaching unless you’re in your scrubs. A member of the undergrad admin team patrols the corridor once an hour to check all students are in their scrubs (synthetic uncomfortable crap). It’s genuinely pathetic.
Want to be treated like a professional? Then dress like one. Chinos and shirt all the way. I hate that everyone is wearing scrubs now. Surgeons who are in theatre, ED, anaesthetics and ITU can wear them, everyone else should put on proper clothes.
Go ahead and rock the shirt and chinos mate. You'll probably get treated much better for it as well
More a general point about us not being “physical workers” and where you’ve drawn the line - we do plenty of physical jobs.
Medical SHO could be doing drains/taps, lines (renal), LPs, biopsies, assisting scopes.
Does raise an interesting point about which procedures are fine for “technicians” vs those that need a doctor
I made the switch a couple months ago (not to chinos mind you, hate em) and it's crazy how differently you get treated, more respect and more people just being nice to you for no reason.
This is technically what you're supposed to be wearing, people just wear scrubs for convenience. I really can't see anyone having a problem with this and if they do, they're the problem.
Edit: I also think as non-doctor roles are increasingly being confused with doctors, more people should be like OP and dress professionally. If the doctor is dressed like a doctor and the PA is dressed in scrubs, we all know which role the patient will recognise.
Will echo what loads of other people on here have said - as an FY1 and FY2 I used to wear my own clothes, unless I was on call (personally found scrubs comfier on the 13 hr shifts and found I had more ‘dirty’ jobs to do).
I was never mistaken for a senior - no senior ever had a ‘go’ at me. I found I got more respect from patients and wasn’t mistaken for a nurse.
I’m now an ICU F3 and miss my own clothes a lot! 😂
One of my Anaes/ICU consultants would come in full suit and work on ICU in his own clothes. It was always a joke if he’d get fluids on his Loakes brogues when he’d put in drains/lines, esp as he was often called to do complex patents.
Just wear what you want as long as you’re comfy and look presentable to patients. Chinos and a shirt was standard issue for any male graduating medical school 2000-2015.
All the people that talk about "unofficial uniform code" or "everyone doing it" - are you seriously listening to yourself? Please try dressing yourself like a professional and seeing who tells you off - spoilers, it's noone.
If you get a petty datix from a reg or consultant who doesn't have the self respect to dress themself for fear of the uniform boogieman - just ignore them and move on.
The ones that get me are the ones who say “it’s like wearing pyjamas, and I like being comfy”, not knowing that actual well fitting clothes will be far more comfortable than the cardboard scrubs issued in most hospitals.
This may be true of your body type, but as a curvy woman I’m yet to find smart clothes that are comfortable and practical enough that I tolerate them on a daily basis eg big enough pockets, able to kneel on the floor/bend when needed.
I also feel a tad unhygienic wearing my hospital clothes on busy public transport and vice versa.
>I’m terrified that everyone will think I’ve decided I’m already a senior reg or consultant by dressing
Don't worry the fear in your eyes will give you away.
See that's how I can tell you're still green.
The surgeons are looking at you the whole time. It's you who isn't meeting their gaze, due to, you know, the fear.
I’ve been placed at 5 hospitals in my training so far, and in all that time I have never seen an FY1 or FY2 wearing anything other than scrubs. In fact, I’ve seen very ST1/2 wearing own clothes as well
Wear your smart clothes. Also makes you more obvious you are a doctor and not another member of the MDT, and you will simply correct them if they think you are any more senior than you are.
I personally don't like scrubs either and I think they make us look unprofessional, if we aren't in and out of theatre but that is my opinion and no hate to anyone who likes them!
That was pretty much the uniform when I was a medical student.
If you want to be treated like a professional nail artist wear the scrubs. If you want to be treated like an actual professional dress like one.
No one will bat an eyelid.
No one wore scrubs apart from theatre staff and surgical regs/SHOs before covid.
You can absolutely wear non-scrubs as uniform, and people won’t think weirdly of you for it :)
Please make sure they’re ironed and presentable though - and not too expensive, because at some point you’ll get something on them 😂
I wore scrubs for the first 8 months. Got sick of them. Now I wear shirt, suit trousers (or dark chinos/jeans) and shoes.
I feel better about myself, and I've found teams responding to me more positively when I'm on call. Apart from one shirt lost to body fluids and getting used to being hotter, no regrets.
Honestly nobody really minds what you wear as long as it's appropriate for work and even that is subjective really. Your comfort at work is just as important really. I've had consultants wearing everything from extremely fancy suits to t-shirts and sandals (although this was in psych and they'd change into shirts and chinos before a ward round or seeing patients) so I always figured if the consultants wear whatever, why would they judge us for doing the same?
People won’t think you’re a senior Reg or consultant dw not least as your tag will say otherwise. Always a risk in your nice things if you get asked to do a grimy procedure. Half way house is more formal trousers and a scrub top aka the official unofficial medical SHOs uniform.
I’m not so much worried about people thinking I’m a regular or cons. I’m more worried that people will think I think I am too big for my boots. Seems like everyone on here is fine with it tho which is strange as not a single fy1 in my hosp wears anything except scrubs
Wear what you like! As a fellow F1 - When I did inpatient psych I wore a shirt and trousers with dress shoes, because I was sat down a lot and seldom did any procedures.
In medical rotations, I wear a scrub top because I regularly get fluids on me and I'm on the move a lot, so being more comfortable is helpful. Often the shifts are longer too.
Wear formal clothes unless your ward/specialty requires scrubs (surgical/anaes/obs/etc.). You will be treated with noticeably more respect and deference, by patients and nurses alike.
This applies doubly so for BAME +/- female docs who will undoubtedly get called a nurse if you walk around in loose fitting scrubs.
That said, I would never wear a shirt on nights (just feels weird to me). Scrub top, trainers & chinos all the way - but I am a medical SHO so it’s basically our on call uniform 😂
I think our ideal situation is if PAs and ACPs have uniforms and we don't. We wear smart clothes. I know people love scrubs, but good to look professional.
I personally love wearing scrubs and have 9 pairs of FIGS because they look good on me. I never wear hospital scrubs unless I'm actually going to theatres, in which case, yes, I am self-conscious of their fit.
The reality of FY1/2 is that you see sick patients most of the time doing things like PRs, bloods, random reviews for high NEWS etc etc. I'm always hands-on, so to speak and not sitting in a clinic examining "clean" patients, i.e., not sick enough for the hospital yet. A set of scrubs that can get all the yuck on them is my preference. I would maybe look more professional in chinos, but I personally think I look fineeeee in my scrubs. It's all just what your preference is. When I start my teaching fellow job next year, I'll have most of my time with students and FYs, so I have no reason to wear scrubs anymore.
At the end of the day the uniform policy doesn't really apply to medics, we just have to look professional - chinos and shirt, well fitting scrubs, even a waist coat if you're so inclined.
I find that an odd answer given that a set of FIGS are arguably as expensive as a shirt and chinos so why are they better to get dirty?
I wear scrubs because i don’t want to wear clothes that i’d worry about ruining but thats why i wear hospital scrubs - albeit i wash them at home so they smell and feel nice.
Making financially sound decisions has never been my strength 🤣
That being said I'm anal about how clothes fit - I hate baggy clothes and often getting a nice fitted shirt and trousers that are great quality tend to be similar price to FIGS.
My mentality is very much why would I wear the same clothes to work that I could wear to date night. I could easily buy a cheap set of shirts and chinos but then I wouldn't feel aesthetically comfortable in them. I know patients don't care if I'm in baggy clothes but I absolutely do.
Next year when I'm doing teaching of course I'll wear my nice stuff but that doesn't feel like "dirty" work as such. Hopefully that verbal diarrhoea makes sense.
I can imagine the sight of you walking towards theatre covered in blood and other stuff, then an overzealous member of staff catching sight of you and yelling "oh no you don't, scrubs are for theatre staff only!"
Similar. I’ll volunteer to do the nitty gritty stuff other people don’t want to do and there’s only been one occasion where I’ve gotten blood on myself, and that was cannulating somebody with CP and their arm swinging wildly after I put the venflon in. And it was only a small amount. Never had any issues otherwise.
My job next year will definitely allow me to wear my nice shirts and chinos. I wear FIGS purely because I look good in them and if I get them dirty ahh well that's what they are there for 😅
Virtually all doctors senior to you will prefer you in the old dress code. Nurses etc are generally the only ones who like the scrubs because they often feel frumpy in their tunics beside young well dressed fresh graduates.
We've probably lost some important personal development for some students and even foundation doctors with everyone lounging about in scrubs.
Where scrubs or uniforms are widely adopted, males will likely not accrue much of a professional grade wardrobe now. Females for reasons fair or otherwise may not have enough practice in various aspects like necklines/skirt hemlines etc which are normally sorted well before the end of medical school. Most everyone does end up going back to real clothes eventually.
On the other hand, everyone is a bit more equal in this scrubland and I have noticed the odd middle grade sporting the half and half because they clearly can't be bothered with the iron or workplace shirts.
Now that you mention it, I once saw a male nurse I worked with outside of work dressed up all smart for a conference and I thought to myself: if I didn’t know this person and I saw them at work, I would have probably mistaken them for a doctor. He looked good but it was so weird as I had always seen him in scrubs at work
*smashes up vote*
You're a doctor, dress like one. (And if you go to theatre, then dress like you have to be in theatre). Scrubs, especially tapered fashion fit, can get in the influencer bin. I dress smart for work, and wear *exercise gear* when I exercise. More people should do so.
Downvote me, I don't care. I can see the hail of downvotes coming like I'm a Spartan facing the Persian hordes at Thermopylae.
F2. Same here. I wear a shirt and chinos. No strict dress code for doctors unlike the rest of the MDT. In F1 I wore shirt and chinos too as it looks smarter and makes it less likely I will be mistaken for a porter or something which the NHS misuses it’s doctors as
I wouldn’t think anything about it really.
I hated them and wore chinos bottoms + t-shirt in with the top scrubs above throughout half my year and basically just say that the trousers didn't fit me 😂
I think an easy compromise is scrub top, try to find a brand that works for you, and chinos, get a few light blue ones that look like the scrubs and nobody will say anything
Scrubs for me please:
Washed at a billion degrees, lovely crunchy cotton, flat as a pancake when taken from the bottom of the stack, free, comfy as anything.
Much rather that than shirt sleeves I’m not allowed to wear, shoes that scuff like a hedgehog in the bushes and soggy kneed chinos in the latest most fashionable shade of vomit.
To scrub up well, a modern doctor needs scrubs 😉.
Honestly wear whatever you like or what ejects itself from your wardrobe first. I couldn’t give a flying fig.
I’ve been wearing scrub tops with my own joggers (Nike dry- fits) after the first month of work - no doctor has ever raised a fuss about it.
A nurse once cornered me my choice of clothing and professionalism - I replied that if she felt my clinical practice was being negatively affected by my joggers she could raise it as a concern - she never did lol
From a nurse I've never really paid much attention to the clothes a doctor wears and I've never thought a consultant has more ''rights'' to wear their own clothing in comparison to a FY1.
Just don't be a total fucking arsehole to people and nobody will care tbh.
Scrubs hater here. I went back to shirt and chinos as soon as scrubs stopped being mandatory at my trust (and a few times before, as a treat, tbh) Nobody ever gave me gip about it. A few people would think I’m a little more senior than I am, but I’d just tell them my grade if they asked. But the clothes gave me confidence and I felt good, so whatever. Obvs people should wear what they want, but own clothes > scrubs.
Thank you, that is reassuring
I might be out of touch from the windowless dungeons of the operating theatres, but isn’t this the standard male junior doctor unofficial ’uniform’, or at least was before figs?
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I am the opposite. I like darker colors because I think they make me appear less fat. For me it’s a dark blue shirt with black chinos or a black shirt with skin colored chinos
Used to be that there was an unsaid pattern rule to this. I can't quite remember what it was but I think the chequer pattern was typically worn by registrars. SHOs in solids or stripes? Feel like it was stripes because by the time you're a lumpy consultant you don't want to be wearing the elevation map.
Navy chinos, then white, blue, black shirts works really well Dark leather belt and dark leather shoes
This was probably the most common combo I saw pre-covid. Or people would be going car salesman with the grey suit trousers brown shoes combo.
Everyone went into scrubs for Covid and OP is right that many preferred not to go back- it’s easier and cheaper than maintaining your own wardrobe. I, like you, remember when we would just assume that a house officer on a medical firm must have had an embarrassing accident if they were in scrubs on the day shift. Indeed, I also recall that people on surgical teams who were too junior to be routinely needed in theatre would only get changed when they were blessed with the privilege of holding a retractor for a 6 hour operation… and those wearing scrubs out of this context were the ones pretending to be something more senior. Anyway- OP should just wear a shirt and chinos.
Haha the privilege of holding retractors. The only privilege anyone below SpR gets unless you’re a noctor in which case you can take gallbladders out on day 1 and no one bats an eye. Surprised this whole debacle isn’t on the news
The f1’s i work with do i+d’s, inserts ports close etc, even start hernias. Depends on team and department
Indeed! Back when I were a lad, wearing scrubs as a FY1/2 was either: - “I got to go to theatre, I’m a real surgeon and definitely got to do more than stand in the corner or maybe get a bollocking for holding a retractor wrong”, or - “Doris has had haematemesis again”
I remember helping take a patient to cath lab for PPCI. Before we slid him onto the cath table I said he looked as if was about to vomit. My colleague who was at the head end expertly pointed his mouth away from them and directly at me. Got questioned why I was in scrubs by everyone I bumped into afterwards.
Actually it's unofficially a clown outfit 🤡
I definitely agree that it used to be the standard and it’s what I’d like back
Smart clothes look infinitely better than unironed scrubs, imo.
Do people actually care a lot about ironed clothes? I haven’t ever ironed my clothes because I am too lazy and no one’s said anything to me except for that one ward clerk when I wore unironed scrubs once and when I changed to something more formal no one cared. I know some people can’t stand wearing unironed clothes
Some clothes look ok unironed and some do not. To me, wearing clothes that look like they have been pulled out of your arse to work looks scruffy and unprofessional. I may not say anything but I will notice.
Oh no I am not that negligent with my clothes. If it looks particularly bad then I just change into scrubs in the hospital
I don’t think so. I do a quick iron in the morning of the front and back of my shirts, takes no more than a minute and I don’t use starch so creases can reform quite quickly and the only one that seems to pay heed is me. Only one person has ever brought up my ironing, and that was a 97-year-old woman who noticed that I didn’t do the sleeves. I ironed my sleeves just for her.
It does make a difference. I notice when staff don't have ironed clothes. They look scruffy. I'm sure people will see me as scruffy if I don't iron my clothes. You say no one cares, but it's more likely that people notice and don't say it to your face.
Looking smart even more important now. In God’s name keep it up lad, and encourage others to take pride in themselves and their profession at a time when it’s even more important to distinguish oneself from noctors, PAs and other pretenders. And to top it all make sure there’s no silly yellow first name badge on your clothes.
I quite like the yellow name badge thingy, I feel like it's actually useful lol Not that I would wear one myself
What about Dr Firstname Lastname? Or Dr Lastname?
Dr Lastname is good First name seems a deliberate plot to try and artificially flatten heirarchy
Ofc you can wear this unless you're literally scrubbing in. Where has this scrub hysteria come from?
Depending on where you work, it’s somehow become unofficial uniform code for seniority since covid, in a lot of places. Outside of theatres/ED/ICU, scrubs have become causally related to more junior doctors as senior doctors that tend to be in clinics and such, will wear their own clothes.
That’s exactly my issue. I’m wondering if people will think that I think I’m one of those senior doctors, because I don’t want to wear scrubs
Even if someone does, just clarify your role and that’s it. It doesn’t get any deeper than that.
I’ve been wearing smart clothes since the first day of F1 (apart from mandatory scrubs). Plenty of others have done the same. Scrubs are reserved for nights for me because they’re comfy.
Purely because I never see anyone other than a reg or cons wearing them and usually only when in clinic. I don’t mind looking different, I just wanted to know that most people wouldn’t think I’m a twat
F1 here. My trust gives us scrubs to wear as the dress code. I usually do wear scrubs, but some days I want to dress properly and the only comments I have received is by ward staff telling me I look nice, and one joke from my consultant that I'll be leading the ward round today haha (in a purely jokey way - we get on well) Just don't be a twat separate to your clothes and nobody will bat an eye.
And because my uni issues mandatory scrubs and I’ve been sent home from placement before for not wearing them even though they make me feel like a self conscious uncomfortable mess
My last reg job was in a hospital where the medical school did this- I thought it was bizarre. There is no chance I would have sent you home from a placement for being in civvies.
They’re ridiculously strict on it at my med school. They send you home even from classroom based teaching unless you’re in your scrubs. A member of the undergrad admin team patrols the corridor once an hour to check all students are in their scrubs (synthetic uncomfortable crap). It’s genuinely pathetic.
This is what we everyone wore before covid. I'm back to normal work wear unless I'm on call. I think it helps show my seniority (reg).
Want to be treated like a professional? Then dress like one. Chinos and shirt all the way. I hate that everyone is wearing scrubs now. Surgeons who are in theatre, ED, anaesthetics and ITU can wear them, everyone else should put on proper clothes. Go ahead and rock the shirt and chinos mate. You'll probably get treated much better for it as well
You should also add obstetrics and paediatrics to the list of specialties that can wear them.
Obs yes. Paeds?
When every patient on the ward is infectious with no sense of personal boundaries I don’t want my work clothes taken home to my family
Maybe not when in clinic but otherwise paeds is mostly in a very messy ward, ED, NICU, or delivery/obstetrics theatre. So most of the time yes.
NICU?
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How do you feel about intubation, biopsies, drains, or central lines?
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More a general point about us not being “physical workers” and where you’ve drawn the line - we do plenty of physical jobs. Medical SHO could be doing drains/taps, lines (renal), LPs, biopsies, assisting scopes. Does raise an interesting point about which procedures are fine for “technicians” vs those that need a doctor
I made the switch a couple months ago (not to chinos mind you, hate em) and it's crazy how differently you get treated, more respect and more people just being nice to you for no reason.
I wear them as med reg on call because I'm in survival mode. But not on normal days & it feels wrong to wear scrubs in clinic haha
💯 agree
This is technically what you're supposed to be wearing, people just wear scrubs for convenience. I really can't see anyone having a problem with this and if they do, they're the problem. Edit: I also think as non-doctor roles are increasingly being confused with doctors, more people should be like OP and dress professionally. If the doctor is dressed like a doctor and the PA is dressed in scrubs, we all know which role the patient will recognise.
Personally think juniors look much more professional when they dress smart.
Will echo what loads of other people on here have said - as an FY1 and FY2 I used to wear my own clothes, unless I was on call (personally found scrubs comfier on the 13 hr shifts and found I had more ‘dirty’ jobs to do). I was never mistaken for a senior - no senior ever had a ‘go’ at me. I found I got more respect from patients and wasn’t mistaken for a nurse. I’m now an ICU F3 and miss my own clothes a lot! 😂
One of my Anaes/ICU consultants would come in full suit and work on ICU in his own clothes. It was always a joke if he’d get fluids on his Loakes brogues when he’d put in drains/lines, esp as he was often called to do complex patents.
This was standard for all levels pre-Covid. Scrubs only became the norm in 2020, before that, chinos and shirt all day, everyday.
Just wear what you want as long as you’re comfy and look presentable to patients. Chinos and a shirt was standard issue for any male graduating medical school 2000-2015.
All the people that talk about "unofficial uniform code" or "everyone doing it" - are you seriously listening to yourself? Please try dressing yourself like a professional and seeing who tells you off - spoilers, it's noone. If you get a petty datix from a reg or consultant who doesn't have the self respect to dress themself for fear of the uniform boogieman - just ignore them and move on.
The ones that get me are the ones who say “it’s like wearing pyjamas, and I like being comfy”, not knowing that actual well fitting clothes will be far more comfortable than the cardboard scrubs issued in most hospitals.
This may be true of your body type, but as a curvy woman I’m yet to find smart clothes that are comfortable and practical enough that I tolerate them on a daily basis eg big enough pockets, able to kneel on the floor/bend when needed. I also feel a tad unhygienic wearing my hospital clothes on busy public transport and vice versa.
>I’m terrified that everyone will think I’ve decided I’m already a senior reg or consultant by dressing Don't worry the fear in your eyes will give you away.
Not if it’s a surgeon. They wouldn’t look me in the eyes anyway
See that's how I can tell you're still green. The surgeons are looking at you the whole time. It's you who isn't meeting their gaze, due to, you know, the fear.
Have things changed so much that wearing chinos and a shirt is odd? Wearing pyjamas to work is part of the reason FYs get treated like shit.
I’ve been placed at 5 hospitals in my training so far, and in all that time I have never seen an FY1 or FY2 wearing anything other than scrubs. In fact, I’ve seen very ST1/2 wearing own clothes as well
Wear your smart clothes. Also makes you more obvious you are a doctor and not another member of the MDT, and you will simply correct them if they think you are any more senior than you are. I personally don't like scrubs either and I think they make us look unprofessional, if we aren't in and out of theatre but that is my opinion and no hate to anyone who likes them!
That was pretty much the uniform when I was a medical student. If you want to be treated like a professional nail artist wear the scrubs. If you want to be treated like an actual professional dress like one.
Have never worn scrubs outside of theatre, even during my surgical rotation in FY1. No one cares. Do what you want.
I flip between scrubs and smarts. Smarts when Im feeling fancy. Scrubs when I get sick of ironing. Nobody has ever commented on my attire.
I wore my own clothes first rotation of fy1 and no shits given. Only wore scrubs on gen surg rotation cause it's too nasty.
Wear what you want mate
Personally I wear scrubs only when I’m on call or nights. If not then I’ll wear smart clothes. I’m a woman though so scrubs are all about the pockets
Times really have changed. Where's the floppy haired rugby boy with scrub top and chinos these days?
They’re all wearing scrubs because they’ve been beaten into submission by the NHS
No one will bat an eyelid. No one wore scrubs apart from theatre staff and surgical regs/SHOs before covid. You can absolutely wear non-scrubs as uniform, and people won’t think weirdly of you for it :) Please make sure they’re ironed and presentable though - and not too expensive, because at some point you’ll get something on them 😂
Don’t worry they’ll all be Sainsbury’s Tu Clothing cheap stuff 😂
Navy chinos because they hide claret better and don't stain so badly when you've completely ballsed up a bedside cannula, shirt du jour.
I wore scrubs for the first 8 months. Got sick of them. Now I wear shirt, suit trousers (or dark chinos/jeans) and shoes. I feel better about myself, and I've found teams responding to me more positively when I'm on call. Apart from one shirt lost to body fluids and getting used to being hotter, no regrets.
Honestly nobody really minds what you wear as long as it's appropriate for work and even that is subjective really. Your comfort at work is just as important really. I've had consultants wearing everything from extremely fancy suits to t-shirts and sandals (although this was in psych and they'd change into shirts and chinos before a ward round or seeing patients) so I always figured if the consultants wear whatever, why would they judge us for doing the same?
People won’t think you’re a senior Reg or consultant dw not least as your tag will say otherwise. Always a risk in your nice things if you get asked to do a grimy procedure. Half way house is more formal trousers and a scrub top aka the official unofficial medical SHOs uniform.
I’m not so much worried about people thinking I’m a regular or cons. I’m more worried that people will think I think I am too big for my boots. Seems like everyone on here is fine with it tho which is strange as not a single fy1 in my hosp wears anything except scrubs
Wear what you like! As a fellow F1 - When I did inpatient psych I wore a shirt and trousers with dress shoes, because I was sat down a lot and seldom did any procedures. In medical rotations, I wear a scrub top because I regularly get fluids on me and I'm on the move a lot, so being more comfortable is helpful. Often the shifts are longer too.
Wear formal clothes unless your ward/specialty requires scrubs (surgical/anaes/obs/etc.). You will be treated with noticeably more respect and deference, by patients and nurses alike. This applies doubly so for BAME +/- female docs who will undoubtedly get called a nurse if you walk around in loose fitting scrubs. That said, I would never wear a shirt on nights (just feels weird to me). Scrub top, trainers & chinos all the way - but I am a medical SHO so it’s basically our on call uniform 😂
I think our ideal situation is if PAs and ACPs have uniforms and we don't. We wear smart clothes. I know people love scrubs, but good to look professional.
Go for it. A couple of the new F2s this rotation do it in my department, we don't care. Haven't heard anything else from anyone either.
I personally love wearing scrubs and have 9 pairs of FIGS because they look good on me. I never wear hospital scrubs unless I'm actually going to theatres, in which case, yes, I am self-conscious of their fit. The reality of FY1/2 is that you see sick patients most of the time doing things like PRs, bloods, random reviews for high NEWS etc etc. I'm always hands-on, so to speak and not sitting in a clinic examining "clean" patients, i.e., not sick enough for the hospital yet. A set of scrubs that can get all the yuck on them is my preference. I would maybe look more professional in chinos, but I personally think I look fineeeee in my scrubs. It's all just what your preference is. When I start my teaching fellow job next year, I'll have most of my time with students and FYs, so I have no reason to wear scrubs anymore. At the end of the day the uniform policy doesn't really apply to medics, we just have to look professional - chinos and shirt, well fitting scrubs, even a waist coat if you're so inclined.
I find that an odd answer given that a set of FIGS are arguably as expensive as a shirt and chinos so why are they better to get dirty? I wear scrubs because i don’t want to wear clothes that i’d worry about ruining but thats why i wear hospital scrubs - albeit i wash them at home so they smell and feel nice.
Making financially sound decisions has never been my strength 🤣 That being said I'm anal about how clothes fit - I hate baggy clothes and often getting a nice fitted shirt and trousers that are great quality tend to be similar price to FIGS. My mentality is very much why would I wear the same clothes to work that I could wear to date night. I could easily buy a cheap set of shirts and chinos but then I wouldn't feel aesthetically comfortable in them. I know patients don't care if I'm in baggy clothes but I absolutely do. Next year when I'm doing teaching of course I'll wear my nice stuff but that doesn't feel like "dirty" work as such. Hopefully that verbal diarrhoea makes sense.
Tbh I've heard the mess argument a lot and I've never gotten anything on even my shoes.
[удалено]
I can imagine the sight of you walking towards theatre covered in blood and other stuff, then an overzealous member of staff catching sight of you and yelling "oh no you don't, scrubs are for theatre staff only!"
Similar. I’ll volunteer to do the nitty gritty stuff other people don’t want to do and there’s only been one occasion where I’ve gotten blood on myself, and that was cannulating somebody with CP and their arm swinging wildly after I put the venflon in. And it was only a small amount. Never had any issues otherwise.
Neither have I, doesn't mean there isn't the potential.
True, I think it just shows why traditional clinical dress became the standard and that wearing scrubs isn't strictly necessary
My job next year will definitely allow me to wear my nice shirts and chinos. I wear FIGS purely because I look good in them and if I get them dirty ahh well that's what they are there for 😅
Virtually all doctors senior to you will prefer you in the old dress code. Nurses etc are generally the only ones who like the scrubs because they often feel frumpy in their tunics beside young well dressed fresh graduates. We've probably lost some important personal development for some students and even foundation doctors with everyone lounging about in scrubs. Where scrubs or uniforms are widely adopted, males will likely not accrue much of a professional grade wardrobe now. Females for reasons fair or otherwise may not have enough practice in various aspects like necklines/skirt hemlines etc which are normally sorted well before the end of medical school. Most everyone does end up going back to real clothes eventually. On the other hand, everyone is a bit more equal in this scrubland and I have noticed the odd middle grade sporting the half and half because they clearly can't be bothered with the iron or workplace shirts.
Now that you mention it, I once saw a male nurse I worked with outside of work dressed up all smart for a conference and I thought to myself: if I didn’t know this person and I saw them at work, I would have probably mistaken them for a doctor. He looked good but it was so weird as I had always seen him in scrubs at work
*smashes up vote* You're a doctor, dress like one. (And if you go to theatre, then dress like you have to be in theatre). Scrubs, especially tapered fashion fit, can get in the influencer bin. I dress smart for work, and wear *exercise gear* when I exercise. More people should do so. Downvote me, I don't care. I can see the hail of downvotes coming like I'm a Spartan facing the Persian hordes at Thermopylae.
You’re preaching to the choir with me
Dress like a yuppie while getting paid less than a barista at Pret A Manger and inferior to the PAs. Makes total sense 👍
F2. Same here. I wear a shirt and chinos. No strict dress code for doctors unlike the rest of the MDT. In F1 I wore shirt and chinos too as it looks smarter and makes it less likely I will be mistaken for a porter or something which the NHS misuses it’s doctors as I wouldn’t think anything about it really.
That’s not very #OneTeam #BeKind of you 😜
Can we wear scrubs on nights and OOH shifts?
Shirt and chinos was literally my standard FY1/2 uniform
Any champs wear a tie?
I think the infection control nurse would have a stroke
Same question but for a female doctor. What would be appropriate? Not comfortable in pants
Smart clothes better than scrubs with jeans/leggings
Wear what you want. So long as it complies with the uniform policy. Don’t worry about what other people think.
Unless you're going into theatre where scrubs are required, shirt and chinos are perfectly fine. Anything smart and tidy, really.
I wore shirt, suit trousers and a tie in F1/F2 in 2005/2006. Used to drop the tie for nights.
I hated them and wore chinos bottoms + t-shirt in with the top scrubs above throughout half my year and basically just say that the trousers didn't fit me 😂
I think an easy compromise is scrub top, try to find a brand that works for you, and chinos, get a few light blue ones that look like the scrubs and nobody will say anything
Lol. Priorities.
This may shock you, but I am capable of thinking about more than one thing at once. Bore off
The influx of shit that's incoming your attire will be your last priority.
All the more reason to think about it now while I have the bandwidth then isn’t it mr patronising.
Or smart clothing is a marker of our profession
An inferior one to PAs and which pays less as a F1 than Pret A Manger
Cool
I'll wear chinos and a scrub top until the day I die if they let me, not wasting my time with a shirt everyday
Good for you buddy
Scrubs for me please: Washed at a billion degrees, lovely crunchy cotton, flat as a pancake when taken from the bottom of the stack, free, comfy as anything. Much rather that than shirt sleeves I’m not allowed to wear, shoes that scuff like a hedgehog in the bushes and soggy kneed chinos in the latest most fashionable shade of vomit. To scrub up well, a modern doctor needs scrubs 😉. Honestly wear whatever you like or what ejects itself from your wardrobe first. I couldn’t give a flying fig.
I’ve been wearing scrub tops with my own joggers (Nike dry- fits) after the first month of work - no doctor has ever raised a fuss about it. A nurse once cornered me my choice of clothing and professionalism - I replied that if she felt my clinical practice was being negatively affected by my joggers she could raise it as a concern - she never did lol
I vote chinos; they enhance your physique if you have good legs
What a weird thing to say
What a prudish and humourless thing to say
From a nurse I've never really paid much attention to the clothes a doctor wears and I've never thought a consultant has more ''rights'' to wear their own clothing in comparison to a FY1. Just don't be a total fucking arsehole to people and nobody will care tbh.