Need a good stethoscope

I suggest cutting your budget in half and searching around for similar threads on this site (they are literally all over the place). Also talk to other students at you school to get their opinions.

Don't listen to the fools that tell you a cheap $20 stethoscope is good enough to get the job done. I don't see any problem in dropping 100+ on a stethoscope. Get quality and think of it as an investment. Unless you lose crap all the time, you will be using that stethoscope for many years to come.

Sidenote -- do not get suckered into buying an oto/ophthalmoscope

 

littman cario III is a great stethoscope...

 

You should check to see which sthethoscope your school recommends. Our school recommends the Littman Cardio 3's as well and offered us a massive discount at the beginning of the year!

 

You may want to wait. My school gave us Harvey Elites but didn't tell us that they were going to do so until July.

 

I recommend waiting as well. Alot of school can get you a discount rate on equiptment through special programs.

 

the "discount" at my school wasn't as cheap as allheart.com

it's hard to go wrong with the littman cardiology 3.

 

do we go to the same school? both things were true for me...

the cardio 3 is where it is at!!

 

same here.

The school discount from that annoying Welch-Allyn rep was basically equal to www.steeles.com for my stethoscope and BP cuff (I didn't get the oto/ophthalmo set though)


Nice pic by the way, Stoic. I was just listening to a good Iron&Wine/Calexico show that you would probably enjoy

 

I already have a Littman Classic II S.E. - any thoughts on whether this is good enough? I've only used it for BP's and adventitious chest sounds; I have no idea how it compares for, say, heart sounds.
Thanks for the advice Seriously, the knowledge from those who have "gone ahead" is VERY much appreciated by all of us who are still getting there!

 

Many of my attendings use the old Classic II and a number of the residents here have the Classic II SE. I have one that I got when I was a med tech during college and I've used it during some physical exams. Bottom line is that it's good enough, just not the best in the world. Regardless of what scope you decide to use, just be sure you're comfortable using it.

 

I used the Littman Classic II when I was working as an EMT. It did the job, even when all the road noise sometimes made taking bp's a bit of a challenge.

But one of the paramedics I occasionally worked with had the cardio 3 and boy was that thing sweet. I always bugged her to let me use it.