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((More citations needed|date=February 2023))
((Short description|Coat worn by medics and scientists))
((about|the item of clothing))
((use mdy dates|date=August 2011))
[[File:Noto Emoji Pie 1f97c.svg|thumb|A white coat]]
A '''white coat''', also known as a '''laboratory coat''' or '''lab coat''', is a knee-length overcoat or [[Smock-frock|smock]] worn by professionals in the [[medicine|medical]] field or by those involved in [[laboratory]] work. The coat protects their street clothes and also serves as a simple uniform. The garment is made from white or light-colored [[cotton]], [[linen]], or cotton [[polyester]] blend, allowing it to be washed at high temperature and making it easy to see if it is clean.

Similar coats are a symbol of learning in Argentina and Uruguay, where they are worn by both students and teachers in state schools. In [[Tunisia]] and [[Mozambique]], teachers wear white coats to protect their street clothes from chalk.((Citation needed|date=September 2016))

Like the word "[[suit (clothing)|suit]]", the phrase "white coat" is sometimes used as a [[metonym]] to denote the wearer, such as a scientist working in a high-tech company.

== Medicine ==
White coats are sometimes seen as the distinctive dress of both [[physician]]s and [[surgeon]]s, who have worn them for over 100 years.<ref>((Cite journal |last1=Hardy |first1=Susan |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2015.1077653 |title=Dressed to Heal: The Changing Semiotics of Surgical Dress |last2=Corones |first2=Anthony |journal=Fashion Theory |year=2015 |volume=20 |pages=1–23 |doi=10.1080/1362704X.2015.1077653|s2cid=193121532 ))</ref> In the nineteenth century, respect for the certainty of science was in stark contrast to the [[quackery]] and [[Medieval medicine of Western Europe|mysticism]] of nineteenth-century medicine. To emphasize the transition to the more scientific approach of modern medicine, physicians began to represent themselves as scientists, donning the most recognizable symbol of the scientist, the white laboratory coat.<ref>((Cite journal |last=Jones VA |title=The White Coat: Why not Follow Suit? |journal=JAMA |year=1999 |volume=281 |page=478 |doi=10.1001/jama.281.5.478-jms0203-5-1 |pmid=9952213 |doi-access= |issue=5))</ref> The modern white coat was introduced to medicine in the late 1800s as a symbol of cleanliness.<ref>((Cite news |last=Andre Picard |date=2012-07-02 |title=Why do physicians wear white lab coats? |publisher=The Globe and Mail |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/why-do-physicians-wear-white-lab-coats/article4384866/ |access-date=2012-11-10))</ref><ref>((Cite book |last=Hochberg |first=Mark |url=http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2007/04/mhst1-0704.html |title=The Doctor's White Coat--an Historical Perspective |date=April 2007 |work=Virtual Mentor |volume=9 |pages=310–314 |doi=10.1001/virtualmentor.2007.9.4.mhst1-0704 |pmid=23217976 |access-date=26 November 2014 |issue=4 |archive-date=February 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219150503/http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2007/04/mhst1-0704.html |url-status=dead ))</ref>

=== Patient perceptions ===
A study conducted in the United Kingdom found that the majority of patients prefer their doctors to wear white coats, but the majority of doctors prefer other clothing, such as [[scrubs (clothing)|scrubs]].<ref name="bbc">((Cite news |date=2004-05-13 |title=Doctors 'should wear white coats' |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3706783.stm |access-date=2006-07-18))</ref> The study found that psychiatrists were among the least likely to wear white coats and when they are worn, they are typically worn over the scrubs. Some medical doctors view the coats as hot and uncomfortable, and many feel that they spread infection.<ref name="bbc" />

=== White coat hypertension ===
((further|White coat hypertension))
Some patients who have their blood pressure measured in a clinical setting have higher readings than they do when measured in a home setting. This is apparently a result of patients feeling more relaxed when they are at home. The phenomenon is sometimes called ''[[white coat hypertension]]'', in reference to the traditional white coats worn in a clinical setting, though the coats themselves may have nothing to do with the elevated readings.<ref>((Cite journal |vauthors=Pierdomenico S, Mezzetti A, Lapenna D, Guglielmi M, Mancini M, Salvatore L, Antidormi T, Costantini F, Cuccurullo F |year=1995 |title='White-coat' hypertension in patients with newly diagnosed hypertension: evaluation of prevalence by ambulatory monitoring and impact on the cost of health care. |journal=Eur Heart J |volume=16 |issue=5 |pages=692–7 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.eurheartj.a060975 |pmid=7588903))</ref>

=== Psychiatry ===
The term is also used as verbal shorthand for psychiatric [[orderly|orderlies]] or other personnel and may be used, in a usually jocular manner, to imply someone's [[lunatic|lunacy]] or [[paranoia]].((citation needed|date=August 2011))

=== White versus black ===
Until the mid-1920s, students who were examining cadavers would wear black lab coats to show respect for the dead. Black lab coats were used in early biomedical and microbiology laboratories. The "whiteness" and "pureness" concepts that were established in medicine pervaded that environment at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries and physicians changed the black for the white coat.<ref>((Cite book |last=Hochberg |first=M. S. |url=http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2007/04/pdf/mhst1-0704.pdf |title=History of medicine The doctor's white coat—an historical perspective |date=April 2007 |work=History of medicine |publisher=American Medical Association Journal of Ethics |volume=9 |pages=310–314 |issue=4))</ref> Black coats were worn by surgeons as opposed to white until general anaesthesia became widespread in the early 1900s. Anaesthesia allowed surgeries to be performed more slowly and precisely, reducing mess and bloodiness; white coats then developed a symbolic association with a bloodless field.<ref>((Cite book |last=Van De Laar |first=Arnold |title=UNDER THE KNIFE |publisher=John Murray Publishers |year=2018 |location=London))</ref>  

=== White coat ceremony ===
((main|White coat ceremony))
A [[white coat ceremony]] is a relatively new ritual that marks one's entrance into [[medical school]] and, more recently, into a number of health-related schools and professions. It originated at [[University of Chicago]]'s [[Pritzker School of Medicine]] in 1989<ref>((Cite news |last=WARREN |first=PETER M. |date=1999-10-18 |title=For New Medical Students, White Coats Are a Warmup |language=en-US |work=Los Angeles Times |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/18/local/me-23619 |access-date=2018-03-10 |issn=0458-3035))</ref>  and involves a formal "robing" or "cloaking" in white lab coats.

=== Controversy ===
Studies have shown that doctor's coats worn in hospitals can harbor contagions including [[Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus|MRSA]].<ref>((Cite journal |last=Treakle |first=Amy |date=March 2009 |title=Bacterial contamination of health care workers' white coats. |journal=American Journal of Infection Control |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=101–105 |doi=10.1016/j.ajic.2008.03.009 |pmc=2892863 |pmid=18834751))</ref>

In 2007, the UK [[National Health Service]] started banning long-sleeved coats.<ref>((Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Clare |date=2007-09-17 |title=Death of the doctor's white coat |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6998877.stm |access-date=5 December 2014))</ref>

In 2009, the American Medical Association investigated banning coats with long sleeves to protect patients, but did not institute a ban.<ref>((Cite web |last=Yao |first=Laura |date=2009-06-17 |title=AMA: White Coats Need More Study |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/06/16/ama-the-white-coats-are-going-the-white-coats-are-going/ |access-date=5 December 2014 |website=The Wall Street Journal ))</ref>

A study published in 2011 investigating the effectiveness of the NHS ban showed no statistical difference in contamination levels over an 8-hour period between residents wearing long-sleeved coats and those wearing short-sleeved scrubs.<ref>((Cite journal |last1=Burden |first1=Marisha |last2=Cervantes |first2=Lilia |last3=Weed |first3=Diane |last4=Keniston |first4=Angela |last5=Price |first5=Connie |last6=Albert |first6=Richard |date=February 2011 |title=Newly cleaned physician uniforms and infrequently washed white coats have similar rates of bacterial contamination after an 8-hour workday: A randomized controlled trial |journal=Journal of Hospital Medicine |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=177–182 |doi=10.1002/jhm.864 |pmid=21312328|doi-access=free ))</ref>

In an effort to reduce the contamination of healthcare uniforms, [[ASTM International]] is developing standards to specifically address liquid penetration resistance, liquid repellency, bacterial decontamination, and [[antimicrobial]] properties of such uniforms.<ref>((Cite web |last=Subcommittee: F23.40 |title=New Specification for Healthcare Worker Protective Uniforms |url=http://www.astm.org/DATABASE.CART/WORKITEMS/WK38455.htm |access-date=5 December 2014 |website=ASTM International ))</ref> The spread of white coat infection has been rampant and talked about in the scientific community. <ref>((Cite news |last=Frakt |first=Austin |date=2019-04-29 |title=Why Your Doctor's White Coat Can Be a Threat to Your Health |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/29/upshot/doctors-white-coat-bacteria.html |access-date=2023-07-04 |issn=0362-4331))</ref>

Indian Physician [[Edmond Fernandes|Dr Edmond Fernandes]] triggered a controversy in India and parts of South Asia by calling for a ban on white coats because of the spread of nosocomial infections. <ref>((Cite news |date=2015-07-24 |title=Are doctors' white coats putting our lives at risk? |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health-news/are-doctors-white-coats-putting-our-lives-at-risk/articleshow/48198027.cms?from=mdr |access-date=2024-02-09 |work=The Times of India |issn=0971-8257))</ref><ref>((Cite web |title=White coats used by doctors should be banned in India! |url=https://english.newsnationtv.com/lifestyle/health-and-fitness/white-coats-used-by-doctors-should-be-banned-in-india-85566.html |access-date=2024-02-09 |website=News Nation English |language=en))</ref>

== In laboratory work ==
When used in the laboratory, lab coats protect against accidental spills, e.g., acids. In this case, they usually have long sleeves and are made of absorbent material, such as cotton, so that the user can be protected from the chemical. Some lab coats have buttons or elastic at the end of the sleeves, to secure them around the wrist so that they do not hang into containers of chemicals or tip over lab equipment. Higher quality coats use snap-on buttons instead of traditional buttons as these are easier to quickly undo (they allow pulling the coat off directly instead of fumbling with the buttons to unhook each one). This renders taking off the coat in an emergency much faster, so these are the preferred type for laboratory work as opposed to clinical work. Short-sleeved lab coats also exist where protection from substances such as acid is not necessary, and are favored by certain scientists, such as microbiologists, avoiding the problem of hanging sleeves altogether, combined with the ease of washing the forearms (an important consideration in microbiology).((citation needed|date=August 2011))

=== Howie coats ===
[[File:LGVH Team 2009c.jpg|thumb|Viral & Human Genomics Laboratory (Facultad de Medicina UASLP) team members using Howie lab coats.]]
For added safety, a variant of the lab coat called a "Howie" style lab coat is often adopted. It is called such after a 1978 report commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Security to codify standard clinical laboratory practices, chaired by [[James Howie (bacteriologist)|James Howie]]. Among the codified standards was protective clothing; the type of wrap-around full coverage lab coat that had been in use in the UK for over a hundred years was nicknamed the "Howie-Style" coat to indicate its compliance with the provisions of this report. It has the buttons on the left flank, elasticated wrists and a [[mandarin collar]], and is quite similar to a [[chef's uniform]].  It is designed to minimize pathogen contact with street clothes.

== Use as a school uniform ==
[[Image:Delantales blancos 2.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The ubiquitous white uniform of Argentine school children is a national symbol of learning.]]
White coats which resemble lab coats are worn by students and teachers of most public primary schools as a daily uniform in countries like [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], [[Spain]], [[Bolivia]] and [[Morocco]], and in private schools in [[Colombia]]. It also was formerly worn during past decades in [[Paraguay]] and [[Chile]].((Citation needed|date=August 2011))

== See also ==

* [[Scrubs (clothing)|Scrubs]]

==References==
((Reflist))

==External links==
* [http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/174_07_020401/mvdw/mvdw.html White coats and the medical profession]

((Clothing))

[[Category:Academic dress]]
[[Category:Jackets]]
[[Category:Coats (clothing)]]
[[Category:Laboratory equipment]]
[[Category:Protective gear]]

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