One nice little benefit of being a blogger with an audience of decent size is that from time to time people offer you free stuff in the hopes that you'll like it and say something nice about it on the blog.  I'm still waiting for the marketing folks from Porsche to contact me.

Medelita, a medical clothing company, recently sent me an email asking about advertising options and offering me a free white coat.  I'm not much of a white coat guy anymore (despite the name of the blog), but I told them I could always use some scrubs.  So they sent me a set of their “medical scrubs.”  I was actually really impressed with everything about them, except the price (although I really liked the price I got.)

 

Are Expensive (Premium) Scrubs Worth It? 

Now I confess I've never given a lot of thought to scrubs, despite the fact that I practically live in them.  As a medical student and resident there were some hospital scrubs I liked and some I didn't.  I started buying my own because they fit a little better and looked a little better (not to mention didn't have stains, didn't have notes scribbled on the thighs, and hadn't already been washed 10,000 times until they were see-through.)  I even had some custom-made once, but after I started wearing clogs the nurses made fun of my high waters so I put them back in the closet.  But for the most part, every year or two my wife orders me a few sets for Christmas and I go on with life.

I'm not big into fashion, but with all the time I spend outside in wildly changing conditions, I do have an appreciation for functional clothing.  I've tried just about every possible water-wicking and waterproof material out there at some time or another.  Medelita uses a different fabric than most scrubs do, which they advertise as being a wicking material rather than the more standard, mostly cotton blend that most scrubs use.  They advertise that the material feels soft (I agree), wicks moisture (not really sure as I don't spend a lot of time sweating at work, at least not since I ditched the white coat), fit well (I agree), and maintain a quality appearance longer than other scrubs (not sure as I just got them.)

They also make white coats which are advertised to have stains roll right off them.  That would be a pretty useful feature given the amount of vomit, blood, urine, stool, pus, discharge, and spit that my clothes seem to attract.  Unfortunately, the scrubs don't have that same “Advanced Dual Action Teflon Fabric Protector” feature.  (Don't ask how I know.)

 

Medelita Sizing – Scrub Fitting Issues

Based on testimonials on the web, one of the best things about Medelita scrubs is that they are designed to fit women.  As you may or may not be aware, women are shaped differently than men.  If I were a woman, I wouldn't want to wear scrubs designed to fit men, and I'd probably be willing to pay a little extra for that.

One thing that I thought was odd on their sizing charts was that the pants (for men) are all the same length.  The inseam is always 32.75 inches.  The waist size changes, and the distance from waist to crotch changes, but the total length doesn't.  They say they're designed to fit men 5'11” to 6'2″.  I guess I'm lucky that I'm very close to that.  If you're very far outside of that range, you're going to need some custom tailoring.  They'll do it for a fee, but they recommend you have it done by a local tailor.  There are no “long” sizes for men (but curiously, there are for women, so I wouldn't be surprised to see that change soon.)  Don't worry too much about which size to get since they let you order multiple sizes and just return the ones that don't fit (free of charge.)

The pants have a little bit of elastic in the waist (not too much) and a pocket on each side.  The tops have a pretty standard pocket on the left side.

 

Color Options for Medelita scrubs

They only offer four colors, black, grey, and a couple of shades of blue.  That's pretty much all I get anymore anyway, since I think they look most professional, but there are lots of people out there that like a little more variety.

 

Medelita Scrub Cost

They charge $42 for a women's top, $44 for a men's top, $46 for a women's bottom, and a $50 for a men's bottom.  They include free shipping (mine showed up in less than 3 days) and free embroidery for that price, but not alterations.  The “mall brand” scrubs I've been wearing are less than half as expensive.

Overall, I think the scrubs look better and feel better than the ones I've been wearing.  They may even last longer.  However, regular readers know I can be a bit of a cheapskate about some things, so they won't be surprised to see that I haven't thrown away all my “mall scrubs” and loaded up on ten sets of Medelita scrubs at nearly $100 a set.  But when it comes time to replace worn out scrubs I think I'll be stopping by Medelita's website.  If they last twice as long, buying these “premium scrubs” will be a no-brainer for me.

Do you buy your own scrubs?  What kind and why?  Would you consider paying $100 for a really nice set?  Comment below!