Last week an article was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) where postgraduate medical student Dr. Edmond Fernandes expressed his opinion that there should be a ban on full-sleeved white coats worn by doctors. Different reasons were stated for this request like spread of infection, harm to patients, and even the inconvenience faced by female doctors to wear these coats over their traditional attire like sarees. In a turn of events, IMA has responded to the views expressed in the article and has disagreed and has rejected imposing any such ban.
The reason behind this disagreement was that the views were not published based on any facts and did not have any scientific basis. Dr Aggarwal, Honorary Secretary General at IMA has said that “White coats are not symbol of doctor or professionalism. They are worn so that your clothes do not get infected. You are supposed to wash them…
