Relationship Between the Appearance and Professionalism of A Doctor – A Questionnaire-Based Study Among Medical Students

Objective: “First impression is last impression”- so does the saying. Impression is the basis of non–verbal communication. The appearance, attire, and wearing of apparel, along with the professionalism of a doctor, play indispensable roles in developing trusting doctor–patient relationships. This study aims to determine the relationship between the appearance and professionalism of a doctor among undergraduate medical students to strengthen attitudes, ethics and communication. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among Phase I and Phase II MBBS students by introducing a predesigned questionnaire in Google Form for data collection. After providing informed consent, demographic details were obtained. Among the photographs of male and female doctors with four different attitudes (formal (F), white coat (W), scrub (S), and casual (C)), the respondents chose preferable options in different medical settings and with different attributes of professionalism. They also chose their preferences for appearance. The data were tabulated first in MS Excel 2010 and analyzed via SPSS version 19.0 (IBM SPSS Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) Results: Most respondents followed doctors’ advice thoroughly with white coats in the case of both male and female doctors. The chi-square test revealed that preferences for routine physical examination, consultation with family doctors and consultation for psychological issues were statistically significant (P<.05). Preference for different attributes of professionalism was not statistically significant (P<.05). Conclusion: A good doctor‒patient relationship leads every problem to reach a solution. The combination of variable preferences for the attire and appearance of a doctor can influence confidence and the trust of an individual and increase the competency, approachability, caring attitude, responsibility, and communication skills of a doctor during professional work.