Professional Dress Code
In order to best prepare you for your career as a Doctor of Pharmacy, we ask that you maintain the level of professional dress that will be required of you in the work place. Guidelines for the appropriate dress for each learning situation are detailed below.
General Guidelines
Conservatism and discretion are key determinants of professional attire. In most circumstances, business casual attire is acceptable. Specific examples of professional image include but are not limited to the following:
- Neatly groomed hair, short manicured fingernails, appropriate dress and shoes.
- Clean and well-maintained clothing that promotes safe and sanitary conditions.
- Clothes that conceal undergarments at all times.
- Skirts and dresses no shorter than knee-length, no “skorts.”
- No clothing dragging on the ground.
- Shoes in good repair.
- Headwear and other garments that pertain to bona fide religious beliefs or cultural traditions are permitted if these items of clothing conceal all undergarments at all times and are clean, safe and well-maintained.
Classroom and Office Attire
The following are not permissible for students, faculty, or staff on ACP premises:
- Caps or hats worn indoors; pajamas or sleep wear; revealing blouses, shirts, skirts, or dresses; see-through fabrics that expose the body; t-shirts; skorts; or denim jeans of any color.
- Visible tattoos, exposed body piercing (including tongue hardware and excluding ear piercing in the lower ear lobe), bare midriffs, tube-tops, muscle shirts, or halter-tops.
- Excessive jewelry, such as toe rings or multiple rings on fingers, that poses a health risk or conveys an unprofessional appearance.
- Articles of clothing and jewelry that display gang symbols, profanity, products or slogans which promote tobacco, alcohol, drugs, violence, illegal activities, sex, or racial/ethnic/religious prejudice are specifically prohibited.
Clinic Attire
- Clinic attire should be of a business nature and must include a white clinic coat.
- College-approved scrubs may be worn.
- Students must wear standard-length, long-sleeved white clinic coats, faculty and staff may wear either long- or standard-length, long-sleeved white clinic coats.
- Coats must be completely buttoned, clean and well maintained at all times.
- Nail polish of any kind is specifically prohibited while students are in the clinical setting.
- Faculty members in each clinic have final authority over the appearance of students in the clinical setting.
Clinic Scrubs Policy
- Students must wear teal-colored scrubs; faculty and staff may wear scrubs of their preferred color.
- Each faculty member, staff member, or student is responsible for the cost of scrubs.
- Clinic coats must always be worn over the scrubs.
- Faculty, staff, and students have the option of wearing clean all white, all black, or all brown shoes with scrubs, including athletic shoes.
- Scrubs may only bear the College logo and the name, degree, and rank of the wearer.
- The printing or embroidery must be black, blue, or green.
Compliance
Faculty, staff, and students are expected to comply with each of these guidelines and are expected to dress appropriately for the specific setting.
Students who are present in class, in the administrative offices, or at an experiential rotation in inappropriate attire, as stated above, will be required to leave the premises and not return until dressed properly. Failure to comply with the dress code after being required to leave the premises once will be handled by the Honors and Ethics Review Board.
