do u have to use your own ophthalmoscope/otoscope?

[Resolve]

i have this ophthalmoscope that i bought on ebay, but i have never used it.

i wonder if i should sell it. or save it for the future?

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[MilkmanAl]

If you already have it, you might as well keep it, but for those of you who are starting med school and thinking about buying one, don't. They're a waste of money.

 

[qmcat]

I guess it depends on the curriculum of your med school. At my school, we are all given a diagnostic kit/medical tote bag when we start learning how to do PE's that includes all the medical tools that you would need including a WA panoptic ophthalmoscope (along with a stethoscope, penlight, sphygmomanometer, eye chart, percussion hammer, and tuning fork). We actually use the ophthalmoscope a lot, though it is mostly for our class. I've personally used it a lot from volunteering in a glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy free clinic. I don't know how much we use it on rotations though because I haven't gotten there yet.

 

[JacobSilge]

I needed mine when on medicine at the VA.

 

[Resolve]

do pharm reps give these kind of goodies for free?

mine costed me over $200 to buy it, but now it seems that the price is less than $150 on ebay.

if i haven o use of it, then i will lose more money just by keeping it.

 

[riceman04]

a bunch of upperclassmen are trying to sell them here

thanks for the heads up

 

[dantt]

. I've personally used it a lot from volunteering in a glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy free clinic. I don't know how much we use it on rotations though because I haven't gotten there yet.

Are med students qualified to screen for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy???

 

[NucleusAccumben]

Save your money and put it into buying a great stethescope. You'll use this more than your own opthalmoscope/otoscope. When you have clinical skills exams you'll have to use their equipment that's in the room. During your first year you'll have faculty docs try to tell you need to buy it, but you don't. I wasted a lot of money on books I never read and equipment I bought and never used. Oh and they'll tell you it's in your financial aid to buy it, so you should go ahead an purchase it, but you are not required to buy it.

 

[MilkmanAl]

they'll tell you it's in your financial aid to buy it, so you should go ahead an purchase it, but you are not required to buy it.

Amen. Ask yourself this question: "With my loan money, would I rather purchase a tool that is otherwise furnished to me when I need it or a 32" HD TV?"

 

[lord_jeebus]

You should ask the upper-level med students at your school as this seems to vary from place to place. My school "required" it but I was never in a situation where I needed my own. I have never been in a hospital where I was unable to obtain one somewhere, although once this meant the ER giving me a big wall unit to carry up to the floor.

 

[qmcat]

Are med students qualified to screen for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy???

Well it's a free clinic, so we volunteer under attending supervision. We never screen for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy on our own. The volunteer attendings and residents are there to teach us the basics on how to use an ophthalmoscope and what to look for, and the attendings and residents are the ones who do the screening and have the final say. We are just there to practice.

 

[Concubine]

I just bought a used one, but after reading this thread I might sell it.

 

[Dral]

"Required" here. Didn't get them, didn't ever need them. Look at the attendings on the services you'll be on 3rd year. Do any of them carry around an Ophth/Oto? None here. Do they carry around stethoscopes? Pretty much all of them do. The 4th year rotations where you may need them like ENT or Ophtho have equipment that is better or more permanent.

So yeah. Save your money. Conspiracy theory makes me wonder if Welch-Allyn and the like give kickbacks to schools to let them come in and hand out those 'you need me, buy me' flyers to beginning 1st years.