What do you have to buy your first year?

[swdave]

Ok, I know this can vary by school but what do you have to purchase your first year besides some or many books?

I know that some require you to purchase a microscope. Others strongly suggest a laptop.

I'm just trying to anticipate some of the things I still need to purchase within a few months.

Dave

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[Popoy]

Long lab coat for anatomy lab

I think we have to pay for the White Coat for the white coat ceremony... Not sure though...

 

[frombeyond]

What you need to purchase for the first year may vary from school to school. In terms of books I suggest you ask upperclassmen and see what they have used or bought. Sometimes a book may be listed as a "required text", but then you find that you never open the thing so ask around. At some point in the year (usually at the beginning) you will need to purchase a diagnostic kit (ophthalmoscope, otoscope), stethoscope, reflex hammers, and pen light. These things can cost about $500 to $600.

 

[Billie]

At some schools the microscope is a "rental" that you are not buying, but still have to pay in your tuition a fee to use it for the year. And sometimes the white coat is supplied to you (you don't have to buy it) buy the alumni association or some other donor to the school.

Definitely check with the second year's once you get to school. Frombeyond is right. The faculty will tell you that this is a MUST HAVE book and that you will be assigned reading assignments from it. Only to find out that you will never never never open the book ever ever. And then the bookstore won't buy it back later. Sigh....

Billie

 

[ewagner]

Here's what NOT to buy.

Don't buy a "super duper cardiology super sonic stethescope"...you won't ever be able to tell the difference...as a first year you should be lucky to hear the heart!

Don't spend over $150 on a diagnostic kit...you virtually never use it on the floors. And when you use them in the clinic, they are on the walls!

Don't buy Fundemetals of Osteopathic Medicine (FOM)...it is perhaps the worst written book ever. Worthless.

Don't buy a new lab coat for anatomy lab...I would imagine they sell used ones at your school or somewhere!!

Don't buy scrubs for anatomy lab...just wear old clothes, it ain't gonna kill you!

 

[muonwhiz]

Does anyone know if it is necessary to purchase dissection kits for anatomy, or are all of the tools provided? Is it necessary to purchase a diagnostic kit right away or can this expense be held off for awhile?

 

[Djanaba]

It varies widely from school to school. Some you need dissection kits and microscopes, others like mine, neither (tools were provided and we do all histology on laserdisc). You can certainly get by your first day of dissection without a kit and get one afterwards if you need one, and can bum one off classmates who aren't dissecting the day you are if you put in an order that will take some time to fill.

 

[tedsadoc2002]

At AZCOM, we did not use microscopes and our first coat (at White Coat Ceremony) was given to us by the school. Text books were the costliest things to buy (we had no alumni to buy them from). ewagner is right about not buying one of those fancy cardiology scopes, wait until you can really use that stuff.