BehindTheMedspeak: Death of the hospital white coat

This revolution's starting in the U.K., with new government guidelines banning ties, watches, artificial fingernails, jewelry and long-sleeved white coats and shirts on doctors and nurses in all hospital wards scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2008.

I wish this had happened back when I was in med school, miserable as I was wearing my white coat, white shirt and tie as I made my way through the seemingly endless third and fourth years.

The new recommendations aim to reduce the rates of methicillin-resistant staphlococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile infections spread by poorly washed or unwashed hands.

Said the Department of Health of the usual doctor garments, "They are rarely laundered but worn daily. They perform no beneficial function to patient care and have been shown to be colonized by pathogens."