Previous studies in human medicine have found that patients prefer their doctors to be more formally attired, and that this influences their trust and confidence in their physician. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how veterinarians’ attire affected owners’ impressions and trust in the small animal specialty medicine setting. A questionnaire based study conducted during a 2‐month period at an urban based small animal private practice specialty hospital. Respondents completed a written survey after reviewing pictures of the same male and female veterinarian in five different dress styles. Respondents were asked for their preference for male and female veterinarian attire in different clinical scenarios and whether it would affect their willingness to discuss sensitive issues. Two hundred and thirty‐eight questionnaires were completed during the study period with 76.1% of respondents being female. Female respondents did not have a preference to how a male or female veterinarian was attired with the attire examples provided. However, male respondents tended to have fairly equal response rates between no preference and preferring a male veterinarian to be in either clinical or professional attire. Male owners either had no preference or preferred their male veterinarian to be attired in clinical or professional attire and had no preference or preferred their female veterinarian to be clinical attire. Most respondents do not feel it is necessary for a veterinarian to wear a white coat or neck ties and most do not feel it is inappropriate for a veterinarian to wear blue jeans, have coloured hair, or have visible tattoos.
OBJECTIVE To determine how veterinarians' attire affected clients' perceptions and trust in the small animal emergency medicine setting. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SAMPLE 154 clients of a 24-hour small animal emergency clinic in a rural location. PROCEDURES A survey was administered to clients in the waiting room over a 1-month period to elicit their impressions of veterinarians' attire in various clinical scenarios and whether that attire would affect their perceptions. Respondents completed the survey after examining photographs of 1 male and 1 female veterinarian in 5 styles of attire (business, professional, surgical, clinical, and smart casual). RESULTS 83 (53.9%) respondents were female, and 71 (46.1%) were male; age was evenly distributed. Across all clinical scenarios, the most common response was no preference regarding the way a male or female veterinarian was dressed and that this attire would have no effect on the respondents' trust in their veterinarian. Most respondents were indifferent or preferred that their veterinarians not wear neckties and white coats. Twenty-six percent (40/154) of respondents indicated that they believed their veterinarian's attire would influence their opinion of the quality of care their pet received. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE In this small animal emergency medicine setting, most clients indicated no preference regarding their veterinarian's attire, yet approximately one-fourth indicated this attire would influence their perception of the quality of care their pet received. Further studies are warranted in other practice settings and locations to determine whether these findings are generalizable or unique to this particular setting.
Case summaryLumbosacral agenesis is a rare congenital condition reported in children. We report a 17-week-old female domestic shorthair cat with lumbosacral agenesis on whole-body radiographs. The cat was euthanized shortly thereafter presentation. A necropsy was not permitted.Relevance and novel informationThis is the first reported feline case of lumbosacral agenesis.
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