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January 19

GPs wearing whIte lab coats

In virtually every American movie and TV show where someone goes to see a medical practitioner (doctor) in their own rooms (as distinct from being seen by a doctor in a hospital), the doc is wearing a white lab coat. Does this reflect the actual practice in that country, or is it just fluff. I have never seen this in Australia. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 05:14, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

All of my doctors in Canada have worn the white lab coat in their offices. But this is anecdotal, and for the wrong country. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 07:37, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

We've had several doctor visits recently, and I would say the doctors wore lab coats while the technicians wore scrubs. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 15:26, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The Doctor's White Coat: An Historical Perspective provides some good insight. --jpgordon^{𝄢𝄆 𝄐𝄇} 16:10, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

All very interesting. Thanks, all.

I should explain. There are various filmic things that stretch credulity but always seem to be done. A long list would include: (a) roads in night-time scenes are always wet, but rarely do we see any actual rain; (b) people can drive right up to the front of a court house in a major city and park without any difficulty; (c) cars always leave a kerb with a screech of tyres. I was thinking the white lab coat was just another such silly trope. But no, this time it's real. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:07, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Practicality wins out. The streets are hosed down so the cameras can pick up the action more easily, from light reflecting off the streets. A more primitive version of solving a problem by using water: In The Cocoanuts there's a scene where Groucho is showing Chico some blueprints. The blueprints appear to be sopping wet. That's because they are. In the early days of microphone usage, it would pick up every sound, including the very loud crinkling of paper. They fixed that by drenching the paper in water. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:26, 20 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I was aware of the reason behind the wet streets (I think I even asked a question about it some years back). It makes sense in its own terms, but viewers are still left with the impression that in the story it's been raining recently but that information plays no further part in the proceedings. If I were the director, I would have the rain and the wetness play some role in the story. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 07:45, 20 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Those tropes are great JackofOz. Here is one that popped up at another R/D Wikipedia:Reference desk/Miscellaneous#Baby display room. My list includes the fact that no matter where you are in Paris you can see the Eiffel Tower :-) Cheers. MarnetteD|Talk 21:16, 19 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Jack, I at least never thought your query was silly. I remember asking a few years ago about another "filmic thing" that I thought "stretched credulity": in many movies that show a ship or submarine being navigated, you see the course being marked on a nautical chart of the area by drawing a line on it. But these charts never have old lines on them, so what are they doing, buying a new chart for every trip? Come on, I thought. But it turns out on many vessels that is exactly what happens. --76.69.46.228 (talk) 05:11, 20 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Emergency – Ward 10 was a British medical TV soap opera series recorded between 1957 and 1967 in monochrome. I was told that the white hospital uniforms on set were actually yellow to give a more realistic tonal range. DroneB (talk) 20:28, 20 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

I teach at a medical school (and previously taught at another one). There is more to the coat than just a coat. You can tell the status of a doctor by the coat length. Students who do not have an MD, but are studying at a hospital will have a white coat that isn't much more than waist length. Once the students graduate and focus on a specialty or become a resident, they wear a longer coat. Then, the full doctors wear a white coat that is at least knee length. That practice was the exact same at both medical schools I taught at and I've witnessed it at other schools I've visited over the years. There is another bit of trivia with the coat. The side pockets aren't pockets. They are just holes so you can get into your pants pockets easier. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 20:10, 21 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]