Doctors are often called "people in white coats," although this is a relatively new phenomenon in medicine. The first to introduce white coats for doctors and medical staff in Russia was Dr. Karl Andreyevich Rauchfus. In 1869, he implemented them in a children's hospital in St. Petersburg, where he was the director and chief physician. The hospital, built under his leadership at the request of Prince P. Oldenburg, opened that same year and still operates today, having borne Rauchfus's name since 1919. In 1876, it received an Honorary Diploma at the Brussels International Exhibition, and in 1878, a Grand Gold Medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. The Moscow Governor-General Prince V.A. Dolgorukov invited Rauchfus to create a similar hospital in Moscow, and in 1876, the St. Vladimir Children's Hospital opened, becoming a model for others.

In the same year of 1876, the position of court pediatrician was established at the Imperial Court, and Rauchfus was the first to hold it, treating the royal children. He attempted to combat the hemophilia of heir Alexei Nikolaevich, although unsuccessfully.

Tragically, Rauchfus's only son died at an early age from tuberculous meningitis.

Rauchfus was one of the first Russian pediatricians, a renowned clinician and organizer of medicine, recognized worldwide. In 1894, he received an offer to head the Department of Children's Diseases at Berlin University but preferred to remain in Russia. He enjoyed immense moral authority among colleagues and in society. He spoke of his work: "The mother's experiences and the child's fate gave my entire activity an ideal content, which constituted the happiness of my life."