Professional Attire Dress Codes for PharmD Programs Should Not Be Mandatory

To the Editor: I would like to thank Naughton and colleagues for their insightful article, “Expanding Dress Code Requirements in the Doctor of Pharmacy Program.”1 Professionalism is extremely important in many practice settings, but it is particularly vital to health care professionals because it impacts both patient and health care colleague perceptions. Numerous schools of pharmacy have adopted varying levels of mandatory professional dress codes, including for didactic lectures. The article by Naughton and colleagues thoughtfully discusses in detail both the arguments for and against requiring professional dress codes across all PharmD programs. However, the authors took liberties to extrapolate conclusions beyond the published data, which do not correlate to the success of pharmacy students or their professional development. Additionally, there are many other aspects apart from attire that contribute to professionalism that are not enhanced by dress codes