buying stethoscopes online

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Future_Doc

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Most places I've looked have the 3M Littmann Card III stethoscope for $179-$189. There are a couple of sites that have them listed for $117. Are these sites legit? Anyone buy anything from some of these sites? One site is egeneralmedical.com. I'm just a little hesitant to hand over my credit card # - sometimes if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

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I bought mine Master Cardiology online and paid only 142, although some sites advertise it for 129, which I think are probably refurbished/returned. Cheapest Cardiology III goes for around 130-140 online, and below that, I'll be careful. I had my stethoscope engraved so I couldn't tell if mine came from a sealed brand-new box or not. Even for a refurbished one, my stethoscope had great acoustic, almost double the clarity of my friend's Cardiology III. If you worry about credit card, go through Yahoo shopping, which encodes your credit number somehow, or something like that.
 
Before you buy your scope make sure you check with your PD profs to see if they will let you use the type of scope that you are getting. The PD director at our school wont let us use anything without a standard bell and diaphram. More then 1 person has found out the hard way the their expensive MasterCardios were banned from class and the labs.
 
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where did you see the Card III for $140?
 
Are you starting med school this fall? If so, your class will probably buy things from the same company in order to get a discount. My class did this and I bought the cardio 3 for either 115 or 130, I can't remember the exact price, but it was cheap. If the online prices you find beat the one you can get when buying with everyone else, then go for it, but for us, this beat out other places. Just a suggestion, because I don't want you to buy one now and realize you could've saved $20 or something. (Every little bit helps ;) ).
 
Everyone speaks about getting the Littmann III but is having the Littmann II sufficient for our needs in medical school? I got the II as a present from my clinic when i left this year. Hopefully it will work cause i'm po'.
 
Actually I'm an M2. The stethoscope I used last year was just a cheap gift and I really could tell the difference when I borrowed someone else's CardIII. That's a good idea to try to get an order in with the M1s so as to get the discount. Maybe that's what I'll do. I'm not sure I want to risk $120 on a refurbished (or not??) on from the net.
 
i got my card III on ebay, it wasn't refurbished it was new, and with shipping it cost 129, which isn't bad and cheaper than i would have gotten with my school.
 
I bought my steth. from allheart.com. It's a great site, I've ordered a lot of stuff from there. They send things out right away, and I've always had good service there. They have lots of sales, too.
 
I got my DRG for around $80 online. The Littmanns are of course the med student darlings, but check out DRG as you shop around...their prices are way lower, and the acoustics are great (Bose-licensed technology! whatever that means for a stethoscope)
 
I can second the recommendation on the DRG. The earpieces are way more comfortable than those of Littmans. The flexi-diaphragm condom thingies come in fun colors, and also keep the bell from being cold. And I was able to auscultate the brachial artery for blood pressure in an elderly patient, while in a moving ambulance. Correctly, too. DRG PureTone Traditional, about $50 with shipping.

My MD friends tell me that unless you're listening for obscure murmurs and rubs (and few of us are experienced and well-trained enough - yet - to recognize them), spending $180 is just as silly as spending $12.99 on the bookstore special version. First get something good but not bank-breaking, and spend some time deciding what you like and don't, what you need and don't.
 
With a little ingenuity, I was able to build my own high-end stethoscope. I first started out by purchasing a latex-free double-lumen tubing set (the same type the Littman Card III has), then I bought a high-quality milled stainless steel chest piece that was the same size exactly as the Cardio III. Finally, for $8 each I installed both adult and pediatric Littman diaphragms. These are the same diaphragms that the Cardiology III has and they are tunable, so you don’t need to use a bell on one side of your steth. Total cost: $59 plus shipping. I asked one of my teachers to compare my “Frankenstein” steth to her Littman Cardiology III and she told me she thought it was identical in both volume and audio resolution. One final note: I have used four different makers of stethoscopes and IMO nothing compares to a Littman.
 
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