White Crescent round Disc; ? Coats' Disease

Should doctors wear white coats?

OBJECTIVE To compare the views of doctors and patients on whether doctors should wear white coats and to determine what shapes their views. METHODS A questionnaire study of 400 patients and 86 doctors was performed. RESULTS All 86 of the doctors' questionnaires were included in the analysis but only 276 of the patients were able to complete a questionnaire. Significantly more patients (56%)...

Of White Coats and Stethoscopes

A WHITE COAT. THE COUNTRY DOCTOR’S BLACK BAG. A STETHOSCOPE. A snake-entwined staff. The oath of Hippocrates. The clinical acumen of Osler and the compassionate service of Schweitzer. These are the symbols and personifications of our chosen profession. One symbol of medicine since antiquity has been the Aesculapian staff. A glance through this journal will uncover the staff in the American Medi...

Coats disease

Coats disease

Coats' disease is an idiopathic ophthalmic condition caused by a defect in the development of retinal vasculature, characterized by retinal telangiectasis, haemorrhages, intraretinal and subretinal exudation. There are two pathological processes, which are evident in Coats' disease. The first consists of a breakdown of the bloodretinal barrier at the endothelial level, which causes plasma leaka...

Microbial flora on doctors' white coats.

OBJECTIVE To determine the level and type of microbial contamination present on the white coats of doctors in order to assess the risk of transmission of pathogenic micro-organisms by this route in a hospital setting. DESIGN Cross sectional survey of the bacterial contamination of white coats in a general hospital. SETTING East Birmingham Hospital, an urban general hospital with 800 beds. ...