stethoscope

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gasgasgas

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Since I only use the stethoscope to make sure my patients are RRR no M/R/G, I have no idea what a good stethoscope would be. I'm going to my cousin's graduation and he will be starting medical school this fall so I wanted to get him a good stethoscope to use. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.
 
Since I only use the stethoscope to make sure my patients are RRR no M/R/G, I have no idea what a good stethoscope would be. I'm going to my cousin's graduation and he will be starting medical school this fall so I wanted to get him a good stethoscope to use. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

Littmann Cardio III is a pretty solid choice for stethoscope.
 
Litmann Cardio III is the standard everyone talks about. Lately I have been using one of those toy-like contact precautions scopes because I forgot mine at another hospital... pretty sure it works just as well and is much lighter!

Survivor DO
 
I find that hanging at hospital with a toy that costs like 200 bucks isnt fun at all.
A cheap and always secure option for the novice and not so novice is a sprague-rapport. Why ? Because it has pretty solid sound amplification, and for most of us thats all that matters. They are heavy pieces of machinery though.
 
Infection control?

That's the idea. All inpatients and outpatient surgery patients get their own stethoscopes and BP cuffs that travel with them throughout the hospital.

They're a step up from the disposable plastic ones, but they're not Littmann Cardiology IIIs.
 
Wow, you guys work at hospitals that allow you to own stethoscopes?

CMS and JCAHO put a stop to that for us.

I dont know about OR, but in the clinic and ward, yeah every doctor owns one. I do desinfect it with alcohol gel after every patient. But i guess having dedicated stethos for dedicated services is a better strategy for infection control. However it is a drag having to change stethos all the time.
However a lousy clinician may jeopardize the whole thing, if he just doesnt care to maintain and clean his stetho.

Anesthesist need to be particularly keen on this, because they check vitals while there is a big ass incision nearby.
 
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More likely nutty Navy nursing leadership faulty interpretations, otherwise we'd all be rocking the disposable contact isolation scopes.

Believe it or not, it was the civilian joint where I moonlight that started it first (after a CMS visit).


For now, CMS doesn't visit MTFs. I wish I could say it was the armed guards authorized to use lethal force, but I think they stay away just because we don't get Medicare/Medicaid money. We still get to play JCAHO games though.
 
Since I only use the stethoscope to make sure my patients are RRR no M/R/G, I have no idea what a good stethoscope would be. I'm going to my cousin's graduation and he will be starting medical school this fall so I wanted to get him a good stethoscope to use. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

I second the lap dance suggestion. Stethoscope can be bought in due time.
 
Recently, I bought a Heine steth, thinking that Germans would build a good product. Almost $200.

The sound was great, but the ear buds are not screwed on and kept falling off. I lost at least nine or ten of them in the two years I owned it. Maybe more.

Company replaced them, but what a hassle. Sometimes I lost them every couple of days. I actually glued them on with super glue, but even that didn't work forever.

Got rid of it and have had a Littman for two years now, no earbud problem.
 
Some schools have it included with an equipment package for freshman - so try and see if his school has that first. Cardio III is a safe bet. Anything double headed should be fine though. One with a green or dark blue tubing is also something to consider, for loss prevention purposes. There's always one d-bag in every school who has to have the bright ass red or EMS orange tubing, but the blue is subtly different. Littman classic II is also a solid option.

But yeah, strippers are probably a better use of funds.
 
What's a stethoscope???

-pod

A treasure thought to be lost in the 3rd Galactic War but rediscovered several centuries later in the Pokemon Ruins. It was said to grant the user great powers of destruction and creation elevating one to the status of a God. Rumours have it that it was first created by the Siths in order to thwart the Jedi forces. The original name Sith-o-scope was lost in millenia of translations and misinterpretations to the modern name "stethoscope". It's mystical powers are apparent to medical school administrators when it seemingly boosts the confidence and cockiness of medical students upon wearing it. It has thus become a tradition for medical and even non-medical students to purchase a fraudulent copy at ludicrous prices purely for the placebo effect. However, since these are fake they obviously do not grant the powers as described previously. In fact, recent RCTs have demonstrated a statistically significant drop in IQ for those in long term contact with a stethoscope and it has been further shown to be teratogenic and displays significant cytotoxicity which is the mechanism postulated for why doctors often have children who are doctors (the damage was intra-uterine) and the IQ drop associated with neuro-apoptosis.

Nevertheless, we still love them.


Is that the thing to check reflexes with?

Surprisingly yes you can! :meanie:

My hospital has a reflex hammer shortage.
 
To decrease the risk for infection, I rock a disposable plastic solo cup; The key is to put the wide open end on the patient's chest or back and listen through the bottom of the cup.
 
This is my stethoscope, but I don't use it all that often-
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