Today was another orientation day. Started at 7am and went until 8 minutes ago...it's funny how a day of sitting through hours and hours of boring bureaucratic stuff can drain your energy - seriously a whole day of "don't do this...don't do that...don't get us sued...don't lose your license". It was brutal.
I was walking in to it this am and saw a guy walking down the path ahead of me. He was well dressed in business slacks, nice shoes, matching collared shirt, and a tie. I was walking in with my T-shirt, shorts, and flip flops on. I thought to myself, "There goes a doctor. Gotta be." I walked around to the front of the hospital, somewhere in there I lost him. I sat down in the orientation and next to me was, yep you guessed it, that guy. Turns out he's an OB intern starting new like me. It came to me suddenly that I'm done being the student and I'm going to have to start presenting myself as a doctor in order to be taken seriously as one...I will NOT wear a tie though (did you know they spread disease - if you see a doctor wearing a tie - give him hell - there are studies that prove he is putting you at risk). It's not that I want to "fit" in, it's that you won't be as effective to your co-workers and your patients if you don't look the part.
I think it's a combination of me looking younger than I really am and being a doctor (a role specifically associated with the words "old", "wise", and maybe "nerd") that lends to me really being able to see how dress effects patient and co-worker relations. For most of medical school I had my hair grown out and didn't wear my glasses because I really didn't need them (legally my eyesight is barely impaired). It wasn't until I realized my patients would follow my directions better and ask less questions indirectly aimed at "are you really a doctor" that I really began wearing my glasses everyday...it just made life easier. I really felt pressured to "Be" the doctor when I cut my hair and wore the glasses - you might think I'm neurotic, but I went back to the long hair really as quick as it would grow out...there were too many nurses asking me what to do and patients wondering what I thought. If you're wondering what I look like right now (GASP!) I'm sporting my nerd glasses and short hair...baby steps people...baby steps.
