The argument for shedding doctors' white coats' long sleeves is built on common sense, rather than a strong base of evidence. Studies have demonstrated that microorganisms are easily transferred from many surfaces on to fabric and from fabric on to skin, according to an article on the National Post website.

Ten and 80 percent of white coats in use are contaminated with pathogenic bacteria. And worse, most physicians don’t wash their white coats very often: In a 2014 study, 57 per cent of doctors admitted washing their white coats once a month, if at all, the article said.

Much of the argument for keeping white coats is that patients don’t like seeing doctors in short sleeves.

Some studies have demonstrated a patient preference for doctors wearing white coats, that preference is far from unanimous and is often changed with infection-control education, the article said.

Read the article.