iiiimonica said:
i have been an optician for 10 years working mostly in high end private od's and retail optometry and only 1 of the maybe ~15 docs i worked for did not wear a coat. i love the coat look - it just looks more professional to me. i have worked for od's that take their coats off when they see children, but that's about it!
i know some doctors dont wear them, i plan to! mainly because you can hide a really ugly blouse
j/k i just like how it looks - more professional.
as for the redundacy of dr. jane doe, od, with the confusion between od's and md's a little redunancy is not so bad. it did not look goofy, but i also think dr. jane doe with optotometrist underneath would look nice as well.
as for how coats are worn in hospitials - wouldn't you just look how every one else wears their coats and copy that?
I'm not an optometrist, and I'm trying to sound like I'm attacking optometrists, but I have never, ever, not once, been to an optometrist who wears a white coat. I'm 35 years old and have been wearing glasses/contacts since I was 12. Every single eye doctor I've been to over the years has been nicely dressed, but never worn a white coat. Now, ophthalmologists do wear them and they usually are monogrammed since they are often back-and-forth between their office and the hospital.
Many physicians don't even wear white coats any more. This is especially true in the private office setting. If they do, it's often when they are rounding at the hospital or performing a particularly icky procedure or something, or simply need the pockets for storage, etc. As a psychiatrist, I rarely wear a white coat for a wide range of reasons -- mostly because it's too warm in my office and because it has an inhibiting effect on my patients. I even stopped wearing a suit or tie/sport coat every day; it made me feel like a businessman or something.
Back to the OP and the question posed. Whether you choose to wear a white coat or not, a monogram may be overkill and unnecessary. Chances are, if your patients are there being seen by you, they know your name. I would bet your staff and co-workers know your name too.
So, it begs the question, why would you need it? If you're working at the VA, or a speciality clinic, or in an ophthalmologist's office, I can see why you'd want to conform, so then it would be proper to have Your Name, O.D. and possibly "Optometrist" on your coat -- especially if you're in a hospital or ophthalmologist's office where patients might think you're an MD if your coat reads "Dr. X". Optometrists at hospitals are often employees and not medical staff, and even if they are "staff", there are rules in hospitals about appearance, so a white coat might be required, and if there is a monogram, it would most likely be MANDATED that you have your degree after your name with no reference to "Dr." This is true of PharmDs, dentists, and PhDs at the hospitals where I have privileges.
Of course, most patients don't read your coat anyway and have no clue. If you're in private practice, or a commercial setting, I don't know that I'd wear a white coat and be so bold to have it monogrammed. The way I see it, I'm 35, spent the better part of my life in a classroom, worked my ass off in school...the last thing I want now is a job where I have to wear a "nametag"!!!!
Man, it's bad enough at the hospital with those funky photo ID badges with the magnetic striping in back for parking and access. I don't want my picture, name, and everything else displayed for all to see!
