Chennai: A recent study which calls for banning Indian doctors and medical students from wearing long-sleeve white coats to reduce spread of infections in hospitals, has triggered a debate among city doctors. Aarthi L. (35), a dermatologist, said, “ I myself do not wear the white coat. I last wore it in my post graduation, where it is compulsory. However, I feel that one of the reasons these full sleeve white coats tend to carry infections is because the doctors aren’t careful sometimes and they tend to carry it with them to their houses or while travelling. Then, the chances of transmission of infection becomes high.”
She added, “The full sleeve white coats cause infection because when you examine a patient the sleeve sometimes touches the patient and infection spreads fast. So those wearing coat, should wash it properly and maintain cleanliness. Doctors in Chennai should be made more aware of this issue and if the study proves that chances of infection are really high then it should be banned.” However, S. Anandan, Dean of Sri Ramachandra Medical College, has a contradictory view. He says,
“These white coats help patients to identify a doctor in a hospital. Even in movies they show it this way so people have an idea. Wearing a coat has been a part of doctors’ culture
for a long period of time. Further, with general ward patients and out- patients it is not much of a issue.”
However, he added, “If not washed properly from time to time it can lead to infection. So care should be taken to maintain proper cleanliness. As far as this study is concerned it is based on a foreign journal. In India there is no such study to validate it. As dean of a medical college, I always ask my students to wear the coat even when they go to the labs or when they visit normal wards. So I think they should continue to wear these coats. As of now in India no such decision has been taken and I doubt whether it will be.”
