How much does your job affect your appearance both at work and outside of work?
We recently had a lecture by an old school physician who very much believed that physicians should look a certain way inside and outside of the hospital - clean cut hair, short and clean nails, no sandals, slacks, and a tie (he was old school, not very many female physicians in those days).
But - if I only have a few hours outside of work, is my time best spent primping and ironing clothes or is it best used spending quality time with my family and friends, watching netflix, working out, or doing any of the other activities that replenish me? If today was the old days, I'd be rich and I would just pay someone to do it for me, but today is today and I'm swimming in student loan debt. Therefore, my clothes aren't as high quality as I'd like and I do my own laundry and style my own hair.
I realize there are bare minimums, but what are they? Does presentation lie within our code of ethics as a modern day physician? What's your opinion of my chipped nail polish right now?
And what about outside of work?
Does my profession exclude me from certain casual trends - denim cut-offs and crop tops, for example?
If I saw my physician wearing a crop top and denim cut-offs I wouldn't judge the quality of their medical care by their outfit, but all of my patients are not my age. Most of my patients are not my age. Most of my patients don't understand the distressed denim look, even though it has literally been in style for like a decade.
