Best Friend MD Graduation, Need Gift Ideas

[ahealey74]

Hi there, I am not a doctor or a medical student, but my best friend just graduated and will be starting his residency out in San Francisco soon. His parents are throwing him a graduation party and I want to get him a very thoughtful gift - not some cheesy pen set or paperweight with a caudecus (sp.) on it. I would really appreciate gift ideas for the new medical professional. He is a childhood buddy and is my best man for my upcoming wedding, so it can't be crap.

What type of gift would you like and appreciate? What are some good gifts that any of you have received and been impressed/touched by? Thanks for your help.

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[retroviridae]

cold hard cash!

Not the classiest gift, but certainly the most practical!

 

[Obedeli]

Hi there, I am not a doctor or a medical student, but my best friend just graduated and will be starting his residency out in San Francisco soon. His parents are throwing him a graduation party and I want to get him a very thoughtful gift - not some cheesy pen set or paperweight with a caudecus (sp.) on it. I would really appreciate gift ideas for the new medical professional. He is a childhood buddy and is my best man for my upcoming wedding, so it can't be crap.

What type of gift would you like and appreciate? What are some good gifts that any of you have received and been impressed/touched by? Thanks for your help.

The retrovirus is right. This is tough, I know. You want to give him something special but everything made "special" for a medical graduate is usually junk. Someone may tell you to buy him a subscription to a journal or something else medically related. DON'T! Most residency programs offer reduced rate subscriptions and extra benefits like palm pilots.
I am graduating this May too and we need money to cover moving, closing costs, new furniture, blinds, fencing, blah, blah, blah. Honestly, for a graduating medical student, money IS very special. San Fran is the most expensive city in the nation, he will need more than his meager salary can offer. Honestly, I don't know how residents financially survive in san fran.

 

[clc17]

It might help to know what specialty the person is going into.

For example, optho might like a nice panoptic ophthalmoscope

I am going into derm. I would've loved a digital camera

Almost every intern needs a palm pilot

Other cool things would be a plane ticket, esp if they have some time off before intern year.

You could get him a gift certificate to have his diploma framed...that cost me 250 bucks at a custom framer.

I also got a 500 dollar hitchcock chair with my medical school's emblem on it and a plaque with my name. It was a pretty cool gift.

 

[ahealey74]

I know money is the most important thing (same as my wedding) but I am trying to figure out something a bit more sentimental.

His father already got him a top of the line Dell Axiom, so that is right out (and I don't have $500 to drop anyway). I am definitely staying away from the stupid desk sets, etc.

Is there some type of really cool reference tome that no doctor should be without? Or maybe an oft used piece of equipment? I don't know the specific area he will be in, he has always talked about general practice. Maybe some more good ideas will come along... (Please, Please, Please!)

 

[Winged Scapula]

Trouble with "traditional" medical gifts is that either:

a) the recipient already has one (the old stethoscope)
b) it is not appropriate for the recipient (ie, getting a stethoscope without being specifically asked for the exact model, or a diagnostic kit for the radiologist)
c) it is given free to the recipient: some programs give their residents Palm Pilots/PDAs, tools, books, etc.

Without knowing what field your friend is going into (can you ask his parents, or have some other way of finding out?) it makes it hard to recommend books. I'm sure he already has a fine medical dictionary and a clinical exam book and most specialty books will either be purchased for him by his residency program, or he will be provided with a book fund for such a purchase. Don't get him a lab coat embroidered with his name (I got several) as the program will give them to him with the hospital logo on it.

However, if you can find out what program he is going into, and what THE book to have for that specialty is, a nice thing to do would be to have it autographed by the principal author. Especially if that person is someone famous in the field.

Consider giving a non-medical gift. Not cash, but if your friend is moving how about something for his new home, or a San Francisco gift pack -ie, maps of the city, mass transit schedules, chocolates from Scharffen-Barger (something to that effect) or Joseph Schmidt, a restaurant gift certificate, a travel book about the city (if he's not very familiar with it)?

He will eventually get business cards, so perhaps an engraved business card holder (or maybe that's better for finishing residency).

depending on your budget, perhaps an open jaw ticket home from San Francisco for which your friend can pick the dates once he has his vacation schedule.

If your friend is the Norman Rockwell type, there are loads of prints on EBay and other places featuring doctors. Or if he is a fan of ancient Asian culture, there are some ceramic female examination figurines (used when female patients saw a male doctor, they would point to the area they were having a problem with, rather than being directly examined. Sort of quaint, IMHO).

Maybe a nice on-call bag - you could pick out a nice leather bag (manly type one - but not a medical bag - no one uses those) and fill it with things loved by residents on call: snacks, Brush-ups (or a real toothbrush and past), aspirin, eye drops, ear plugs (have him set his pager to vibrate), clean socks, small blanket, picture of his S.O., a handbook for his specialty for some light reading, gum or breath fresheners, telephone card so he can call loved ones long distance (just in case his hospital requires that he dial in a access code to dial long distance), some notepaper, or small notebook, etc.

Hope this gets you started...

 

[EPA7X1]

How much you gonna spend?

I really want the PSP, and I think it is a cool gift for a resident to be. Fits in the pocket, plays movies, games, music . . .

Definitely do not get him something medical. Cash is what he wants from his family, etc; not from a good friend.

 

[ahealey74]

Trouble with "traditional" medical gifts is that either:

a) the recipient already has one (the old stethoscope)
b) it is not appropriate for the recipient (ie, getting a stethoscope without being specifically asked for the exact model, or a diagnostic kit for the radiologist)
c) it is given free to the recipient: some programs give their residents Palm Pilots/PDAs, tools, books, etc.

Without knowing what field your friend is going into (can you ask his parents, or have some other way of finding out?) it makes it hard to recommend books. I'm sure he already has a fine medical dictionary and a clinical exam book and most specialty books will either be purchased for him by his residency program, or he will be provided with a book fund for such a purchase. Don't get him a lab coat embroidered with his name (I got several) as the program will give them to him with the hospital logo on it.

However, if you can find out what program he is going into, and what THE book to have for that specialty is, a nice thing to do would be to have it autographed by the principal author. Especially if that person is someone famous in the field.

Consider giving a non-medical gift. Not cash, but if your friend is moving how about something for his new home, or a San Francisco gift pack -ie, maps of the city, mass transit schedules, chocolates from Scharffen-Barger (something to that effect) or Joseph Schmidt, a restaurant gift certificate, a travel book about the city (if he's not very familiar with it)?

He will eventually get business cards, so perhaps an engraved business card holder (or maybe that's better for finishing residency).

depending on your budget, perhaps an open jaw ticket home from San Francisco for which your friend can pick the dates once he has his vacation schedule.

If your friend is the Norman Rockwell type, there are loads of prints on EBay and other places featuring doctors. Or if he is a fan of ancient Asian culture, there are some ceramic female examination figurines (used when female patients saw a male doctor, they would point to the area they were having a problem with, rather than being directly examined. Sort of quaint, IMHO).

Maybe a nice on-call bag - you could pick out a nice leather bag (manly type one - but not a medical bag - no one uses those) and fill it with things loved by residents on call: snacks, Brush-ups (or a real toothbrush and past), aspirin, eye drops, ear plugs (have him set his pager to vibrate), clean socks, small blanket, picture of his S.O., a handbook for his specialty for some light reading, gum or breath fresheners, telephone card so he can call loved ones long distance (just in case his hospital requires that he dial in a access code to dial long distance), some notepaper, or small notebook, etc.

Hope this gets you started...

Thanks, these are all great ideas. I think I am going to go with a "goodie bag" style gift. Those things always work out well; people love finding all of the odds and ends. My fiance is great at putting those together. I will do some digging into his exact field and try to put some relevant things in the bag along with the other stuff you mentioned. Maybe top it all off with a little cash as a bonus!

Maybe other people would like to offer their ideas on what they would like in a goodie bag?

 

[southerndoc]

I gave my friend an iPod mini with his name engraved on the back. Of course the title "MD" was added after his name as was the school from which he graduated.

 

[Doczilla]

PSP is an awesome idea for the incipient resident. Having heard that, now I want one.

Some other ideas:
A really nice bottle of single malt scotch
MP3 player
Digital camera
Glock 19 9mm compact pistol with high capacity 15 round magazines, trijicon night sights or laser sight, and leather holster (sorry, you said you wanted to spend less than $500. Come to think of it, this may not be your thing.)
Nice set of poker chips (lots of these on eBay)
Lord of the Rings trilogy, special collector's edition
Family Guy DVD

Ultimately, since he is such a good friend, perhaps you can arrange a trip or something unique you can do together. The memories of your time together might be worth more than anything else. Some ideas:
Skydiving (try the accelerated freefall program if you've never done it before. You have to spend more time on the ground learning, but this way you don't have to be hitched to an instructor when you jump)
Parasailing
Rock climbing (you could do a local rock gym if you don't have mountains nearby or don't have much experience)
Scuba diving
Rafting or camping trip
Paintball outing with several friends
Road trip to Vegas (or a nice casino if you don't live close to Vegas)
Trip to a waterpark or amusement park

And if you've got the money, this would be AWESOME:
http://www.nogravity.com


'zilla

 

[Winged Scapula]

Thanks, these are all great ideas. I think I am going to go with a "goodie bag" style gift. Those things always work out well; people love finding all of the odds and ends. My fiance is great at putting those together. I will do some digging into his exact field and try to put some relevant things in the bag along with the other stuff you mentioned. Maybe top it all off with a little cash as a bonus!

Maybe other people would like to offer their ideas on what they would like in a goodie bag?

Thought of a couple of other things...

-small alarm clock (not all call rooms or pagers have alarms)
-clip on light; it beats having to get out of bed to turn the light on to answer pages
-maybe a magazine subscription to something non-medical
-how could I forget a PSP or IPOD? I hardly ever seen my BF without one or the other in his hands. Of course, they are expensive.
- toiletry set - besides the toothbrush and toothpaste (or Brush-Ups), travel shampoo, soap, razor, comb, etc. Most residents steal them from the hospital supply which can be hit or miss. Now that we've got Pxyis for everything I guess the days of milk and honey are over.
-batteries (for the alarm clock or when your pager goes dead and you're too tired to walk down to the operator or the nurse's station to get some replacements; most take "AA")

 

[mosche]

Several people have suggested "money", and while it is VERY appreciated, it often makes things seem a bit uncomfortable -- unless it's from family (maybe it's just me!). Anyway, I tutor students when not in class, and am always appreciative of gift certificates that my students surprise me with. Further, I have recently seen "pre-paid credit cards"; while it's very similar to cash, it seems much more personal! Another idea along the same lines: travelers checks for the residency move.

 

[hello23]

BMW M3 with red leather interior.

 

[ahealey74]

BMW M3 with red leather interior.

No, that's what I want!

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Despite how tough the intern life is, on occasion we do get to get out of the hospital. I wouldn't mind someone giving me some nice threads for when I'm out and about in the City.

 

[rubyness]

Gift certificates for things for the home-- depending on his taste-- Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrell, etc. If he's moving he'll be needing new stuff and a gift certificate might allow him to get something a little nicer for himself than he would if he had to pay for it himself.

 

[IlianaSedai]

I agree with a house item. Espresso machine, wall poster or painting, lamp, French press, dishes, toaster, microwave, bath towels, bedding, etc. Almost guaranteed, any house item you get for most single guys would beat whatever they'd get for themselves upon moving to a new place. If he's gonna have to move a long way after the party, though, it would be nice to see if you could either get something that already comes packaged (like the espresso machine) so it can be easily shipped, or have it shipped to the destination.

I say house stuff, because it's tough to have the money to buy yourself nice stuff on a resident's salary (in a city with exorbitant rent), and it's also tough to have the time to go out and find something nice. When time and money are short, priorities other than spending entire days hopping from shop to shop to find the right poster or lamp come first.