SOM Professional Appearance Guidelines
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE PROFESSIONAL APPEARANCE GUIDELINES
I. Purpose:
To present a professional appearance to patients, trainees, staff, and the public at all training sites.
II. Policy:
Faculty member appearance and conduct should at all times reflect the dignity and standards of the medical profession. Dress guidelines for faculty members assist in achieving this goal while also acknowledging individual desires for diversity and self-expression. Following are guidelines for professional appearance. It is recognized that each department or specialty service may have requirements which are more specific or more rigorous than the guidelines outlined herein. This policy provides general guidelines to assist each department or specialty in developing its own appearance policy to meet its specific needs. These guidelines apply during regular duty hours, including days with no patient care responsibilities, when in a patient care or common area where it is reasonable to expect seeing patients or family members. Maternity clothes are not exempt from these guidelines. This policy applies to all faculty members with patient contact.
Specific Standards:
Name Tags: Proper photo identification as required by eachclinical site must be worn at all times while on duty so that it is clearlyvisible.
White coats: White coats are generally encouraged and mustbe approved by the specific facility. Coatsmust be clean, neat, and laundered frequently to prevent possible transmissionof infection. When faculty members wearscrubs in public areas, a clean white coat must be worn over the scrubs.
Scrubs: Scrubs may be worn only in designatedareas. When worn, scrubs are expected tobe clean and neat. Scrubs should not beworn outside of the hospital premises. Operative hats, masks, and booties maynot be worn in public areas. Scrubs may not be worn in public areasunless covered by an appropriate white coat.
Shoes: Footwear must be clean, in goodcondition, and appropriate. Open-toed shoes and sandals are not permitted.
Style: Attire must be professional. There must be no tank or halter tops, baremidriffs, tube tops, sweatshirts, hoodies, or fleece of any kind. Faculty members may not wear shirts withmessages, lettering, or logos other than U of U, IHC, or VAMC. Shorts, miniskirts, or blue jeans may not beworn. Undergarments should not bevisible. A tie is recommended for menunless otherwise specified by department policy. When faculty members wear a tie, infectioncontrol measures should be followed.
Fragrance:No colognes, perfumes or body scents areallowed, as patients may be sensitive to strong fragrances. There must be no smoke odor on bodies orclothing.
Hands: Fingernails must be clean and short.Artificial nails are not allowed.
Hair: Mustaches, hair, and beards mustbe clean and well trimmed. Long hair must be tied back during patient care toavoid interfering with performance of procedures or coming into contact withpatients.
Jewelry: Jewelry should not be offensive, functionallyrestrictive or excessive and must not inhibit the performance of good handhygiene. Jewelry may not dangle in a waythat contacts a patient or interferes with patient care.
Piercings: There should be no visible body piercings,with the exception of ears. A maximum oftwo earrings per ear may be worn. Eargauges should be plugged closed with skin tone plugs. Nose piercings withreligious significance are acceptable.
Tattoos: There should be no visible tattoos.
Departments may write department-specific policies which may deviate from this policy as long as they adhere to these basic guidelines, as well as those found in the University Hospital Professional Image Standard 1-6. Departments will be responsible for enforcing the applicable policy.