This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 10:44 pm and is filed under Lab Coat, Uniforms. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
In today’s world, when you see a person dressed in a white coat, the first thing that comes to mind is that the person is a doctor. But how did this tradition get started?
The tradition of wearing the white lab coat actually began with scientists. A hundred years ago, as scientists worked with harsh substances, they wore lab coats to protect their skin and clothing. During the mid-19th century, scientists were held in higher regard than doctors. This was because in many instances scientists had proven the medicines used by doctors were useless or maybe even harmful. In an attempt to regain their respectability, many doctors began to wear lab coats so people would look up to them in much the same way they looked to scientists of that era.
It has simply evolved that the man in the white lab coat is now viewed with the utmost respect and people automatically think “Doctor” when they see someone dressed in a white lab coat.