The following is the SWOSU appearance policy for experiential course work. These are the minimally acceptable standards for dress and grooming. If students are at a site with stricter policies, then the students will follow those policies.
Students violating the SWOSU appearance policy will be given a verbal warning and sent home and not allowed to return till the next meeting time. The student may receive a zero for work that day. Make up of work/time is at the discretion of the instructor and or preceptor. If a second violation occurs, the student can be dismissed from the class or experiential course. This can result in failure of the course.
- PERSONAL HYGIENE AND GENERAL APPEARANCE
- Hairstyles will be conservative and neat in appearance to convey a professional image
- Extremes in hair color such as purple, green, orange, etc. are not permitted
- Fingernails will be clean and of reasonable length
- Students may not have facial jewelry or ornamentation including rings, to or through the nose, tongue, lip, eyebrow or any other exposed body part except the ear
- Clear spacers may be used in place of tongue rings or studs. Ear gauges (expanders) may be left in place, but covered with neutral colored band-aids
- No more than two earrings per ear
- Excessive dangling or oversized jewelry i.e. earrings, necklaces, bracelets, will be avoided
- Tattoos will be covered by clothing and should not be visible. Any visible tattoos (i.e. on hands, ankles etc) should be covered with a flesh colored bandage or makeup
- Cologne, perfume and/or cosmetics, if used, should be worn in moderation.
- Men should be clean shaven; if beards and moustaches are worn they will be well- groomed, trimmed, and close cut
- CLOTHING
- Clothing should be clean, fit properly, be in good repair and free from wrinkles
- Lab coats will be clean and pressed, with name tag on and SWOSU pharmacy patch on the left sleeve. No other patches or names of pharmacies/medical institutions are permitted. Coats should be worn at sites at all times
- If scrubs are approved attire at a rotation site, they should be SWOSU/site specific scrubs and worn as a set. (Both tops and bottoms)
- Dresses or skirts will be no more than 3 inches above the knee
- Appropriate undergarments must be worn and not visible
- Blue Jeans will not be worn, unless part of acceptable “casual day” attire.
- Neckties, if required for males, will be neatly tied at the neck with the top button buttoned
- No sleeveless tops, unless covered with a lab coat, jacket or sleeved top
- No low cut necklines, must not show cleavage or hairy chests
- No skin showing above or below midriff
- No hats/caps will be worn, unless required by rotation site
- SHOES
- Shoes should be clean and in good repair with laces tied and buckle fastened
- No flip-flops or any shoe with the primary strap between the toes
- No platforms, moccasins, house slippers, or see-through/netted toe mules or any other examples of extremes in casual footwear
- SHOES IN PATIENT CARE AREAS
- No aerated shoes, i.e. Crocs or Croc-like shoes with holes on top
- Open heeled shoes are allowed if they securely hold the foot in the shoe
- No open toed shoes in clinical/patient care areas
- Socks or hosiery are required
The Office of Experiential Education reserves the right to impose additional restrictions on dress or appearance at the discretion of the faculty member and/or preceptor. Practice sites may have more prescriptive policies than outlined above. Students are required to follow site specific policies on dress and appearance.