stethescopes

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IHeartGoldens

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Okay.. So after much research about different types (tunable etc etc) I wanted to hear everyone's opinion on what is needed for vet school. Do some schools required specific types/brands? Are they provided to us by schools? (I know some med schools "gift" them to their students)
I just received the Littman master cardio as a gift but I'm not sure i'll be able to properly learn on it since it requires varying pressue for correct tuning.

Suggestions? Hints?
 
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I actually don't know that much about the differences (I haven't really done enough research), but at Oregon State they gifted us the 3M Littman Classic II S.E. Both my parents (who are in varying aspects of the human medicine field) told me that Littman's are one of, if not the best brands.
 
UC Davis doesn't require a specific stethoscope but recommends getting one appropriate for your field (i.e. if you're large animal, get one that comes really long). They do ask you to get a stethoscope pretty early in the quarter but it's not absolutely required until later (as of yet, I haven't had to use it except for clinics I've volunteered to do).

Also, check with the bookstore at your school. The bookstore here will meet any price you find online so you can get a huge discount and not pay for shipping or wait to get it.

Another consideration is either engraving your stethoscope or buying a tag for it because everyone will have very similar looking stethoscopes! Don't lose it!

My personal preference is the Littman Cardio III. The vet clinic I worked at gave it to me and I love it 😀
 
I bought a Kila Medical stethoscope off the web awhile back just for the heck of it. To be honest, my ears aren't good enough to tell the difference between it and the 3M Littmans we have at work.

http://kilalabs.com/

For $25, you can't beat it. At the very least it makes a cheap, good quality backup.
 
 
Littman is the way to go for sure! They have an animal one with a longer "cord", if you want to call it that. (this is esp useful when working with equine). Its expensive, yes, but will last you for a very long time.
 
I have the "animal" litmann with the long cord and love it! the extra length means I don't spend as much time hunched over. It's does take some getting used to because it's tunable, but the tuning on it is more along the lines of start off with light pressure and press harder until you hear what you're looking for.
 
I have the master cardio, short, which is fine by me (but I don't mind crouching and kneeling) and the tunable diaphragm doesn't present any problems, even on the smallest dogs. Not sure about small exotics. I prefer the short because I clip mine to my hip and the long gets in my way (wearing it around your neck without a collar or cover will damage the tubing earlier due to skin oils.)
 
I've never used a stethoscope in my life. I've never had a reason to... and some of you have bought yours already? The nice $100+ ones? Why?

(I'm just curious rly...)
 
twelvetigers said:
I've never used a stethoscope in my life. I've never had a reason to... and some of you have bought yours already? The nice $100+ ones? Why?

(I'm just curious rly...)
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I bought mine a good 6+ months before I started vet school. Spent like $150 on a Littmann Cardiology III (black edition because its awesome looking)

Why? Because I was accepted to vet school at that point and knew I would need a good one eventually. I used it every weekend at the E-clinic as I TPR'ed and got a history on every animal that walked in the door. I would usually mention to the docs if I thought I heard something abnormal and they would let me know if I was right or wrong. If there was a really bad murmur I wouldn't say anything to the owners, but would ask if the animal had a history of cardiac problems.

That was my justification. Until then I used some cheap $4 generic stethoscopes we kept laying around at work. In light of my training I think they worked just fine for what I was doing.
 
My husband gifted me the LA littman after my acceptance (awwwww). I LOVE it. Not only for the purpose of LA, but because I'm tall and have giant monkey arms, and it's long enough that my elbow isn't in an awkward position to use. It also has the low-profile head, which makes it really easy to get up in an armpit (although it's too big for anything smaller than a large dog). We've been learning how to do PEs, and our cardio professor made sure to belabor the point of listening to 'any animal you come across', because heart sounds can be so different and still be normal. Haven't used it too much for classes, but I have used it a ton outside of school or when shadowing and such.

Our school did have a stethoscope sale about a month in - Littman came and gave some decent discounts for people who ordered rough them. So you may want to hold off until you get in, and see if whichever school you wind up at does that.
 
See if you can try some out before you buy. I have a Littman. It was free, so I'm not complaining. I tried a friend's clearscope and OMG was everything clear! Those are the only two taht I've used, but the difference between the two was astounding. The thing about clearscopes is that they're not two-sided.
 
Bought mine for a job. Was responsible for TPR on every incoming patient and two techs trying to share one stethy at the same time just doesn't work very well. Even if I never get accepted it was well worth it just for that.
 
Just bumping this thread to see what is available today. Anyone know the best models/best for vet school or large animal? I recently started looking into finally purchasing one. Price really doesn't matter.
 
I have the Littmann Cardiology III and LOVE it. I use it mostly for LA work (and "testing" it out on my dogs at home.) Great sound quality, on everything from tiny baby goats to giant cows. It's not too heavy, but not light enough that I feel like I'm going to break it if I press too hard trying to auscultate an obnoxious horse.
And its pretty, so sometimes I just want to walk around with it on to look cool. So far, I've resisted that urge....

Really, it's a matter of preference. I won a free stethoscope thru the school, so will also have the Classic IIse in a few weeks. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to sell it or hang on to it for really messy cases, iso cases, or what. I've actually never used the Classic, and have only use the Cardiology III before I even bought mine, so we will see. If you can, definitely try out a few different models, see what length tubing you like, and if you like the feel and sound of them.
 
I'm considering getting an ultrascope. One of teh vets at work LOVES hers and I love that I can personalize it with a picture of my pooch... anyone have any negatives or positives about them?

I already have a cardiology and a classic....lol. One is my husbands but I use his more than mine. 🙂
 
I have a Littman cardiology III and I love it. Really like the turntable, its fun to play with on my piggy haha. i chose it because a large number of interns at my local specialty hospital have it every year. figured if it was good enough for them then awesome.
 
I'm getting ready to get one as well and all of these threads give the same information: people have a variety of scopes and everyone likes theirs. I'm going for the cheaper option (Littman Classic II) just because I probably won't use one all that much if I end up where I intend. Seems that people that have them like them; then again, I haven't seen anyone on the boards say, "I have suchandsuch and I hate it!" So I'm going to save myself the extra $80 🙂
 
that redhead said:
I'm getting ready to get one as well and all of these threads give the same information: people have a variety of scopes and everyone likes theirs.
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My sister gave me a Littmann Vet MCII as an acceptance gift. I figure even if there's one out there I'd like incrementally more I'll just stick with that rather than spend money. I'm kinda a cheapskate in that way.

If I were going to buy one, it'd be a double-lumen scope like the master cardio.
 
I have a Littmann Cardiology III (gift from my b/f...nice guy huh? Hehe)

It's probably the best stethoscope I've ever used. Being a tech there are lots of different types/brands/qualities lying around from the $10 cheapies(which are the equivalent to toys IMO) to the "fancy-electronic-one"(which sucks btw).

All of the Littmanns (except for the electronic ones) I've used are great!

I've used the UltraScope's before and honestly I didn't like it--I mean it was very pretty but the quality was pretty mediocre compared to other stethoscopes I've used...

Hope that helps!😀
 
bellacavallino said:
All of the Littmanns (except for the electronic ones) I've used are great!

I've used the UltraScope's before and honestly I didn't like it--I mean it was very pretty but the quality was pretty mediocre compared to other stethoscopes I've used...

Hope that helps!😀
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Ooo I was just going to ask if anyone had ever used one of the electronic ones before.

What didn't you like? (just purely curious) And how did it differ from a traditional scope?
 
We had one of the Littmann electronic stethoscopes @ our hospital and I really didn't think that it was any better of quality than the Littmann II or Cardio III to be quite honest. I had a lot of difficulty hearing well with it and I think that the electronic ones are too delicate and not as durable...you can't just "toss" them anywhere, especially if you are planning on using it for Food animal or Equine 😉. And to be frank, I think it's a little too much money ($350 instead of $150) for something that doesn't give that much better acoustics (and for something I'd be worried about dropping). But that's my opinion, your best bet is trying them yourself! Hope that helps! 🙂
 
bellacavallino said:
We had one of the Littmann electronic stethoscopes @ our hospital and I really didn't think that it was any better of quality than the Littmann II or Cardio III to be quite honest. I had a lot of difficulty hearing well with it and I think that the electronic ones are too delicate and not as durable...you can't just "toss" them anywhere, especially if you are planning on using it for Food animal or Equine 😉. And to be frank, I think it's a little too much money ($350 instead of $150) for something that doesn't give that much better acoustics (and for something I'd be worried about dropping). But that's my opinion, your best bet is trying them yourself! Hope that helps! 🙂
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cool. i didnt even know people used them on animals! seems kinda silly to me, such an expensive thing to get so dirty and grimy all the time haha. i can't imagine paying so much either! i also wonder if their quality is hindered by fur...
 
DVMorBust said:
My husband gifted me the LA littman after my acceptance (awwwww). I LOVE it. Not only for the purpose of LA, but because I'm tall and have giant monkey arms, and it's long enough that my elbow isn't in an awkward position to use. It also has the low-profile head, which makes it really easy to get up in an armpit (although it's too big for anything smaller than a large dog).

O.
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for the people that are talking about the large animal scope are you referring to this one:

Littmann Master Classic II Veterinary Stethoscope
http://www.allheart.com/littvet1392.html

or is there another? would anyone recommend the littman veterinary scope over the littman classic II if you were looking for a large animal scope?
 
twelvetigers said:
I've never used a stethoscope in my life. I've never had a reason to... and some of you have bought yours already? The nice $100+ ones? Why?

(I'm just curious rly...)
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Agreed. Maybe because I'm only an unregistered assistant at work, there has never been a need for me to use one. This thread is freaking me out, I feel like I'm totally behind the curve here. :scared:
 
I use a stethoscope every single day. However, I am a vet tech and we take the heart and resp rate of every animal that walks in the door. Also, a large part of my job is a surgery technician. Essentially, I spend a lot of time listening to heart beats and lung sounds! (never trust those monitors!! 😉)

If I didn't use one already, I'd be sure to wait till classes got rolling to decide what I wanted.
 
teatime said:
Agreed. Maybe because I'm only an unregistered assistant at work, there has never been a need for me to use one. This thread is freaking me out, I feel like I'm totally behind the curve here. :scared:
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i spend a lot of time in a specialty hospital shadowing and really wished i had the chance to listen to stuff (it's always a let down to hear people talking about the whopping murmur something has and not get a chance to listen yourself). i also have done a few RAM clinics where i've spent a majority of my time either PEing everything about to go into surgery, or recovering everything came out. definitely a useful thing to have there. and, of course, i really wanted one 😀

i wouldnt worry too much about it though, school will tell you plenty
 
I agree too! I would not have bought the stethoscope I have now, but I got it as a gift so can't complain!! 🙂 Most of the time there's always available/extra stethoscopes around the hospital-- no need to run out and buy one right away! :laugh:

I guess if I were to choose between the Littmann ii or the LA Littmann, I would probably choose the Littmann ii because it has a bell as well as the normal diaphragm(what you would normally use day to day). Not that you use the bell very much-- but I think it would nice to have just in case. But I know vet's (mostly equine) that have both stethoscopes with both a bell and a diaphragm and ones without and at the end of the day its personal preference.

My only real recommendation is get the long stethoscope (27"). Much nicer when working with the bigger guys. 😛
 
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teatime said:
Agreed. Maybe because I'm only an unregistered assistant at work, there has never been a need for me to use one. This thread is freaking me out, I feel like I'm totally behind the curve here. :scared:
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lol I'm in the same boat....never used one...dont know what I'm listening for....counting on sdn to guide me in which one to purchase
 
As an aside, I'm really hoping that it is true that people are coming from all different backgrounds with different experiences and we will all be taught from the ground up instead of assuming we know certain things. :xf:
 
teatime said:
As an aside, I'm really hoping that it is true that people are coming from all different backgrounds with different experiences and we will all be taught from the ground up instead of assuming we know certain things. :xf:
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👍 ditto!
 
Raptorlovr88 said:
👍 ditto!
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ditto ^2.

I use the stethoscope at work to get TPRs, but am not confident at all doing so and still have a really hard time with it. Hoping we all learn from the bottom up and not feel stupid in school!
 
I'll put my voice in there as one who has not used a 'scope before. In endurance to take pulse it's so much easier to use my hand and feel it than to pull out a 'scope. The only time I've ever heard anything interesting is when I was at the vet's and he handed me his and told me to listen - my horse had sand in her gut and I could hear it!

My last clinic experience was almost 10 years ago, so here's another person hoping they start from the ground up when it comes to clinical stuff. I have a REALLY strong biology background and food safety industry background....and large animal husbandry.....dogs and cats is going to quite a change!
 
Has anyone ever seen/used a triple-head stethoscope?
 
triple head? Just googled it. That seems a little excessive. I wonder if it has much use in vet med?
 
My Master Cardiology is my fav. Unless someone tells me I'm required to have something different, I'll just use what I have and suffer the stiff muscles.

 
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heylodeb said:
triple head? Just googled it. That seems a little excessive. I wonder if it has much use in vet med?
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It is excessive, and probably only used in cardio. I asked because my dad has one that he never uses and is going to send it to me.
 
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