Dress for Success
Why Our Centers Utilize Gowning for Examinations
by Jeffrey Schuler MD, Medical Director
Bethesda Care and Good Samaritan Occupational Medicine Centers are committed to providing the highest quality examinations for your employees as well as to properly treat their injuries and determine their ability to work productively and safely. Medical examinations need to be done in a professionally appropriate way. This requires removing the clothing necessary to perform a thorough and efficient examination.
Obviously, any clothing covering an injured area must be removed. For example, this may mean removing pants or a shirt to examine an injured knee or shoulder. To provide as much privacy as possible, gowns and/or sheets are used to keep the examinee comfortable.
General medical examinations, such as those for pre-placement, medical surveillance, truck and bus drivers, etc. require a more extensive general examination than those for injuries. For example, it is important to see surgical scars that might not have been mentioned in a prospective employee’s health history. Consider the potential ramifications to you the employer-- as well as to your employees-- if we fail to identify significant findings on our examinations.
A common misconception is that the purpose of an employment exam is to exclude individuals with any health problems from working or being hired. A careful examination benefits both the examinee and the employer, and can actually prevent unnecessary disability by discovering unrecognized conditions or conditions employees or prospective employees may believe are unimportant.
Undressing down to undergarments and wearing a gown is the only way to ensure a proper examination can take place. In some circumstances, an examination can be done when wearing limited loose-fitting clothing, but being in a gown is usually the most effective thing to do. While this may make some people uncomfortable, it is the standard professional way to successfully accomplish the purpose of any examination – to determine the health of the examinee and properly address any problems that may be found.
We recognize there are providers who perform examinations with patients fully clothed, but we do not consider this to be the best medical practice. Dressing in a gown maybe unpopular, but it is the best way to accomplish a successful examination from which everyone can benefit.
Jeffrey Schuler MD, Medical Director
Dr. Schuler is Board Certified in Preventive/Occupational Medicine. He has been with Good Samaritan Hospital Occupational Medicine Center since 1989. He currently serves as Medical Director for Good Samaritan Occupational Medicine. In addition, he provides care in TriHealth's Executive Health Program and Employee Health Department. Dr. Schuler specializes in corporate medical consulting, OSHA compliance, medical surveillance, biological monitoring, hospital/healthcare worker employee health, and international travel.