Title |
The effect of white coats and gender on medical students’ perceptions of physicians
|
---|---|
Published in |
BMC Medical Education, May 2017
|
DOI | 10.1186/s12909-017-0932-1 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Malika Ladha, Aleem Bharwani, Kevin McLaughlin, Henry T. Stelfox, Adam Bass |
Abstract |
Despite the fact that medical schools spend a considerable effort to rate clinical instructors, there is limited evidence regarding the effect of physical characteristics on instructor ratings. White coats have been shown to alter patients' perceptions of physicians although it has not been determined if preceptors who wear white coats are rated differently than their colleagues. Second year medical students were administered a questionnaire with four clinical scenarios depicting medical errors accompanied by a picture of a physician of different sexes and ethnicities. The packages were randomized so that the physicians depicted either had or did not have a white coat. White coats did not alter the perception of physicians' ratings by medical students although sex and ethnicity/case were associated with the perception of trustworthiness, physician management, competence, professionalism and the perception of medical error. Physical characteristics may alter students' ratings of physicians. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 5 | 31% |
United Kingdom | 2 | 13% |
Germany | 1 | 6% |
Canada | 1 | 6% |
Spain | 1 | 6% |
Unknown | 6 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 7 | 44% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 5 | 31% |
Scientists | 3 | 19% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 6% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 28 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 5 | 18% |
Student > Master | 5 | 18% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 2 | 7% |
Student > Bachelor | 2 | 7% |
Other | 1 | 4% |
Other | 3 | 11% |
Unknown | 10 | 36% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 10 | 36% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 11% |
Social Sciences | 2 | 7% |
Environmental Science | 1 | 4% |
Psychology | 1 | 4% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 11 | 39% |