What Equipment Should I Get For Med School

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tkyle56

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I was wondering what everybody is getting, or has, that helps them be successful in med school. NSUCOM, where I will begin this fall, requires that we buy our own otoscope, ophthalmoscope, stethoscope, tuning fork, and reflex hammer. Please let me know what you use and how you like it.

Also any other crazy things that people have that help make medical school a little easier. I don't care if it helps you academically or if it just helps you keep your sanity at times. For example one of my friends said he would not have made it through first year if it wasn't for his PS3 helping him escape the relentless studying.
 
My token response is to by the cheapest crap you can find save for two items. Get a nice laptop that will last you a few years,(do not buy the school computer) and throw down the 150 for a nice steth. Dont buy any books, none. You will never need any of them. If you feel like you have to have a book, buy a netters. Don't join any clubs at NSU (trust me, you will join at least 5 because they are offering some discounted crap). The only one worth joining is the one selling the old tests, (Most are all 5-10 yrs old and are not all that great, except for the OPP tests) and you could always just borrow them from a friend. You will only use the tuning forks and the ophtho two times the entire first two years, so buy them cheap. Also, you can find crappy sphigs for next to nothing on ebay, again, you will only use it three times.

As for surviving the first two years, the first year is the hardest. We had a substantial amount of people fail at least one class in the first year. The overwhelming majority of them failed physio, followed by anatomy. So hit these two classes hard from day one. Biochem is pretty cush, histo is not too bad because the prof is great, micro sucks because its pure memorization. Neuro is hard during the second semester (our lowest average as a class was neurophys). The second year is a lot more material but the tests are easier and they are curved (nothing is curved the first year).

Ft Lauderdale is expensive, try to live with a roommate.

My only other advice is to not go to class and try to read for at least three hours a day. This will be hard durring the first year, as everyone will expect you to be around, no one cares in the 2nd year however. Find someone with a copy of the Goljan audio/lectures and try to use them with your systems classes, then buy the guys book (Rapid Review Path) because all students should give back to the Man. Get the latest First Aid and use it with the systems, it will not be useful during the first year.

Oh and Wikipedia is the best place for medical information.

Don't piss off the Dean



DanZman
 
Appreciate the advice. I lucked out, my dad is giving me one of his stethoscopes and I also scored his Netter's 3rd edition. I have had the year off and I have hit Netter's pretty hard so I feel like that should help with Anatomy but I have heard Physio is hardcore at NSU and so I am a little nervous about it.

Dr. Silvagni seemed awesome at our interviews so I hope I don't ever cross him. He was one of the reasons I choose NSU.
 
danzman said:
My token response is to by the cheapest crap you can find save for two items. Get a nice laptop that will last you a few years,(do not buy the school computer) and throw down the 150 for a nice steth. Dont buy any books, none. You will never need any of them. If you feel like you have to have a book, buy a netters. You will only use the tuning forks and the ophtho two times the entire first two years, so buy them cheap. Also, you can find crappy sphigs for next to nothing on ebay, again, you will only use it three times.
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I would only add that because you want it to last a few years the obvious choice is a Mac😉

Definitely buy a netters, it's nice to have as reference. HOWEVER don't buy it until you start school and you can make sure one of the clubs like SOMA or AMSA aren't giving them out for free when you join. The other thing is your opthalmoscope and otoscope, don't buy em. You use them maybe 3 times and you can easily share with classmates. It's not worth the money.

Oh ya, for physio get BRS Physio but I'd wait for this fall b/c there is a new edition coming out. I say this because when you need to cover a lot of material fast it is A LOT easier to read 30-40 pages rather than the 150 pages of notes that contain more low yield details.

For biochem get Goljan's rapid review biochem. I also have Lippencotts but it is more in depth and not as easy to use as a reference book.

danzman said:
As for surviving the first two years, the first year is the hardest. We had a substantial amount of people fail at least one class in the first year. The overwhelming majority of them failed physio, followed by anatomy. So hit these two classes hard from day one. Biochem is pretty cush, histo is not too bad because the prof is great, micro sucks because its pure memorization. Neuro is hard during the second semester (our lowest average as a class was neurophys).
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Anatomy was the big one for my class. People who failed out were then blindsided by physio because they were too focused on trying to save their grade in anatomy. Just remember, an A or B in one class is worthless if you don't pass another.

danzman said:
My only other advice is to not go to class and try to read for at least three hours a day. This will be hard durring the first year, as everyone will expect you to be around, no one cares in the 2nd year however. Find someone with a copy of the Goljan audio/lectures and try to use them with your systems classes, then buy the guys book (Rapid Review Path) because all students should give back to the Man. Get the latest First Aid and use it with the systems, it will not be useful during the first year.
Click to expand...

At our school you need to pick and choose what classes you go to. Some are more useful than others. I tried the not going and just reading but I'm inherently lazy and eventually fell behind. Going to class is a great way to ensure you are at least exposed to the material once before you are trying to cram it for a test.

danzman said:
Don't piss off the Dean
Click to expand...
Priceless! The DO world is small, so the people you piss off will spread their influence, on the other hand the people you impress also spread their influence.
 
I agree with MACs being great. My wife has had her macbook for 3 years and it still runs very well. I am being slightly teased by NSU offering the new Dell lattitude which has the new intel core 7 processors, which they say they are the first to have and the others will be a few months behind.

I hear some students also supplement studying for their courses with studying from the board review books. I figured this might be overwhelming but are there many students that are successful in their courses that do this. It seems like it might be putting the carriage in front of the horse. (That would be my Texas metaphor)
 
tkyle56 said:
I agree with MACs being great. My wife has had her macbook for 3 years and it still runs very well. I am being slightly teased by NSU offering the new Dell lattitude which has the new intel core 7 processors, which they say they are the first to have and the others will be a few months behind.

I hear some students also supplement studying for their courses with studying from the board review books. I figured this might be overwhelming but are there many students that are successful in their courses that do this. It seems like it might be putting the carriage in front of the horse. (That would be my Texas metaphor)
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Yup my family has switched to all MACs and no regrets. The simple fact I don't have to reformat my hard drive once a year is evidence enough😉

I gave up following specific processor releases and such this year, just one less thing for me to keep in my head. Though I will say I remember from most of the benchmarks the PC's performed a bit better than the MACs but what they don't take into account is the day to day stability and that is priceless.

But back to med school. It's definitely not gunnerish, premature or anything like that to use boards books to help you learn things for med school. It's just another resource like Wiki. That being said I'm definitely not an advocate for buying a TON of resources. You can generally get almost any textbook for free online (albeit the pdf version).
 
NSU claims that you will not be able to use a MAC for computerized testing. Has something to do with the program is unable to lock the programming of a MAC down for testing. Others (students) are claiming that it is not an issue, but they really haven't used the online testing much (supposedly). Just FYI!
 
DitchDoc73 said:
NSU claims that you will not be able to use a MAC for computerized testing. Has something to do with the program is unable to lock the programming of a MAC down for testing. Others (students) are claiming that it is not an issue, but they really haven't used the online testing much (supposedly). Just FYI!
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This thing has been a mess. They told my class (2012) that we would need to buy a PC, then talked everyone into buying their new Dell. Half the class signed up for it as it was a pretty good deal. Trouble was, it took six months for the computers to ship. Thus half the class was without a computer for the first semester. In the end most people returned their Dells and purchased something cheaper. We all had to buy Turning Point clickers that were never used, not a single test was ever taken on a computer, and the system that records lectures has been spotty at best.

I doubt that they will ever have completely online testing. Seems like it would be an open invitation to cheat. I am not even sure if they have run a beta system yet (you would need to talk to a current 1st year). Hold off on getting a computer till you hear from the admin about the Mac issue. Incoming student will have a new dean of student affairs, I hear she is quite easy to deal with, but it will take a while to get this crap figured out.

I stand by my previous statement. Don't buy anything the school is selling, and buy the cheapest stuff you can find.
 
The admin office is allowing MACs now. They said the testing software has been updated so that it is compatible with MACs.
 
tkyle56 said:
I was wondering what everybody is getting, or has, that helps them be successful in med school. NSUCOM, where I will begin this fall, requires that we buy our own otoscope, ophthalmoscope, stethoscope, tuning fork, and reflex hammer. Please let me know what you use and how you like it.

Also any other crazy things that people have that help make medical school a little easier. I don't care if it helps you academically or if it just helps you keep your sanity at times. For example one of my friends said he would not have made it through first year if it wasn't for his PS3 helping him escape the relentless studying.
Click to expand...

Get a good stethoscope, one that you can continue to use through intern year. The electronic ones are unbelievably awesome and really make things much easier but they are also unbelievably expensive.

Save your money and get the cheapest otoscope, ophthalmoscope, tuning fork, and reflex hammer you can possibly get. After second year most of your rotation sites will have these available.

I have a 13" Macbook Pro and it's awesome. I would recommend it.

And your friend is right, you need something to escape from the daily grind, whether it be video games, exercise, or alcohol. Pick your poison.
 
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Bacchus said:
I would drink Ketel over Goose any day of the week.
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Same, I don't understand what everyone likes so much about Grey Goose. I know one thing my head never hurts with Ketel One.

On the other hand my current fav beer is "smiddicks" (smithwicks).
 
First I think it's hilarious that we basically changed this to a What Alcohol Should I Buy in Med School.

Grey Goose is the best Vodka, nothing else even compares. I have never bought it because of the price but I received a bottle for my 21st Bday and have missed it ever since I finished it. Mixing it with Sprite is a dangerous combo. You can't taste the Vodka just the Sprite and there also is no alcohol smell on your breath it's awesome. Be careful, before you know it you will be passed out on the couch.

This also works with every Vodka but when it comes to shots, nothing compares to Grey Goose.
 
tkyle56 said:
First I think it's hilarious that we basically changed this to a What Alcohol Should I Buy in Med School.

Grey Goose is the best Vodka, nothing else even compares. I have never bought it because of the price but I received a bottle for my 21st Bday and have missed it ever since I finished it. Mixing it with Sprite is a dangerous combo. You can't taste the Vodka just the Sprite and there also is no alcohol smell on your breath it's awesome. Be careful, before you know it you will be passed out on the couch.

This also works with every Vodka but when it comes to shots, nothing compares to Grey Goose.
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I 100% agree, there is not another Vodka I'd rather shoot than the Goose, besides maybe Belvedere when Grey Goose is unavailable. And the hangover is not nearly as bad when using the high quality stuff.
 
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pianoman511 said:
Too true, but I gotta say - I've never had a hangover drinking good old Ketel One & Tonic with a lime wedge....it's the absolute best (in my opinion). 😀
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Gin & tonic >> Ketel & tonic

But in my opinion, Guinness >> anything else 😉
 
pianoman511 said:
Too true, but I gotta say - I've never had a hangover drinking good old Ketel One & Tonic with a lime wedge....it's the absolute best (in my opinion). 😀
Click to expand...

Same, I rarely have any headaches after Ketel, with Goose my head feels like I finished finals week then got hit by a linebacker (bit of a exageration but you get the point 😉 )
 
Not to distract ya'll from the very important topic of vodka (Russian, for me please), but I am also curious about necessary purchases for medical school.

Before ya'll jump all over me for worrying about this too early in the game, let me start by saying that I'm finishing up graduate school (so I have a monthly paycheck now which I won't have in a few more months. So, I would rather make necessary purchases in advance when I'm not spending Monopoly (loan) money. Now, I'm not going out and buying this stuff today, but I'd like to budget so I can save up the dollars for when the time (hopefully) comes!

From the posts above, it seems the consensus is to invest in a good computer and steth and to avoid going all-out on the diagnostic kits.
Do ya'll have any other suggestions for important items or "suprise" purchases you had to make upon matriculating?
 
PeachyPhd said:
Not to distract ya'll from the very important topic of vodka (Russian, for me please), but I am also curious about necessary purchases for medical school.

Before ya'll jump all over me for worrying about this too early in the game, let me start by saying that I'm finishing up graduate school (so I have a monthly paycheck now which I won't have in a few more months. So, I would rather make necessary purchases in advance when I'm not spending Monopoly (loan) money. Now, I'm not going out and buying this stuff today, but I'd like to budget so I can save up the dollars for when the time (hopefully) comes!

From the posts above, it seems the consensus is to invest in a good computer and steth and to avoid going all-out on the diagnostic kits.
Do ya'll have any other suggestions for important items or "suprise" purchases you had to make upon matriculating?
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Thats more than a little rediculous in advance... AMCAS/AACOMAS + secondaries + flights + hotels. Save up for that, because that'll cost ya... then when you get into medical school worry about your stethescope, laptop etc.
 
I've been saving for primary, secondaries and interviews 🙂luck🙂 for months and have those monies are at the ready to push the button and watch my bank account implode on Tuesday (and subsequent months). I also have applied for loan money if necessary for a deposit or emergency. These are all expenses that I have made a plan for, budgeted and saved for.

I'm a non-trad and do not have parents or family to turn to help out with expenses. Managing money is very important to me, and I'm old enough to have learned the hard way how easy it is to be irresponsible with credit cards, etc. I'm sure there are many others that are in this same situation.

Like I said, I know its early, that's the whole point. I am just trying to prepare a budget and be as fiscally responsible as possible. I'm not going out and purchasing a steth a year in advance. I just want to be aware of the expenses that I might face and have a plan so I'm not paying unnecessary interest on them. There are obvious expenses like the cost of moving and getting settled in a new place. There are also not-so-obvious expenses, and that's what I'm after. For example, several people on other threads have mentioned that club memberships were a surprise expense for them upon starting medical school.
 
be ready to spend $150 for a good stethascope, you absolutely will use it, if not early on, then definitely once you hit 3rd or 4th year (which one is another thread topic entirely)

Buy a good laptop, it's going to be worth every penny.

Don't spend your money on the big expensive Welch Allen opthalomoscope and otoscope. For those few times you'll actually need it, you can either buy a cheap "penlight" type one, or just borrow from someone.

Here's the key, the reason they "require it": The military scholarship people can get things that are required paid for, including a laptop if it's required. If it's optional, the military won't pay for it. That's why all those books and equipment are "required" even though it doesn't take a lot to realize that you don't have to use all those books.
 
Don't hesitate to start buying board review books now. BRS Anatomy by Chung (I think that was his name) is pretty much the staple study guide for anatomy, along with Netter's.

I don't think going ahead and buying First Aid for USMLE Step 1 is a bad idea either. I will list the books I found useful for each subject below

Anatomy = BRS Anatomy, Chung
Physiology = BRS Physiology along with the Case Files book. I actually read Guyton.
Pathology = BRS Pathology
Microbiology = Micro made Simple and/or LWW Illustrated Reviews: Microbiology
Pharmacology = LWW Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology
OMM = OMT Review by Savarese (Get this NOW; I didn't know about it until the end of second year but it's so useful I wish I had it first year)

Second year is all board review books and First Aid. I never used any textbooks other than Guyton as mentioned above.

Also, your school will probably tell you to buy Harrison's Internal Medicine. Don't waste your money. Harrison's is basically a reference book and with all of the electronic sources I found I never used it.
 
You know what, for all our aimless discussion of alcohol this thread actually has some really useful advice for newly accepted students. I wish I had followed a $$ sparing guide like this.👍
 
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HooahDOc said:
Don't hesitate to start buying board review books now. BRS Anatomy by Chung (I think that was his name) is pretty much the staple study guide for anatomy, along with Netter's.

I don't think going ahead and buying First Aid for USMLE Step 1 is a bad idea either. I will list the books I found useful for each subject below

Anatomy = BRS Anatomy, Chung
Physiology = BRS Physiology along with the Case Files book. I actually read Guyton.
Pathology = BRS Pathology
Microbiology = Micro made Simple and/or LWW Illustrated Reviews: Microbiology
Pharmacology = LWW Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology
OMM = OMT Review by Savarese (Get this NOW; I didn't know about it until the end of second year but it's so useful I wish I had it first year)

Second year is all board review books and First Aid. I never used any textbooks other than Guyton as mentioned above.

Also, your school will probably tell you to buy Harrison's Internal Medicine. Don't waste your money. Harrison's is basically a reference book and with all of the electronic sources I found I never used it.
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The only things I would change/add would be Goljan (Rapid Review) Path only because it includes so many other subjects in the path review, Lange Pharm (since lippincott is great for class, but not so much for review), and wait to get First Aid until the year of your test (since it reflects the most up to date info). If you want to get it sooner, it's not a bad idea, but don't start annotating until the version that is the current year of your test.
 
Thanks, I completely forgot about Goljan. It has good information in it but I did not like the bullet-point style it was presented in. I did better with BRS.
 
Would you buy an OMT table?
 
labgirl said:
Would you buy an OMT table?
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Personally, I did not purchase one and I am glad I didn't. A lot of people I know did invest in them and don't use them now. If I need to perform any OMM on anyone (I use muscle energy, HVLA, & counterstrain on my wife frequently to treat her headaches) I can do in on a bed or on the floor...insert subtext here...

If you really want to and can afford it then by all means, but if you are getting it just for practice just remember you can access the OMM lab just as often as the library.
 
[COLOR=black said:
Find someone with a copy of the Goljan audio/lectures and try to use them with your systems classes[/COLOR]

DanZman
Click to expand...

What do you mean by Goljan audio/lectures? Where could I find these? I do well with audio lectures and would like to find them.
 
Superman DO said:
I 100% agree, there is not another Vodka I'd rather shoot than the Goose, besides maybe Belvedere when Grey Goose is unavailable. And the hangover is not nearly as bad when using the high quality stuff.
Click to expand...

Grey goose has great advertising, but it and Belvedere are particularly uninspired vodkas. They have the sexiness affiliated with them, but it is the same as Cristal. Name made it popular and it is reasonably ok, but it is by nowhere near the best and tends to show little knowledge about the flavors the alcohol should have.

It also depends on whether you have a particular affinity for grain versus potato vodka (I'll leave the grape out of it..ciroc has its own crowd). Chopin, Imperia, Kettle One, Jean Marc XO, Stoli Elite, etc. are all considered better vodkas than both Grey Goose and Belvedere by many people. IF you want to be REALLLY baller then you go with Kauffman (they have this luxury vintage that is obscenely good)...of course, it is also like 200+ dollars a bottle.
 
MossPoh said:
Grey goose has great advertising, but it and Belvedere are particularly uninspired vodkas. They have the sexiness affiliated with them, but it is the same as Cristal. Name made it popular and it is reasonably ok, but it is by nowhere near the best and tends to show little knowledge about the flavors the alcohol should have.

It also depends on whether you have a particular affinity for grain versus potato vodka (I'll leave the grape out of it..ciroc has its own crowd). Chopin, Imperia, Kettle One, Jean Marc XO, Stoli Elite, etc. are all considered better vodkas than both Grey Goose and Belvedere by many people.
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holla!

In regards to when you should get Goljan Audio it's on all the bit torrents but all the second years should have it at your school.
 
The WA panoptic diagnostic kit alone online is approx $900 + depending on where you look. My school says there will be a deep discount during orientation. But even if they took 50% off, your still looking at $450 or so. That seems ridiculous. Try Amazon.com
 
danzman said:


Goljan audio/lectures and try to use them with your systems classes, then buy the guys book (Rapid Review Path)

Oh and Wikipedia is the best place for medical information.

Click to expand...

👍
 
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