Should physicians have facial piercings?

Autor: Keith D Wrenn, Alison W. Newman, Seth W. Wright, Aline M. Bernard
Rok vydání: 2005
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of General Internal Medicine. 20:213-218
ISSN: 1525-1497
0884-8734
Popis: While physician appearance may not be the most important aspect of the doctor-patient relationship, it does play a role. Studies have shown that patients prefer that their physician wear certain attire such as a name tag and white coat,1–5 while others have correlated appearance with patients' perceptions of a physician's competence.6–8 Appropriate physician dress is not a static phenomenon. While the importance of physician appearance has been emphasized since the time of Hippocrates, the style of physician attire has been through dramatic changes. At times physician appearance has been unique to the profession and at other times has reflected societal fashion.1 Our present culture is experiencing a trend of body piercing (i.e., piercing of the body other than the traditional single piercing of a female's earlobes).9 Once associated with counterculture, the popularity of body piercing is increasing within mainstream culture, especially among adolescents and young adults.9,10 Although the prevalence of body piercing is difficult to ascertain due to its lack of permanency,11 a recent survey found the prevalence of body piercing at one undergraduate campus to be 51%.12 Visible nontraditional piercings are starting to appear on both physician and nonphysician health care providers. This study assesses the attitudes of patients and their visitors regarding physicians with visible body piercings as well as the perception of patients and their visitors of the competency and trustworthiness of physicians with visible piercings. Additionally, we have surveyed faculty physicians at our institution about their opinions concerning the appropriateness of facial piercings in the health care setting.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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