The following article was written By Keri Forsythe of RT-Image.com

Take a look at a recent photograph of your imaging department. What do you see? A professional-looking staff, outfitted in stylish, flattering scrubs; or, do you notice a sluggish-looking group, featured in a haphazard assortment of uniforms? Because, as trivial as it seems, how you look has a strong link to how your patients, colleagues and supervisors view you.

According to Sandy Dumont, executive director of the Norfolk, Va.-based Impression Strategies Institute and author of Tattle Tale Looks: What Message Does Your Image Send? (The Image Architect, 2006), it only takes a person 10 seconds to make a snap judgment about you. And, among the conclusions drawn during those 10 seconds? – your socio-economic status, educational level and desirability.

Although your desirability has little effect on your job performance, your perceived educational level has a great impact on your patients. After all, who wants to undergo an imaging procedure – or have their mammogram read – by someone who appears uneducated?

Unfortunately, as medical professionals, you're rather limited in your clothing options. You can say "sayonara' to a killer pair of high heels and a power suit; it's time to embrace the all-too-familiar pair of scrubs. But, just because you're required to wear scrubs, doesn't mean you have to look like one.

Scrubbin' It

Arguably, the radiology suite has never been synonymous with the phrase en vogue. But, all that can change with a little scrub savvy and fashion know-how.

For starters, you should evaluate the image that you're portraying to others: Is it one of confidence and competency? Or, does your personal scrub style reflect that of a person in a constant state of frenzy? If so, then it's time for an extreme scrub makeover. And, perhaps it's time to ditch your unflattering, polyester scrubs and high-tail it to your nearest medical uniform store.

But, regardless of your personal scrub preferences, one thing's for certain, Dumont says: Hospitals need to mandate dress codes for their employees.

"The first thing that I would say that they need in terms of scrubs is uniformity," Dumont says. "If [you're] in a hospital, every single person should have a uniform, even if it's scrubs. They should all be the same color [and have some distinguishable insignia], so it doesn't look like, "Oh, this is someone that they hired off the street that doesn't even have a uniform yet.'"

Dumont's reasoning? "It has to do with immediate trust and credibility." She makes the comparison of when a nurse walks into a patient's room clad in bunny-print scrubs, the patient may not immediately acknowledge the nurse's authority. And, in a life or death situation, it's imperative that the patient recognizes his or her designated caregiver.

"The same is true with RTs," Dumont says. Patients coming in for an imaging procedure should also feel at ease when they see the technologists. "If you don't have a uniform, it's like you were part of a rag-tag bunch, and one day they send somebody who's at a junior level, and the next day they sent in an expert."

According to Dumont, seeing healthcare professionals in standardized uniforms elicits confidence from patients. But, more importantly, she says, it also promotes self-confidence. Like football players putting on their prided team jerseys, radiology professionals can acquire great esteem from wearing their uniforms.

"I think anybody who's with a profession needs to have a uniform to say, "I'm part of an honorable profession; you can tell by my uniform,'" Dumont says.

One person who may beg to differ, however, is Jody Earle, the marketing and information technology manager of Penn Yan, N.Y.-based Sassy Scrubs, a garment maker specializing in medical uniforms. For Earle, it's all about individualizing your look.

Fortunately, she says, healthcare professionals now have a wide variety of styles to choose from. Avid surfer? Animal advocate? Or, are you interested in pro-football? Thanks to the myriad of options, medical professionals can now find scrubs that directly correlate with their individual interests.

Additionally, Earle believes that customized scrubs can also be great conversation-starters. If your patient is also an avid surfer, then wearing board-adorned scrubs could create an instant bond between you and him or her. "It really opens up a door for conversation that doesn't have to dwell on the tests that are going on," Earle says.

Pediatric Prints

Although Dumont and Earle have differing opinions as to what constitutes a suitable set of scrubs, they agree on one thing: Healthcare professionals who work in pediatrics should embrace child-friendly prints.

"With kids, typically, they tend to go towards those friendly, funny kinds of caricature-type prints," Earle says. "Because it puts kids at ease. [If] they see you coming to them with this big, smiling dog on your shirt, then they're not going to be as upset as seeing a lab coat coming at them."

In addition, like the conversations spurred on by mutual interests, children tend to gravitate to engaging prints. For instance, Earle says if you have an affinity for horses, then selecting a pair of horse-printed scrubs can be a conversation catalyst. "You can say, "Do you like horses; I like horses.' Then, you can talk about horses and distract the kids from what's going on if they might be scared."

Although Dumont agrees that prints work in the pediatric setting, she still asserts that all scrubs should maintain uniformity. One way to achieve this is by allowing everyone to select a certain print (i.e., a frog print or a bunny print) in a hospital-mandated color.

Dumont says, "So, [the children can say] "Oh, look, the frog lady is coming in today. So, you have some kind of uniformity – with [a certain] color or with everybody having a bunch of animals all over the place – but [everybody] is in the same color scrubs."

A Shoe Thing

Before you end your style journey, however, you must look a little lower – more specifically, to your feet. Because, for many healthcare professionals, it's all about the perfect pair of shoes.

"Right now, what's hot are the Crocs," says Earle. "They've been around for a while, but a lot of people like them, not only because they're colorful, [but they're also] easy to clean."

Featuring wide holes, Crocs bear the distinction of being both functional and fun. And, one way healthcare professionals can personalize their Crocs is by putting buttons in the shoe holes. The gender-neutral Crocs also come in a variety of colors, ranging from black to hot pink. But, remember: Your Crocs must match the rest of your outfit; clashing is always a "don't.'

But, most importantly, make sure that your shoes are comfortable. As members of a highly mobile profession, you don't want your feet to suffer for the sake of fashion. So, it's important to spend a few minutes walking around in the shoes before you purchase them.

After all, comfort and style are just what the doctor ordered.

—Keri Forsythe is assistant editor of RT Image.

Article available online at RT-Image.com