The black jacket was a symbol of science, thought and invention, and it is the right color for those who show seriousness and diligence, values that people considered at the time that the black color best represented them.
Black was the most logical color for doctors’ jackets than others, both for symbolic and practical reasons, until they realized that science disagreed with this view.
newspaper said “ConfidentialSpanish (elconfidencial) The color white was not always the norm in the medical profession, but was officially adopted for both symbolic and practical reasons. In fact, many years ago, people considered black the best color for doctors’ jackets, but later understood that this was not appropriate. Scientifically speaking.
Today, when we think of doctors, the first thing that comes to mind is a person wearing a white jacket, which is the distinctive uniform of health care workers in general, and it is impossible to imagine a person practicing this profession without wearing a white jacket.
Doctors were dressed in elegant black uniforms
But these white jackets were not always the official color in medicine, which is what some old films set at the beginning of the 20th century show, where doctors wore elegant black uniforms. Scientists and researchers, in turn, wore black at that time, which was an approved color in scientific circles and among intellectuals, as a kind of collective tradition or a way to distinguish this segment of people from other publics.
The black jacket was a symbol of science, thought and invention, and it is the right color for those who show seriousness and diligence, values that people considered at the time that the black color best represented them.
Besides this symbolism of black, which is associated with seriousness and intelligence, it was considered a better way to hide stains and dirt. The idea of adopting dark colors instead of light colors in order to hide stains was widely popular before things changed when people understood the importance of keeping medical practices clean, in order to avoid the spread of bacteria and the spread of infectious diseases.
Detect stains and dirt as soon as possible
Just as black was considered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries a suitable color for this profession, white has become officially approved because people moved from the stage of thinking about hiding stains to the stage of seeking to discover these stains and dirt as soon as possible in order to get rid of them in order to maintain cleanliness and sterilization . In this way, the white color became synonymous with hygiene, and today it is used in hospitals as a unified color for walls, mattresses, covers and clothes.
White symbolizes honesty
In an article published in 2007 in the Journal of Ethics of the American Medical Association, Dr. Mark Hokberg said that white symbolizes not only cleanliness and order, but also honesty and transparency. Little by little, the white jackets, even on cinema screens and in public life, became a symbol of truth and moral commitment.
white jacket syndrome
But this white color has become associated with some people with a phobia of diseases, treatment and hospitals, considering that this white jacket means the doctor, nurses and examinations. Today, psychology research has proven that some people suffer from high blood pressure and disorders in the body when they enter the hospital and sit in front of the doctor, a phenomenon called white jacket syndrome. Doctors have become aware of this problem, so they sometimes remove the white jacket to calm the patient.