Things to buy before MS1: A Guide

[salmonellaisafish]

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[Oncie]

Bookmarked !

Hopefully it'll be useful the summer of 2019

 

[chipsnqueso]

Appreciate the advice, but might want to add a disclaimer that these links are affiliate links and you're making a commission off everyone's purchase (and surprise, several of these items are significantly pricier than adequate counterparts).

 

[JustAPhD]

Hoping this post can get stickied so the same question doesn’t get asked again as new MS1s come through next year.

Ah the irony.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/things-to-buy-before-med-school.1204371/

 

[Crayola227]

I recommended hooking up your computer to a big screen tv with wireless keyboard and mouse

I'm not a fan of the keurig thing, but to each his own. I like French press or a DeLonghi espresso machine.

Ditto printer

 

[summergirl]

I've never owned a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, but do these things cancel out outside noise even when I don't play the music (just have it plugged in)? So basically I meant can I use them to cancel out noise when I'm studying?

2nd question: is it a hassle to try to plug your laptop into the big monitor every time you want to use the big screen? Or is it easier to just buy a separate PC for the monitor and have both a desktop and a laptop?

 

[NimbleNavigator]

Appreciate the advice, but might want to add a disclaimer that these links are affiliate links and you're making a commission off everyone's purchase (and surprise, several of these items are significantly pricier than adequate counterparts).

Yeah that seems kind of shady...

 

[DocFarnsworth]

I've never owned a pair of noise-cancelling headphones, but do these things cancel out outside noise even when I don't play the music (just have it plugged in)? So basically I meant can I use them to cancel out noise when I'm studying?

2nd question: is it a hassle to try to plug your laptop into the big monitor every time you want to use the big screen? Or is it easier to just buy a separate PC for the monitor and have both a desktop and a laptop?

The Bose ones have a switch that you turn on to activate the noise cancellation. The old model had to have the switch turned on to play music. The new one can play music without doing the noise cancelling (saves battery)


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[salmonellaisafish]

Appreciate the advice, but might want to add a disclaimer that these links are affiliate links and you're making a commission off everyone's purchase (and surprise, several of these items are significantly pricier than adequate counterparts).

Just added the disclaimer. Yes there are definitely cheaper options and I am not discouraging them at all. These are just some of the things I've used and have had experience with so I can recommend them. I should've added the disclaimer originally! Sorry about that.

 

[Oncie]

The Bose ones have a switch that you turn on to activate the noise cancellation. The old model had to have the switch turned on to play music. The new one can play music without doing the noise cancelling (saves battery)


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Can you give me the name?

 

[DocFarnsworth]

Can you give me the name?

Bose QuietComfort25 is the older one I mentioned and Bose QuietComfort35 is the newer.

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/noise_cancelling_headphones.html


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[piii]

Screw keurig coffee maker, all you need is a French press and a cold brew pot.

 

[sharkbyte]

Just a quick word on Amazon Prime - it looks like if you sign up as a student with the .edu email for Prime membership, you get a 6 month free trial and then afterwards you're charged $49 per year instead of the regular $11/month.

 

[deleted407021]

Just a quick word on Amazon Prime - it looks like if you sign up as a student with the .edu email for Prime membership, you get a 6 month free trial and then afterwards you're charged $49 per year instead of the regular $11/month.

This. Free 2-day shipping on most items and free returns, plus lots of exclusive deals. Prime pretty much pays for itself.

 

[Dr.Elias]

I recommend a triple pot Crockpot over a single pot. You can cook the same protein with different seasonings to add variety. Trying to eat the same meal for a week can be tiring and blah

 

[CyrilFiggis]

Just a quick word on Amazon Prime - it looks like if you sign up as a student with the .edu email for Prime membership, you get a 6 month free trial and then afterwards you're charged $49 per year instead of the regular $11/month.

If you pay once a year, the regular membership is only $99/year....

My suggestions:

Takeya Cold Brew Coffee maker -
It makes 32 oz. I put the fresh coffee in a nalgene every morning and make a new batch so it's ready for the next day. Super easy, not bitter, and enough caffeine for the day.

Wacom Intuos 2 -
It's middle of the road in terms of cost - $85. I use it take notes and draw flow charts on my iPad. For note taking, I use Noteshelf.

 

[rilte4]

Bodum

 

[salmonellaisafish]

If you pay once a year, the regular membership is only $99/year....

My suggestions:

Takeya Cold Brew Coffee maker -
It makes 32 oz. I put the fresh coffee in a nalgene every morning and make a new batch so it's ready for the next day. Super easy, not bitter, and enough caffeine for the day.

Wacom Intuos 2 -
It's middle of the road in terms of cost - $85. I use it take notes and draw flow charts on my iPad. For note taking, I use Noteshelf.

The cold brew maker is a serious life saver

 

[mcloaf]

The cold brew maker is a serious life saver

Filtron for life.

 

[Dro133]

Wacom Intuos 2 -
It's middle of the road in terms of cost - $85. I use it take notes and draw flow charts on my iPad. For note taking, I use Noteshelf.

This looks interesting. Can you share any advantages/disadvantages to using this over pen & paper?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

If you pay once a year, the regular membership is only $99/year....

My suggestions:

Takeya Cold Brew Coffee maker -
It makes 32 oz. I put the fresh coffee in a nalgene every morning and make a new batch so it's ready for the next day. Super easy, not bitter, and enough caffeine for the day.

Wacom Intuos 2 -
It's middle of the road in terms of cost - $85. I use it take notes and draw flow charts on my iPad. For note taking, I use Noteshelf.

They have discounted memberships. Also, being an Amazon Prime member gets you Amazon Now, which means you can get groceries and other stuff (including meals from local restaurants if you want) within 2 hours with no delivery charge.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

This looks interesting. Can you share any advantages/disadvantages to using this over pen & paper?

There are a few things I like about it. And just to clarify, my study method is a bit of a hybrid since I use both digital and pen/paper. While there are disadvantages, most of mine seem a bit specific to me so I'll only talk about the advantages.

By far, the biggest for me is convenience. I have a 30 minute train ride every morning so instead of having to find the right notebook, etc. I can just open my iPad and study from there. Also, once a week I backup my notes to the cloud. I haven't had any loses, but I can also access my notes from my laptop and phone as well.

Like I said, I still do all my note taking with pen and paper. The ipad is really just a secondary measure.

 

[canihazMDplease?]

where are the links for these items OP? Recently accepted and trying to help family out with a Christmas list because apparently I'm difficult to buy for

 

[iwillbeadoctor!94]

Does anyone have any suggestions for an inexpensive (~$1000), yet durable, bedroom set (bed, night table, dresser, desk)?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Does anyone have any suggestions for an inexpensive (~$1000), yet durable, bedroom set (bed, night table, dresser, desk)?

Not sure where you live, but I basically filled my entire house with furniture from Living Spaces. Three couches (one a queen size pull out), a comfy matching chair, three huge paintings, a California king bed, and some smaller stuff. All of that cost me $2000.

 

[DrHart]

Nutribullet, if you're a smoothie fan

 

[BunnyMan17]

Not sure where you live, but I basically filled my entire house with furniture from Living Spaces. Three couches (one a queen size pull out), a comfy matching chair, three huge paintings, a California king bed, and some smaller stuff. All of that cost me $2000.

Were you satisfied with the quality of the furniture? I'm thinking since I sold my soul to the Navy I might as well upgrade from the college thrift store furniture.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Were you satisfied with the quality of the furniture? I'm thinking since I sold my soul to the Navy I might as well upgrade from the college thrift store furniture.

Yes. The quality of the furniture is great actually. And the salesmen don't make a commission, so they leave you alone until you ask for help. They also offer a lifetime warranty for 10% extra on the piece of furniture and will clean any stain or tear for free. As a fellow squid, I can say the place was great for a military family. Free delivery and white glove service too.

 

[salmonellaisafish]

where are the links for these items OP? Recently accepted and trying to help family out with a Christmas list because apparently I'm difficult to buy for

added links

 

[salmonellaisafish]

A few new tips: If you live in an area where a grocery store is far and want to save time, Amazon Fresh might be a good option. If you get the fee free amazon credit card and use it on the groceries, your monthly price of Amazon Fresh effectively drops from ~$12/month to ~7/month if you spend $50 a week on groceries. Also you pay for about an hour+ of saved time which is great.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

A few new tips: If you live in an area where a grocery store is far and want to save time, Amazon Fresh might be a good option. If you get the fee free amazon credit card and use it on the groceries, your monthly price of Amazon Fresh effectively drops from ~$12/month to ~7/month if you spend $50 a week on groceries. Also you pay for about an hour+ of saved time which is great.

Amazon Fresh and Amazon Prime Now are amazing. Unfortunately, we don’t have Prime Now services where we are now.

Blue Apron is also good if you still want to cook healthier meals but save time.

 

[tiramisucheese]

Amazon Fresh and Amazon Prime Now are amazing. Unfortunately, we don’t have Prime Now services where we are now.

Blue Apron is also good if you still want to cook healthier meals but save time.

I loooove BA and all the other similar companies. I'm a bit concerned about being able to continue that during medical school though...$$$

 

[Medic741]

Huge fan of the IPad Pro.

@Dro133
Advantage over pen/paper is that w Notability (a great note-taking app) you can download lecture slides onto your tablet and hand annotate them during lecture. Then when you need to look something up having a search function for all your notes is a *huge* time saver, esp when switching between classes. That and the AR anatomy tools are mind bending and very useful.

Before M1 I’d pick the tablet w high-end stylus that works the best for you (surface or IPad Pro) and know how to use it/have it set up before starting.

Don’t mess around with that Waco bull**8*

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I loooove BA and all the other similar companies. I'm a bit concerned about being able to continue that during medical school though...$$$

Yeah, it's expensive. But I think it's worth it. It actually saves me on my grocery bill, since I don't have to buy the stuff to make most of my meals. I haven't tried Hello Fresh yet, but I love BA. BA has actually expanded my culinary horizons. I never tried Tilapia or Barramundi before BA. I also do all the cooking, which I've come to enjoy.

 

[medicalschool*]

Minor item, but I would HIGHLY recommend purchasing a book stand. It will save your neck and back a lot of pain!

 

[tiramisucheese]

Yeah, it's expensive. But I think it's worth it. It actually saves me on my grocery bill, since I don't have to buy the stuff to make most of my meals. I haven't tried Hello Fresh yet, but I love BA. BA has actually expanded my culinary horizons. I never tried Tilapia or Barramundi before BA. I also do all the cooking, which I've come to enjoy.

Hahaha I actually learned that I hate tilapia thanks to BA. It tastes like mildew to me

Hello Fresh is okay, although I find the recipe selection a bit limiting since I prefer mostly veggie meals. Other companies I've tried and/or currently use:

• Home Chef
• Plated
• Peach Dish
• Sun Basket
• Gobble

 

[curbsideconsult]

Did someone already add a good pillow to cry on?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Hahaha I actually learned that I hate tilapia thanks to BA. It tastes like mildew to me

Hello Fresh is okay, although I find the recipe selection a bit limiting since I prefer mostly veggie meals. Other companies I've tried and/or currently use:

• Home Chef
• Plated
• Peach Dish
• Sun Basket
• Gobble

I've heard good things about Home Chef. We used Sun Basket once, but it is too expensive for what you get.

 

[tiramisucheese]

I've heard good things about Home Chef. We used Sun Basket once, but it is too expensive for what you get.

Then you won't like Gobble or Peach Dish, lol. (Also, why I just cancelled my subscription to Gobble.)

I regularly rotate through BA, Home Chef, and Plated.

Sorry to go off topic!

 

[Alejandro]

Uhm, why hasn't anyone mentioned a PLANE TICKET? Travel, do something fun before med school.

you kinda hafta find out what your school studies with. And go forward from there. My two cents:
Watch a lot of Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, and Gennaro food youtube videos, and learn to cook for yourself if you don't already.
Chromecast in case you want to take your laptop stuff and put it on a tv.

Another cool thought: If you know you're spending a crapton of money, you may invest getting a chase creditcard or some other credit card that gives you a signing bonus of like 50K miles...use the card for a year or two, and travel using those miles. Why? because if you're spending a ton of money for moving in, might as well use the 'sunk money' for rewards qualification and make 50K miles for it. (I think you need to spend 3K in 2 months? to get 50K miles.)You'll thank yourself later when you have a vacation and you don't have to spend 1K to go across the world. the annual fee is pretty insignificant for the points you'll make.

For the dudes especially, buy loafers. Dansko clogs are good for surgical/EM work, but loafers are nice in that they're nice enough to get by, and you can throw them on in a pinch if you're running late in the morning. Nothing worse than having really nice shoes but you're waddling around to not trip on your laces in the morning while in a hurry.

 

[Gilakend]

Uhm, why hasn't anyone mentioned a PLANE TICKET? Travel, do something fun before med school.

you kinda hafta find out what your school studies with. And go forward from there. My two cents:
Watch a lot of Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, and Gennaro food youtube videos, and learn to cook for yourself if you don't already.
Chromecast in case you want to take your laptop stuff and put it on a tv.

Another cool thought: If you know you're spending a crapton of money, you may invest getting a chase creditcard or some other credit card that gives you a signing bonus of like 50K miles...use the card for a year or two, and travel using those miles. Why? because if you're spending a ton of money for moving in, might as well use the 'sunk money' for rewards qualification and make 50K miles for it. (I think you need to spend 3K in 2 months? to get 50K miles.)You'll thank yourself later when you have a vacation and you don't have to spend 1K to go across the world. the annual fee is pretty insignificant for the points you'll make.

For the dudes especially, buy loafers. Dansko clogs are good for surgical/EM work, but loafers are nice in that they're nice enough to get by, and you can throw them on in a pinch if you're running late in the morning. Nothing worse than having really nice shoes but you're waddling around to not trip on your laces in the morning while in a hurry.

I was thinking of getting that exact card but for med school interviews.

Are loafers comfy/supportive like Danskos? I don't want to be dramatic, but I think I would cut my feet off before I wore Danskos.

 

[Alejandro]

lol i can't tell if you like danskos or not based on your sentence. But loafers are just any type of dress shoe that doesn't have laces, essentially. Think of them as "slipons". So, this means it could be a LOT of stuff. Cole Haan are what I like to wear, but they're kinda pricy. Nordstrom rack has a lot of loafers for cheaps.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

The best thing I’ve found is the skechers version of danskos. Easily washable, super light. I love mine and own like 16 pairs so when one wears out, I just pull out a new one.

Work: Tone-ups Clog Slip Resistant


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[ciestar]

Huge fan of the IPad Pro.

@Dro133
Advantage over pen/paper is that w Notability (a great note-taking app) you can download lecture slides onto your tablet and hand annotate them during lecture. Then when you need to look something up having a search function for all your notes is a *huge* time saver, esp when switching between classes. That and the AR anatomy tools are mind bending and very useful.

Before M1 I’d pick the tablet w high-end stylus that works the best for you (surface or IPad Pro) and know how to use it/have it set up before starting.

Don’t mess around with that Waco bull**8*

My big reason for all my notes being on ipad was more because of the sheer volume of paper I had to use my first block of med school... and it is so much more now. It is easier to stay organzied with the ipad instead of keeping track of hundreds of pages of paper handouts.

 

[ciestar]

Also, my Instant Pot has been a game changer, more so than my crock pot.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Also, my Instant Pot has been a game changer, more so than my crock pot.

Love our Instant Pot.

 

[Piglet2020]

Should you buy your own stethoscope and some other med equipment? If so, what would you recommend?

 

[Alejandro]

if you're gonna get a steth, i'd stick with something basic. littman classic II's are even fine. what usually happens is that as you go along in your training, you may lose your steth (codes, rushing after rounds, just to/fro the hospital). I'd get acquainted to your steth that is of 'decent' quality, but don't start out with a cards III or IV because I feel like you're just gonna be really thrown off when youhave to use a stethoscope that isn't as good as yours (i.e. borrowing a nurse's or a isolation toy steth, etc)

 

[RNtoMD87]

Keurig nope. Go with an espresso machine unless you like watered down coffee

littman 2 stethoscope is the minimum quality stethoscope to buy. Agree with not buying a cardio. People will steal yo sh.

 

[Welshman]

Keurig nope. Go with an espresso machine unless you like watered down coffee

littman 2 stethoscope is the minimum quality stethoscope to buy. Agree with not buying a cardio. People will steal yo sh.

^so true about the espresso machine