5 Responses to “Is there any difference in the color of scrubs that doctors/med students wear?”

1. Alli Says:
   August 6th, 2010 at 2:54 am

   It really depends on what kind of setting you are in or what kind of hospital. At my hospital, the OR staff (including labor and delivery) wear green scrubs. The color for pharmacy (which is where I work) is light gray. Everyone else can pretty much wear any color or design they want to.

   Originally, OR attire was white to emphasize cleanliness. However, the combination of bright operating lights and an all-white environment led to eyestrain for the surgeon and staff, and additionally, many people found the sight of bright red blood splashes on a white gown or drape rather off-putting. By the 1950s and 1960s, most hospitals had abandoned white OR apparel in favor of various shades of green, which provided a high-contrast environment and reduced eye fatigue.

   By the 1970s, surgical attire had largely reached its modern state: a short-sleeve V-necked shirt and drawstring pants or a short-sleeve calf-length dress, made of green cotton. Over this was worn a tie-back or bouffant-style cloth cap, a paper or gauze mask, a cloth surgical gown, latex gloves and supportive closed-toe shoes. This uniform was originally known as "surgical greens" because of its color, but came to be called "scrubs" because it was worn in a "scrubbed" environment.

   Scrubs worn in surgery, in contrast, are almost always colored solid light green, light blue or a light green-blue shade known as "seal" or "ciel" blue*. Surgical scrubs are rarely owned by the wearer; due to concerns about home laundering and sterility issues, these scrubs are hospital-owned or hospital-leased through a commercial linen service.

2. Mac Momma Says:
   August 6th, 2010 at 2:54 am

   Nah, they’ve got scrubs of all differnt colors and even patterns. Some hospitals require certain colors, but most dont.

3. Trish J Says:
   August 6th, 2010 at 2:54 am

   It is dependent on the hospital you are working at. Some let you wear what you want, others just have a set color standard for the hospital and other hospitals have a different color for each department. For example ER would be dark blue, Labor and Delivery Pink, ICU green etc and perhaps students a certain other color.

4. RickSeymour.com Says:
   August 6th, 2010 at 2:54 am

   At the hospital where I am a medical student green is worn by A&E doctors and blue scrubs are worn by the rest of the professionals in theatre. Medical students were given grey scrubs so we could be differentiated from the rest of the qualified staff but we often get strange looks as no-one knows what grey scrubs signify……(it was either grey or pink….so we chose grey!)

5. nate Says:
   August 6th, 2010 at 2:54 am

   Not really, some units in hospitals designate colors for uniformity

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