Diagnostic Kit - needed?

[fantasty]

So, I bought a diagnostic kit during my M1 year. But, I misplaced it during a volunteer clinic awhile ago (during the grad school hiatus from med school). I still have the oto head but lost the battery pack and ophtho head.

During my inpatient medicine rotation before the hiatus, I used it but it seemed like the resident's didn't even have them around. So, my question is - are they essential for the wards? Every outpt clinic I've been to recently has wall-mounted ones. This isn't true on inpatient services, but then again, I don't remember others on the team carrying them (of course, maybe that's the med student's job, since they did borrow mine a lot).

I guess I expect that I should replace it. I mean, med students should do the full exam on inpatients, right? Since we have more time and less experience to do the more focused exams.

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[Bertelman]

In order of necessity:
stethoscope
penlight
reflex hammer
tuning fork (for vibratory sense)

I still have my diagnostic kit, collecting dust at home. Once a year my wife asks me to look in her eye, or I check my dog's ears. That's it. Any hospital you work in should have the ophtho/otoscope, frequently on a little roll-around base. I will admit that I carried my ophthalmoscope around during my newborn week for red eye. But that's just because the hospital's scopes were in the resident's pockets. I just did that because we were knocking out the newborn exams quickly. Really, if you will be doing a "full exam" on a medicine inpt., I'm sure you can find a couple minutes to locate these tools while you spend the next hour with the patient.

I found far more useful items to squeeze into my coat pockets and bag. And none of my evaluations read, "He never had his otoscope handy."

 

[boston]

personally i think diagnostic kits are a scam by welch-allyn to rip off med students. all you really need is a stethoscope. you can just the bell as a reflex hammer. you can get free penlights from drug reps.

 

[deleted87716]

As a med student, I bought it all...stethoscope, tuning forks, hammer, penlight, pocket diagnostic set, blood pressure cuff, etc. Shoot, it just got added to my student loan, so what the heck, right?

I used all of it at various times, but I probably could've lived without the pocket diagnostic set and blood pressure cuff. They came in handy on a couple of rural med rotations, and I still use them for the rare house call and the occasional request by a friend or family member that I look in their ears or check their BP.

In short, it's nice to have them, IMO. However, it's your money.

 

[Bertelman]

you can just the bell as a reflex hammer.

Perfect for OB, but if you do a Neuro rotation, your attending will probably frown. They are judged by the size of their reflex hammers. Seriously.

Besides, a basic hammer is like $7.

 

[deleted87716]

They are judged by the size of their reflex hammers. Seriously.

Personally, I think this stems from feelings of inadequacy.

Kidding. But seriously, if you carry a Troemner hammer, you'd better know how to use it. You'll also need to reinforce the seams in your lab coat pockets.

 

[raidermedic]

The only thing I use in my $700 diagnostic kit is the tape measurer. And even then it's just to estimate what a centimeter is. I don't even use the stethoscope because it is junk and I replaced it.

 

[Bertelman]

Personally, I think this stems from feelings of inadequacy.

Mine's bigger than yours. I always preferred this model, with like a 2-foot carbon fiber handle. Completely ridiculous for ward rounding. Wish I had seen it used as a whip for wayward medical students dozing off as our attending rearranged the order of the leads on the EEG monitor. B-O-O-O-R-I-N-G

 

[deleted87716]

Mine's bigger than yours. I always preferred this model, with like a 2-foot carbon fiber handle. Completely ridiculous for ward rounding. Wish I had seen it used as a whip for wayward medical students dozing off as our attending rearranged the order of the leads on the EEG monitor. B-O-O-O-R-I-N-G

Careful...you'll put your eye out!

 

[hans19]

Personally, I think this stems from feelings of inadequacy.

Kidding. But seriously, if you carry a Troemner hammer, you'd better know how to use it. You'll also need to reinforce the seams in your lab coat pockets.

I think this one used to belong to Thor!

 

[Samoa]

The only rotation I've used mine on so far is peds. And that was just the otoscope. But I did use it for most of the rotation--the attendings all had their own, so the clinic never had any in the rooms. Then on the ward month, the residents carried the unit scopes, so they were never around either.

It wasn't so bad--the otoscope can be used in place of your penlight, and it works just fine for checking red reflex, which is all you need your ophthalmoscope for in children anyway. So for peds I ditched the penlight and carried an otoscope insead.

Currently I'm on ambulatory medicine, and some clinics don't have scopes. Plus it's my mission to learn how to do a quick and dirty retinal exam before I start residency. So I carry my ophthalmoscope now, although I've yet to use it.

 

[hale-bopp]

We're pretty much expected to have an opthalmascope on neurology at my school... it's actually been good practice at using it. but people who don't have one don't use it or borrow.