What medical tools?

[crazyozone]

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I'll be starting clinical rotations soon and I was wondering if anyone could help me with deciding which medical tools to bring on rotations. I know the hospital will have everything already but is there something I should bring to have on the ready at all times?

 

[ketosisevangelist]

Start a thread. "How to say no when the attending asks for a pen."

Carry pens from the dollar store in your short coat. Pens for you in your pockets.

Please DermViser. Say this is

 

[operaman]

It varies with each rotation, but generally:

1) Pens. Lots. Residents eat pens.
2) Paper -- I have a small notebook
3) Stethoscope
4) Clipboard -- I don't use one, but many do
5) Collapsible queens reflex hammer -- got it on amazon; only carry for medicine-ish rotations
6) 512 hx tuning fork -- nice for hearing, weber/rinne, vibration sensation
7) Cotton swabs on wood sticks -- great for packing stuff, poking stuff, break it for sharp/dull/light touch sensation
8) Trauma shears -- about 7 bucks on amazon, cut through anything
9) tongue depressors
10) tape measure -- great for making your 'objective' exams actually objective
11) camera phone -- for rashes, etc
12) Watch with a second hand -- not many clocks in easy view at my hospital

Those are my mainstays. Also carry extra whatever is needed a lot on that clerkship. If I ever learned how to use an ophthalmoscope I might carry a small one with me, but as it is I suck at using it so it gets no pocket space.

 

[Armadillos]

stethescope, penlight, pens and a ton of blank paper are really the only things you absolutely need. Folding clipboard highly suggested but optional.

 

[operaman]

Oooh, forgot to add: a really good, powerful light. I splurged and spent $50 for a special edition Preon P2 with high CRI (color rendering index) bulb. Has 3 levels with the lowest being dim enough for pupil checks and the high being bright enough to decently light a room if bounced off the ceiling, or easy early morning wound checks without having to turn on overheads. The high CRI bulb produced a warmer light than regular LEDs and allows better visualization of skin lesions/rashes, oral cavity exams, etc.

Uses AAA batteries and I just put rechargeables in it. Then non-CRI version is even brighter but the light is bluer and washes out some colors.

 

[Wolverines83]

1: pens (cheap, b/c you'll lose them; as a side note, other people lose their pens too...which can then become yours. You really should never have to actually buy a pen)
2: index cards (can usually find these in the hospital; grab a few just don't be a jerk) or printer paper (snagged from hospital printer when no one's looking) folded to be pocket size
3: stethoscope
4: pen light (if there are otoscopes in all the patient rooms, skip this)
5: iphone for uptodate/medscape
6: pocket medicine or other reference that's LIGHT (maybe)

As you can see, I'm a minimalist. Don't carry too much; you'll find you just don't use it. I went from a huge list to the list above. I can fit everything between the chest pocket and butt pocket of scrubs. If you find you need to add tape/shears/4x4/etc for surgery rotation or some extra stuff for neuro, then by all means do it but keep it to a minimum.

 

[crazyozone]

Hey thanks everyone for the replies, I appreciate it a lot.

 

[Elixir6]

Granted I'm only a few weeks into M3 and doing psych, but cotton swabs, tongue depressor and measure? Really???? I hope you are just using the sterile ones already at the hospital. Otherwise I agree with what's on this thread. Also a Maxwell's seems handy though I haven't used it all that much yet.

 

[Kaustikos]

Is it bad that I've just resorted to taking pens at stations? I mean, the thing is going to be taken by a resident and eventually recirculated to everyone in the hospital.

 

[joeDO2]

stethoscope and pens only. everything else is either available at the hospital, not used in real practice, or can be looked up quickly and more accurately on uptodate

 

[colbgw02]

This is the only medical tool you need.

 

[DermViser]

This is the only medical tool you need.

Yes he is tool. Much older now though: http://www.imagingfindlay.com/physicians-staff/jonathan-t-marshall-d-o/

 

[VisionaryTics]

Granted I'm only a few weeks into M3 and doing psych, but cotton swabs, tongue depressor and measure? Really???? I hope you are just using the sterile ones already at the hospital. Otherwise I agree with what's on this thread. Also a Maxwell's seems handy though I haven't used it all that much yet.

Tongue depressors are the lifeblood of the ENT service. We burn through several thousand over morning rounds.

 

[colbgw02]

I'm looking forward to hearing about the lawsuit based on an incorrect translation provided by that app.

In all seriousness, just be careful about how far you go with using these translating tools. I can't pretend to know the legal standard, but it's generally recognized that patients must be consented in a manner that they can understand, even if that takes extraordinary effort. Hospitals typically have a policy about this sort of thing. It's one thing to ask a patient if their head hurts using this app, but I wouldn't trust it to explain the why and how of the pelvic exam. If there is a bad outcome or patient complaint, then the my-unsanctioned-iPhone-app-messed-up defense won't get you very far.