Enclothed Cognition

As the U.S. population grows older, demand for all physician specialties is rising dramatically across the country. The Association of American Medical Collegesestimates that the U.S. will face a shortage of more than 90,000 physicians by 2020 and 130,000 by 2015.

It’s a small world - we’ve all heard it before - but it is especially true now with the speed of information sharing.  Medelita’s customer base for lab coats and scrubs continually grows both domestically and internationally, and we are constantly improving the international shipping experience. Some of the hardest international customer service questions are related to where the package is, or surprise at the tariffs and duties levied by the local governments.   While we can often help with the former, we currently cannot help with the latter (but we are working on it).  Duties on foreign goods are a fact we all live with for the moment.   It is a price we pay for getting something really extraordinary that we are unable to find locally. There are three helpful hints that I’ve learned about successful international shipping: 1)     Medelita’s website has a helpful shipping calculation tool to provide shipping costs prior to checkout:  //www.medelita.com/international.html 2)     The shipping address should be the location where you will be during business hours, not necessarily your home.  Unlike domestic shipping, international shipments require payment of duties and taxes before the package can be delivered.  The customer must be available to a UPS agent to address these requirements before they can obtain their package; 3)     UPS worldwide expedited shipping is virtually as quick as domestic, so think about your schedule, will you be on vacation next week?  If so, wait until you return to place your order.  Because once the package ships, it is very expensive for you (if not impossible for us) to reroute it or get it back. Keeping these thoughts in mind will go a long way to ensuring your garments arrive safely into your hands in virtually the same time frame as if you were only one state away.  It is one of the many miracles of our modern, small, world.

One of our Mid-Atlantic customers contacted us in the spring with a great idea – to surprise their ten Physician Assistants with embroidered Medelita lab coats for PA Day on October 6^th.  It was very thoughtful of them to start planning for their surprise so far in advance, and we are happy to actualize this perfect gift for all of our customers this month.  It’s not at all too late - there is still time to surprise your PAs with an embroidered Medelita lab coat or scrub set that reflects your appreciation of their hard work and dedication. As a Physician Assistant, Medelita founder Lara Francisco, PA-C, felt that the traditionally boxy, frumpy, unisex scrubs and lab coats worn everyday by hundreds of thousands of clinicians provided a poor visual correlation to the level of education and prestige of those working in the medical professions.  Her goal to upgrade the quality, fit and performance of lab coats and scrubs, as well as design gender specific styles, has created a paradigm shift in the medical uniform industry. With PA day only a month away, we are offering guaranteed delivery by October 4^th on any embroidered gift order placed by September 16^th, for delivery in the continental U.S.. Gift orders placed without embroidery can be placed by September 30^th for guaranteed delivery by October 4^th.  Garments without embroidery can also be returned for complimentary embroidery at your convenience. Lara recalls her days working as a PA in the ER, and feels that PA Day is often over-looked by supervisors and administrative personnel,  "I encourage all practices that employ PAs to be pro-active during PA Week.  Educate patients as to the valuable role of the PA, participate in community PA Day activities and educational forums, and/or do something especially nice to show appreciation toward the PAs that add value to your practice and to so many patients’ lives."

In today's article featured on the Harvard Business Review's Leading Health Care Innovation insight center, "Understanding the Drivers of the Patient Experience," authors James I. Merlino and Ananth Raman discuss a few innovations in approaches to patient satisfaction.

We have been witnessing an impressive surge in demand for Medelita lab coats and scrubs outside of the United States, but it's been a complicated and somewhat frustrating experience for customers who reside in countries that require additional payments for duties and taxes on the packages they receive from Medelita.

Suleman Bhana, MD, Michael Laccheo, MD, and Paul Sufka, MD recently reviewed the Laennec iPad lab coat by Medelita on May 9, 2013 edition of their podcast, The Rheumatology Podcast, "Episode 11 - SLICC lupus criteria and a better white coat."

Medelita will be hosting physicians and clinicians at our lab coat and medical scrub pop up stores at two prestigious medical meetings this October. The Medelita boutique will feature two styles of slim fit lab coats featuring iPad pockets, and Teflon stain technology which means blood and other fluids literally roll off.

OR scrubs have not seen real innovation since the early 1970s, when the standard for medical scrubs was introduced and reached popular appeal. Our men’s scrubs have shifted the paradigm for men with a more fitted shape and added comfort in an “OR” style scrub.

Reading Dr. Linda Brodsky’s fabulous blog post entitled “6 Tips for women Physicians just starting internship” yesterday on KevinMD, I was struck by the tone with which she addresses professionalism, particularly for women in medicine. It was so refreshing and frank; it really felt like it was coming from a personal mentor. There were a couple of references to presentation that resonate perfectly with what Medelita is achieving for our colleagues in medicine. Her third tip: "Develop a style of professionalism," is particularly relevant in the mention of dressing appropriately. Medelita’s lab coats and scrubs have highly professional modern styling and tailoring that exude aptitude and a polished look - adding confidence to your personal presentation.

Confidence Is Key

Here at Medelita, we feel rather strongly about the connection between appearance, confidence, and poise. The company was founded 5 years ago by a licensed physician assistant who demanded something more from the existing selection of frumpy clothes she was forced to wear every day. It is our primary desire to ensure that our customers feel confident and polished in their medical garments – a task that seems impossible if you’re forced to wear boxy and flimsy lab coats and scrubs.

You've Earned It

The last of Dr. Brodsky’s 6 tips: “Introduce yourself as ‘doctor’. You have earned it” I particularly loved because of that second sentence. You HAVE earned it – there is no doubt- it’s right there on your diploma. Many of our female colleagues have commented that traditional lab coats leave them feeling as though they’re wearing their father’s coat . . . hardly the right image for a knowledgeable professional who has dedicated enormous effort and sacrifice to their career. You absolutely deserve to look your best in the garment worn more than any other single item in your wardrobe. A Medelita lab coat speaks for itself, and for you, with confidence.

Looking for gift ideas for a physician assistant? Make sure that your gift stands out by taking the ordinary to the extraordinary, using our specially curated gift guide for PAs.