The effect of white coats and gender on medical students’ perceptions of physicians

BACKGROUND: Despite the fact that medical schools spend a considerable effort to rate clinical instructors, there is limited evidence regarding the effect of physical characteristics on instructor ratings. White coats have been shown to alter patients’ perceptions of physicians although it has not been determined if preceptors who wear white coats are rated differently than their colleagues. METHODS: Second year medical students were administered a questionnaire with four clinical scenarios depicting medical errors accompanied by a picture of a physician of different sexes and ethnicities. The packages were randomized so that the physicians depicted either had or did not have a white coat. RESULTS: White coats did not alter the perception of physicians’ ratings by medical students although sex and ethnicity/case were associated with the perception of trustworthiness, physician management, competence, professionalism and the perception of medical error. CONCLUSIONS: Physical characteristics may alter students’ ratings of physicians. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12909-017-0932-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.