2nd Year Medical Equipment Suggestions?

[rainysky28]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

hi we just recently had some guys from Welch Allyn come over to talk about medical equipments that we'll need for the next year. now since i am not too familiar with those equipments, i felt like i was getting pursuaded by those sales people. so i need some feedback or suggestions from people who had some experience.

3 things that i need help with choosing are ophthalmoscope, otoscope and stethoscope.

for the ophthalmoscope, Welch Allyn has with 3 different versions. first one is PanOptic (most expensive) which supposedly gives 5X more viewing angle compared to the standard scope. the 2nd type of ophthalmoscope they offer is Coaxial (middle), which is pretty much traditional scope with Halogen HPX light. now the last one is a pocketscope which is the cheapest and is operated by AA batteries. it's very compact which i like but i'm worried that it's lack of performance might hinder my learning process in clinics.

for the otoscope, we got two choices. first one is called MacroView which they claim gives larger viewing angle and sharper view. the other one again is the pocketscope version which is basically the sibling of the pocket ophthalmoscope (cheap and compact).

finally for the stethoscope, we actually had two companies to choose from: Welch Allyn and Littmann. Welch Allyn offers Harvey Elite Cardiology, Harvey DLX Dual Head and regular Harvey Dual Head. on the other hand, Littmann offers Master Cardiology, Cardiology III and Classic II S.E.

i did some online research on stethoscopes and apparently, Littmann is what everyone uses (or have been using) in clinics. i did hear from some people that Littmann is way too hyped than it is really worth. Generally, i have read that Littmann is good enough but not GREAT. as for Welch Allyn, although there were a few number of people who did not like Harvey DLX, most seem to prefer this model over Littmann's Master Cardiology or Cardiology III.

so there we have it. i would definately prefer to save money if there isn't much difference between the models. however, if the advantages are significant enough, i am willing to pay more premium for the higher models. as of now, i'm leaning towards purchasing PanOptic and Macroview for the ophthal and otoscopes. for the stethoscope, i'm leaning towards Harvey DLX.

if anyone could help me out with their knowledge and/or opinions and perhaps their experience with any of those equipments, i would greatly appreciate it. 🙂

 

[Tired]

My opinion, for what it's worth:

We had this same presentation from Welch-Alyyn (or however the hell you spell it). Of course they pushed the Pan-Optic, because you can see the retina so much better, and it's got all the fancy features. And those fancy stethoscopes, that you can hear so much better with. And then the blood pressure cuffs, and tote bags, and everything else. It really makes you feel like you'll do better on your rotations if you have the expensive equipment, because you'll be able to get better physical findings.

So of course I bought a bunch of it. $750 total, if I remember correctly.

Here's how things went the rest of med school:

1) My Master Cardiology stethoscope was stolen two weeks into my Pediatrics block.

2) The PanOptic was far too big to carry around with me, since I needed my pockets for books and papers. Also, there are otoscopes and ophthalmascopes all over the hospital. On the wards, I have never been asked about a fundoscopic exam or TM exam. In clinic and the ER, these scopes are available in every room.

3) I can count on one hand the number of times I have felt the need to take a manual blood pressure. When I have needed to, there are cuffs at every nursing station in the hospital.

I now carry the following equipment:
- a $40 Classic II stethoscope
- a $12 reflex hammer (the big heavy one that actually works)
- a $100 Disk-riminator (it's an Ortho thing)
- a $3 penlight

And that's it. Never had a problem.

If I could do it over again, I would do this:

I think if you're interested in Cardiology or Pulm, get the expensive stethoscope. But for most students, your ability to hear subtle findings on auscultation are limited more by your abilities than your equipment, and you will be fine with a "nursing" stethoscope.

You don't need the scopes, but if you're required to buy them, get the cheap-ass "portable" version, which will be infinitely easier to carry around than the big-honking PanOptic piece of crap. Eye findings mean little to everyone except the Ophto guys, whose equipment is way fancier than the PanOptic (have you seen the head gear yet?), and the basic stuff you can see with the "traditional" ophthalmascope.

Ironically, the most useful items I have are the penlight and reflex hammer. They are also cheap, and if you put the effort into finding ones you like, they will be really useful to both you and your team (residents don't seem to carry these).

Good luck. Don't let them suck you further into debt with their high-pressure sales tactics. Nice equipment will make you feel important at the MS2 level, but by the time you hit MS4, most of it will be stolen or lost, and you won't really care because you never needed it in the first place.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

Nice stethoscope
Reflext hammer
Penlight
Tuning fork (you'll need it for your second year when you're learning the neuro exam, then you can probably toss it)

Students get pressured into buying ophthalmascopes/otoscopes because a) they are told they need them, and b) they are told the exams are difficult and they will need to practice.

BS. Looking in ears is easy, if you don't rock at it by the end of 2nd year you will after 1 week on family/peds. Looking in eyes is pretty useless, unless you want to find papilledema. Once again, you'll be competent at it after a few months of 3rd year.

See if you can find an upperclassmen who bought the expensive toys who is glad they did.

 

[Gut Shot]

3 things that i need help with choosing are ophthalmoscope, otoscope and stethoscope.

Crap crap crap. Get a decent stethoscope, a pen light, a reflex hammer, a note pad, a cheap tuning fork, a copy of Maxwell's, a few good ink pens and a pocket pharm guide.

I was lucky to inherit a diagnostic kit. Used it in the hospital/clinic, oh, zero times. I did splurge on a PDA, which was also a total waste.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I splurged on a Littman Cardio III. Other than that, I bought a pack of penlights, a reflex hammer, a couple tuning forks. For the oto/ophthalmoscope I bought a generic brand off Ebay. I paid less than $100 and it works FINE. I do use it for physical diagnosis because the site I am assigned to doesn't have them available for us. Imagine my physical diagnosis partner's dismay when we were using otoscopes - my cheap one and his ridiculously expensive Welch-Allyn one - and he discovered my light was brighter than his!!!

The panoptic is great, but you are gonna have to learn to do a fundoscopic exam using a traditional ophthalmoscope for Step II CS. Buy the panoptic if you go into ophtho and can write it off as a "business expensive" not now when you are using money that the government is collecting interest on!

 

[lord_jeebus]

Don't buy the opthalmoscope or otoscope. If you absolutely must, buy the smallest one, or the cheapest one. Don't restrict yourself to what the reps are offering you, look around online, ebay, etc.

Stethoscopes have been discussed to death here. (Team DRG!) Try a search, or try a bunch of stethoscopes and see which one sounds clearest to you.

 

[lord_jeebus]

The panoptic is great, but you are gonna have to learn to do a fundoscopic exam using a traditional ophthalmoscope for Step II CS.

More like, you're gonna have to learn how to pretend to do a fundoscopic exam using a traditional opthalmoscope for Step II CS.