Enclothed Cognition

As building trust between staff and patients is often a primary concern for any medical practice, the appearance of an office must similarly portray an unequivocal image of professionalism and aptitude, consistent with the high standards and level of expertise patients expect. Through the Office Makeover program, Medelita helps medical and dental professionals ensure that they are conveying the right message to their patients - a message of capability, thoughtfulness, concern, and caring. While the idea that professional appearance is important has been a Medelita mantra for years, it has been our ultimate hope to create a paradigm shift in the world of medical uniforms. We were, therefore, extremely honored when Medelita was mentioned in a recent article about dressing for success in an office environment. Image consultant, Janice Hurley-Trailor, says she usually recommends a dress code for a medical or dental office. Here are her reasons why: • Professional and consistent dress throughout the office raises the patients’ perceptions of you. They take pride in having selected such a professional and organized practice. • Patients’ trust in your cleanliness and professionalism improves patient retention and compliance, thus improving practice success. • It builds team spirit and pride in your professionalism. • It decreases any concerns or confusion about what the doctor wants you to wear. • It decreases the amount of time the doctor (or doctor’s significant other) spends worrying about whether and how to correct a staff member’s dress issue. • It decreases staff judgments about another team member’s appearance and the tension that causes. • You never waste time worrying about your appearance, because you’re always confident that you are prepared to impress everyone you meet. • You become attractive to prospective team members who share your self-respect and professionalism themselves. To read more of Janice's article, go here. If you'd like to learn more about the Medelita Office Makeover Program, please call us at 877.987.7979. We're looking forward to helping you create the perfect office image.

One of our guest bloggers here at Medelita is Becky Carlton, BSN, CNM. Becky is a nurse-midwife who has been doing missionary work for many years, with such organizations as the Peace Corps and Doctors without Borders (MSF). She is currently working as the Midwifery Dean at Gimbie Adventist Hospital in Ethiopia. Gimbie Adventist Hospital is located in Gimbie Town, in the mountainous Oromia Region of Ethiopia. The Hospital serves the residents of Gimbie Town and the surrounding rural communities (approximately 250,000 people). The majority of the population is composed of subsistence farmers, with per capita income below the international poverty line of $1 USD per day. Our Founder, Lara Manchik, PA-C, has a history of missionary work and has instilled the value of contribution and charity into who we are as a company. We were honored to be given an opportunity to assist the work that Becky is doing, and were happy to donate scrubs. Becky recently sent us pictures from Gimbie showing our scrubs in action, and I'm proud to share them with you. [gallery]

It's a safe bet to assume that your patients want a knowledgeable and understanding doctor, but the finer points of their expectations and preferences might surprise you. Researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, interviewed 415 U.S. adults by telephone about how they want their doctors to greet them. The results revealed that most patients want to be greeted with a handshake and the use of their name. Desiring a more personal touch in a world quickly becoming more impersonal, they also prefer it when their doctors introduce themselves using their first and last name. The survey found that, among patients: • 78.1% wanted physicians to shake their hands, while 18.1% did not. • 50.4% wanted their first names used during greetings, 17.3% preferred their last name and 23.6% favored the physician using both first and last names. • 56.4% wanted physicians to introduce themselves using first and last names, 32.5% expected physicians to use their last name, and 7.2% would like physicians to use their first name only. According to this survey, patients would generally prefer you to shake their hand, call them by their first name, and introduce yourself with both your first and last name. Who knew?! How have you traditionally introduced yourself in the past? Was a formal patient introduction stressed in medical school?

As all medical professionals know, we have some long and stressful days, but we also get a few special moments that make it all worth it. Let me start this story by saying that I am a veterinarian, trained in animal diseases. It is my last appointment of the day. "Check skin," according to the chart. A young couple stand up when I call for "Winston". They follow me to the exam room, along with my technician Amy. They sit down while I start the physical exam and collect medical history. "Winston" is a very happy, hyperactive puppy, whose only goal is to lick us to death. Amy is using all of her restraining skills so that I can get a good look at him for more than a second. I work my way from head to toe, coming back to the tiny hairless spots on his head and neck. I tell the owners that I would like to do some tests on Winston to rule out ringworm. I inform them that ringworm is not a worm but a fungal infection, unfortunately fairly common in puppies in this part of the world (we are on a US military base in Asia). Given the clinical presentation and the age, ringworm is high on my list. It is also my responsibility to warn them that Ringworm can be contagious to people. I tell them innocently "and the skin lesions on people look like..." As I say these words, I look up at the lady, and freeze in horror. Amy follows my gaze, freezes too, slowly walks away and starts washing her hands thoroughly and noisily in the sink behind me. All this probably happened in two seconds but lasted an eternity, as I fought a extreme urge to scream and laugh at the same time. "And it looks like... " I repeat, as I cannot take my eyes away from the lady's red spots all over her legs, arms, and neck. She is wearing a tank top and shorts, and I can not believe I did not see that earlier, but I was too focused on my furry patient. The husband is wearing pants and long sleeves, so I will never know if he has the same issue. Not wanting to hurt my client's feelings, I refrain from finishing my sentence. For all I know, she may have some serious incurable skin condition, and I may be insulting her by telling her she has ringworm like her dog! "And it looks exactly like that!" I could not stop thinking, as Amy kept scrubbing her hands! Clients often ask their veterinarian for medical advice. Twice already, a client has lift up her shirt to show me a random scratch or spot on her abdomen. Past the look of shock on my face, I gently tell them that I do not know what it is and that I recommend that they go see their doctor... And I remind myself how lucky I am to be working on animals! Medelita Guest Blogger: Julie Pearson, DVM. Julie is currently working on the East Coast as a small animal veterinarian. She was born and raised in France, where she got her degree before getting licensed in the USA. She enjoys being a general practitioner, and feels privileged to be there for her patients, whether it is for a wellness visit or a serious medical issue. Julie has been wearing Medelita since August 2010, and is seen here wearing her scrubs.

Did you know that contact lenses were developed before the band-aid? In fact, as far back as the 1500s, Leonardo da Vinci examined how glass and water affected vision, and he sketched several optical devices that displayed the same principles as contact lenses. However, the first contact lenses were not made until several centuries later. The contact lens is the product of a true amalgamation of inventive minds, and it's difficult to assign credit to just one. In 1888, Adolf Eugene Fick described the first refractive contact lens as a very thin and small glass bowl. The 'contact spectacle' as he called it, was placed on the eye, and the area between the bowl and the eyeball was filled with a tear-like liquid. In that same year, Eugene Kalt described a lens used to treat keratoconus by pressing down on the cornea. One year later, a medical student in Germany, August Miller, started creating his own contact lenses shaped to the curvature of the cornea. I myself wear contact lenses, and it can be difficult enough to get them onto my eyeballs without trouble from a stray eyelash or an involuntary and ill-timed blink. Given that, it's perplexing to me that the original contact lenses were actually made of glass. As might be expected, these early lenses caused too much eye irritation to be effective. In fact, it wasn't until William Feinbloom made the first plastic contact lenses in 1936 that they truly became a viable solution for the public.

iPads accounted for 7% of recent Christmas Day sales, and sales from mobile devices increased to 14.4% - a 172.9% boost over 5.3% on Christmas Day 2010. It is clear that iPads are gaining momentum in all sectors of society, and healthcare is no exception. For many of our colleagues, the iPad can save a lot time every day that is usually spent finding a computer workstation or collecting image printouts. Even the government has recognized the importance of this timesaving technology, and The U.S. Veteran’s Administration is planning a National Mobile Device Management (MDM) Solution that would introduce 100,000 tablets in their 152-hospital network in the near future. As iPads continue to grow as a medical tool, we're dedicated to providing our customers with the functionality you need in a lab coat - which is why we've redesigned many of our lab coats to fit an iPad. Our improved lab coat designs allow you to keep your iPad confidently and securely in your lab coat pocket. The new iPad pockets are reinforced along the seam and designed to offer easy access to a tablet while ensuring it remains snugly protected. Currently the women's Estie and men's Laennec and Osler accommodate an iPad in all sizes, while many of our other lab coat styles fit an iPad in select sizes, as seen in the picture below.

Emma Willits is known as the first woman to head a surgery department in the United States. Born in 1869 in Macedon, New York, Emma was educated at Quaker schools and in 1892, she moved to Chicago to enroll at the Women's Medical College of Chicago. At that time, female surgeons were essentially unheard of, and Emma Willits was only the third woman in the United States to specialize in surgery. When she received her medical degree in 1896, Dr. Willits served her internship at the Women's Hospital of Chicago before moving to San Francisco. After completing her residency at the Children's Hospital in 1900, she opened her own private practice but maintained close ties to the hospital. Initially a member of the surgical staff of the Department of Pediatrics, Emma Willits later became the chief of the Department of Surgical Diseases of Children. Dr. Willits served as the head of the Department of General Surgery at the Children's Hospital from 1921 to 1934. We've chosen to honor Dr. Willits in our own Medelita way, and we'll soon be unveiling the Emma W., an exciting new addition to our line of Women's lab coats.

I'm still a little surprised that my name badge says Doctor. I've seen prescriptions filled that I've written, pausing momentarily to look with surprise and marvel that my name- Dr. A. Kennard- is on the label. And not as the patient. It's in the top corner; the doctor's spot on the label. I'm always surprised in the operating room when I say "knife, please" and they hand it over. My mother laughs, and tells me I have Imposter Syndrome. She says its common in young professionals, and probably most so with a very important job, as I have. So, I looked it up. I thought she was making it up, but apparently it is actually a described and studied entity. Imposter Syndrome is described as " is a psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments. Despite external evidence of their competence [ie, my name badge], those with the syndrome remain convinced that they are frauds and do not deserve the success they have achieved. Proof of success is dismissed as luck, timing, or as a result of deceiving others into thinking they are more intelligent and competent than they believe themselves to be. It is commonly associated with academics and is widely found among graduate students and especially in high-achieving women" (Clance, et al, 1978 and Lucas, 2008). Huh. I wasn't aware I had given consent for researchers to observe me and exactly describe my thoughts and behavior. I think part of my reluctance to realize my success is that I am in a group in which I am very, very average. I am definitely not the smartest. I am not the prettiest. I am not the most athletic, the thinnest, the tallest, the shortest, the hardest-studying. I am probably not the most insecure. And I'm quite sure I am not the only imposter. I watch in awe (and jealousy) as these residents give presentations at world-class perinatal conferences. They run marathons. They have beautiful, highlighted hair, smart clothes, designer shoes and bags, toned arms, tight abs. They are mothers. They seem to effortlessly go through working twenty-four hours with a plan to go for a run afterwards, as I am blindly grabbing for my coffee, planning a workout I won't do, and stumbling towards bed. They spend hours pumping breastmilk so their babies can have the best nutrition possible while they are away at work. My dog is lucky to get his scoop of dry kibble. What normal person wouldn't be an imposter, wouldn't be intimidated, by this group and this job? But my mother points out, I am not a normal person either. I belong here too. It would have been impossible to fool enough people for me to be here just on luck, so I must be here on my own merit, despite my veil of inadequacy. And the fact that it took a prestigious residency- one of the top in the country- to make me average is pretty un-average. I'm back in the operating room, after reading this research. "Knife, please." They hand it over. I look at them suspiciously and with surprise. Are you really sure you want to do that? I'll keep working on it. Medelita Guest Blogger: Dr. Anne Kennard. Anne is an OB/GYN resident in Phoenix. She has kept a collection of writings about medicine/becoming a doctor since her second year of medical school, and we're honored to welcome her as a guest blogger for Medelita.

How "health literate" do you believe your patients to be? You often send your patients home with prescriptions, pamphlets, and detailed instructions - but do they often follow your guidelines? Do they even understand what they're reading? In 2003, the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) introduced the first large-scale national assessment in the United States to measure health literacy - the ability to use literacy skills to read and understand written health-related information encountered in everyday life. Unfortunately, they found that the health literacy rate in the US is only 12%. Approximately one out of ten Americans are "health literate", according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Health literacy is defined as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.” What this means is that roughly ten percent of the population is proficient with measuring medications, understanding nutrition labels, choosing healthcare and prescription plans, and generally understanding their own health and wellness. Most Americans, therefore, struggle to make appropriate decisions in regards to their own health. The American Medical Association further claims that poor health literacy is “a stronger predictor of a person’s health than age, income, employment status, education level and race.” As a healthcare provider, what do you think can be done to increase health literacy?

There are many reasons why cat owners dread taking their favorite feline to the vet. It is actually difficult to safely get a cat to the clinic. All cat people will agree on that. Cats are smart and they will try to sabotage the operation in any way they can. Placing your cat in a carrier is not a simple task. First, you have to find the carrier, and since you use it once a year, chances are you forgot where you hid it last time. By the time, you locate it, your cat is gone, alerted by the not so discreet search through the house. Now you have to find your cat. He will most likely be hiding in a dusty, dark spot. Do not worry, the vet will not judge you when you show up at the clinic, your clothes covered with cat hair and dust, a strong smell of cat urine (and/or vomit) coming out of the carrier. We understand. We are just happy you were able to bring your cat in! You would not believe the numbers of phone calls we get saying "I have to reschedule my appointment for tomorrow, I can't find Tuna Breath! I have been looking all over the house!" So back to the cat hunt, you will probably have to extract him from underneath the bed, by crawling or using a broom to gently push him to the other side of the bed. Now you have the cat. Run to the carrier that you left downstairs off course. Go fast. Use gravity to actually dump your kitty head first in the standing carrier (well known technique used by 99% of cat owners). Close the carrier. Oops, the other side of the carrier is not secured. Your cat just escaped. Repeat. This is just the typical experience cat owners go through about once a year. However, over the years, my clients have come up with some variants to make the experience even more memorable. Here is are some different approaches to the classic plastic carrier... Place your cat in a covered (preferably empty) litter box. Duct tape the front opening, several times, all around the box. Great technique. Usually followed by a 30 min session to unwrap the box and get the cat out. Don't forget to bring duct tape with you. Redo the whole thing for the trip back. Don't forget to free the cat when you get home. Place your cat in a pillow case. Actually very effective. Place your cat in a Victoria secret pink bag. Dress him with a baby outfit to match the said bag. Place your cat in bread basket, complete with soft napkin. Only available for very young kittens! Place your cat in a covered baby stroller. The nice kind, the Jogging stroller kind. Place your cat in your bright yellow Mustang automobile. Drive to clinic. Park close to the entrance. Get your cat out of your yellow Mustang into the waiting room. Travel in style. Place your cat in a rusty metal cat trap that you borrowed from the local shelter. Pretend he is a stray you found in your backyard. Try to get the "feral cat sterilization" discount. It may fail if your "stray cat" comes out of the trap purring and loving on everybody. Place "something that smells like home" in the carrier to soothe your feline. Blanket, checked. Stuffed animal, checked. Cat toy, checked. Sweater, checked. Female underwear... Checked. That's right. Size 8, blue thong. Note to our vet staff, do not forget to put gloves on Before digging through a carrier. Because you never know... To this day, I do not know if the cat dragged it in to sabotage the exam, or if the owner intentionally placed it in there. I like to think the cat is to blame. Medelita Guest Blogger: Julie Pearson, DVM. Julie is currently working on the East Coast as a small animal veterinarian. She was born and raised in France, where she got her degree before getting licensed in the USA. She enjoys being a general practitioner, and feels privileged to be there for her patients, whether it is for a wellness visit or a serious medical issue. Julie has been wearing Medelita since August 2010, and is seen here wearing her scrubs.