Evidence shows that long sleeved coats facilitate the transmission of infection in hospitals, leading to avoidable harm and cost to patients, says Edmond Fernandes Although emphasis on evidence based medicine is increasing, we still selectively tackle issues that we like and collectively ignore the ones that we don't-such as doctors wearing white coats.Historically, long sleeved coats, popularly called aprons, were worn by laboratory scientists. But in the 19th century, after scientists showed that many doctors' remedies were useless, doctors started wearing them. They adopted the colour white to symbolise purity and goodness, hoping to improve their damaged reputation. 1
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