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.
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机译：识字和算术磁性图。白色磁性片，可轻松放置在白板上。各种类型的图表，包括大型写作图表，Andrewa的电磁数学表格和学生魔术写作图表。图表可以水平（600x900mm）或（250x200mm）或垂直（900mmx600mm）排列。写作图表用虚线表示。粗线为蓝色，虚线为红色。 Andrewa的Magnetic Math Grid由50x50mm的蓝色方块组成;网格为594x841mm，由十七行十一列组成。
