What a White Coat is to a Doctor

In the history of the clinic, the Doctor in the white coat has become a symbol of power and knowledge. With the authority of the white coat, the doctor pulls patients from the obscurity of illness, making sense of the corporal mystery. At the clinic, they take our temperature, draw blood samples and examine our biochemical levels; they measure our bodies in order to answer our questions of illness and health. In the clinical setting, the enigmatic sore throat becomes bacterial tonsillitis treated with penicillin; symptoms become clues of the body that indicate a greater pathology. With the education and authority signified by the white coat, the doctor gives illness a name that makes our bodies more intelligible- and less threatening.

Yet, in the situation where the language declaring health and illness rests within the mind of the doctor, it is the patient who undergoes disempowerment. It is the ill patient and their kin who anxiously await answers that hold certainty, promise and hope. The gravity of these words determine a future unknown.

Physician John Stone’s poem, “Talking to the Family” delves into the social dynamics of healthcare as the protagonist-physician talks to his patient's family. Through its symbolic power, the white coat mediates this interaction, distinguishing the different roles of speaker and listener; the one with the answers (the doctor), and the ones with questions (the ones directly and indirectly affected by illness). Stone writes, “My white coat waits in the corner like a father,” bringing us to further consider associations of power and gender in the healthcare sphere. The white coat is distinguished as a kind of armor, inherently (historically) gendered in its influence.

Before the doctor interacts with the family, it becomes a ritual to don the symbolic piece of clothing. He assumes the coat; he readies himself to speak. The news is passed on and an ambiguous loss is insinuated by the structural isolation of the fifth line: “I will tell them.” It stands alone, almost apologetic in its marked loneliness. The finality signals a loss of health- or perhaps, a more tragic loss of life.

In this image of the doctor talking to the family of the patient, the white coat becomes key in understanding the gravity of social dynamics: it is the one who wears the coat who will speak words meaning life or death to the family.

And yet, it is the white coat that, while granting authority, shields the physician from being consumed by loss. In the white coat, the protagonist must muster up the courage to speak words of life and death to the family. The coat thus represents a greater sense of responsibility. Stone writes, “I will take off the coat, / drive home, / and replace the light bulb in the hall.” The separation of each action by commas implies continuity- a return to his personal life. This jarring shift is markedly normal in comparison to the news he conveys. Yet, the fact remains that after he fulfills his responsibility as the doctor in the white coat, he himself must assume the current of life, despite the chasm of loss. Thus will the Doctor retire his coat, go home and change out the flickering lightbulb.

In contrast, the family will cope with the words of life and death: “They will put it together and take it apart. / Their voices will buzz. / The cut ends of their nerves will curl.” The punctuation contrarily enforces space through silence. The sister, having known the patient for her entire life, struggles to assume life as normal. For her, the loss is intensified- a chasm exists where there once was her sibling. Having been injured by such loss, the patient’s kin will find a natural difficulty in assuming the current of life.

It is through this juxtaposition that Stone shows how healthcare workers must move on despite facing loss. In assuming the perspective of the physician-poet, we come to understand how loss infiltrates the lives of all within the clinical space. Contending with illness, suffering and loss of life becomes inescapable. Stone implies that a responsibility rests on the ones facilitating care to mediate this with sensitivity and empathy- to show the humanity of kindness. Language becomes imperative in this situation; the Doctor must use interpersonal skills of communication and comprehension to engage in a way that both acknowledges loss and allows space for pain.

The white coat, more than just a symbol of unique values, extensive education and authority, becomes a reminder: its wearer agrees to undertake a responsibility to their patients and their patients’ loved ones. It is the one who wears the coat who is obligated to tell the truth and to be there to witness the suffering that it may cause.

​- Tabitha H.

Contributors: Sophia Z., Kai N., Emily S.