Yeah, it’s 'required,' but all that really means is checking a box online over the summer saying you have it. There is a risk of getting in trouble if you don’t, but honestly, if that ever happened, most of us would be vocal about how ridiculous it is.
The truth is, the requirement is outdated and unnecessary. It’s one of those things that made more sense back when most med students came from wealthier backgrounds. Unfortunately, a lot of stuff in med school is like that. Most rooms on the wards, in SIM, and even our college small group rooms already have otoscopes/ophthalmoscopes, sphygmomanometer, etc. mounted on the wall, so you don’t actually need your own most of the time. There is a chance you get a small group mentor who is weirdly focused on this (they all seem to have different things they obsess over lol), but if you were really worried you could wait, hit 'em with a "I forgot them at home" and then get the cheapest set off amazon - there's no chance they're checking the specs on what you have. But yeah, stethoscope and reflex hammer are what I'd actually recommend getting. And I'd go budget for sure - you will not be able to hear what you are supposed to for heart/lung sounds - no med student does, any decent stethoscope will work well for you at this level. Plus you could always lose it.
For OSCEs and standardized patient stuff, they tell us just to bring a stethoscope. I’ve only needed anything else during college sessions in the first semester and if you don’t have one, you’ll can probably just borrow from classmates. That happens all the time - people forget or don’t bring their stuff and we just share. Personally, I feel a bit bad 'mooching' but I doubt anyone thinks about it twice - I don't when I lend stuff. And you can always make up for by bringing food or something to colleges lol.
I’m totally happy to lend out my gear (minus my stethoscope), so feel free to DM me in August and I can pass it along to someone in the MS1 class. And if you have more questions, just shoot me a message.
