What to buy before residency ?

[Pisiform]

I was recently given a $1500 visa card as a gift. I was wondering if there is anything I should buy for residency (IM) or I can spend it on food and vacation?


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[candbgirl]

Clothes, good shoes?


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[AdmiralChz]

Stethoscope. Otherwise spend it on YOU, residency is a long few years.

 

[gutonc]

I was recently given a $1500 visa card as a gift. I was wondering if there is anything I should buy for residency (IM) or I can spend it on food and vacation?

Vacation.

From where I live, you could get a week in Maui (flight and hote) for less than that.

 

[backcountryrez]

I was recently given a $1500 visa card as a gift. I was wondering if there is anything I should buy for residency (IM)?"

First off, congrats on making it to residency. Additional congrats for receiving a generous gift!

Two things you can buy:

1) Giant pair of headphones so you can wear them walking around the hospital. This is a twofold improvement when you need time to yourself in between your 80-hour weeks. I recommend giant headphones so people can't claim to not have seen you listening to music or get upset when you willfully ignore them.

2) Comfortable shoes for walking around the hospital and speedwalking past people who just may stop you for every minor medical "issue".

 

[Pisiform]

Stethoscope. Otherwise spend it on YOU, residency is a long few years.

Our school gave us cardiology III, do I need to upgrade or would it work?


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[backcountryrez]

Our school gave us cardiology III, do I need to upgrade or would it work?


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You mentioned you're doing IM. I'd stay with it unless if you move onto a speciality where an upgrade would be a boon to your career.

 

[j4pac]

Our school gave us cardiology III, do I need to upgrade or would it work?


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There's no upgrade to Cardiology III. There are more expensive ones on the market but it's the most versatile and does a fantastic job.

 

[gutonc]

There's no upgrade to Cardiology III. There are more expensive ones on the market but it's the most versatile and does a fantastic job.

Patently false. Even the cheapest Welch-Allyn is better than the C3.

But the C3 is more than good enough and if the question is "New stethoscope or week in Hawaii?", the answer is clear.

 

[BoardingDoc]

There's no upgrade to Cardiology III. There are more expensive ones on the market but it's the most versatile and does a fantastic job.

Patently false. Even the cheapest Welch-Allyn is better than the C3.

But the C3 is more than good enough and if the question is "New stethoscope or week in Hawaii?", the answer is clear.

OP: given the fact that you have at least one person saying that your current scope is the best, and you have at least one person saying that a W-A would be an upgrade, the logical conclusion to draw is that there is no one clear favorite here. As such, it probably boils down to individual preference, doesn't matter in the end, and you should take that money and spend it on a nice vacation.

 

[tiedyeddog]

do the vacation and buy booze to get ready for residency.

 

[Crayola227]

Be sure you end up with 2 white coats (some progs do none & you buy, some 1, you want 2)

Extra socks and undies (time for laundry does down)
Dry clean your stuff before starting

Make sure your car has been recently tuned up and fresh tires (you ain't got time for that **** to go bust)
I would have rental car insurance on it and roadside

Ditto the most comfortable shoes you can get, and bed/bedding.
If you're not in one you're in the other.

Disability insurance to supplement the program's
Health insurance likely has a deductible. Depending on what if any monthly Rx's you have you need that much off the bat OOP, or doc copays.
Dental work - I can't tell you how many ppl have issues with this
Preventative medical care, IUD, etc

Moving costs
First month / last month / housing expenses
When you know where you are going, identify a good car mechanic, drycleaner, dentist, PCP near you right away, it will save you time.

I like the White Coat clipboard, PocketMedicine, Sanford Guide to Abx.
Laptop, tablet, cell phablet phone
My desktop comp is hooked to a 52 in plasma screen with wireless keyboard & mouse, I liked looking at tele from home on that
I like having a home printer/scanner

Slow cooker with timer & recipes
Espresso machine
Blackout curtains or a facemask essential for nightfloat
Foam roller (your back will thank you)

If you don't have a watch, a cheap one is a nice social grace in clinic (looking at it signals patients politely)
Plastic pocket protectors from Amazon (if you don't, you will regret it one day, I promise you)
Nametag for your stethoscope ($4 on Amazon, look very nice, saved my $160 steth at least 5 times)
Penlights (a pack of 6 is like $5 on Amazon and will last your whole residency)

TLDR
Notice, some of the above you might have, some is optional, some isn't.

If you don't already have money aside or are budgeted for moving at the least, I would save that money.
Lord knows you will likely need it your first month.
Remember, you're gonna have to go to work for for a few weeks before getting your first paycheck.
So unless you have family, saving, special residency relocation loans floating you....
how are you paying to live until your first paycheck?

 

[J ROD]

the above post should be sticky for future reference. great advice

 

[Crayola227]

I should add as well that you should look up what goes into getting a driver's license and car registration in the new state.

For my friend, it was not only expensive (paying for an emissions test, and no they didn't care it had happened in the other state), it also required, and I kid you not, 4 trips to 4 different gov't agencies on different sides of town 40 min drives apart. And each required various fees and paperwork. Be sure you can put your hands on your birth certificate after your move, or that costs money & time. Luckily friend was on clinic but it was still stressful to fit in, took over a month, and they got it done with not a minute to spare.

TLDR:
Sure, some people move and never change their driver's license. At some point registration/tags is going to come up. Just saying this can cost you a lot of time and $, look into it.

 

[AdmiralChz]

Wow, I guess you can really go crazy about getting extra stuff for internship. Makes me nervous reading this stuff and I finished internship 3 years ago. I stuck with the essentials (common sense sort of stuff) and did absolutely fine for the first year, purchased things as they came up.

Don't overthink this, honestly.

 

[Perrotfish]

One addition to Crayola's post: go to rite aid and buy everything you could possibly need for an illness. motrin, acetaminophen, Dayquil, Nyquil, Benadryl, numbing throat spray, gas drops, Pepcid, tums, and pepto. Then buy it all again: one set for your locker in residency and one for your medicine cabinet at home. It is insanely hard for residents in a hospital to actually access medications when they're sick.

I would also recommend a bottle of melatonin for switching from day to night float, and a small bottle of 100 mg jetfuel caffeine pills for your backpack to act as a backup for when you can't get to coffee.

 

[gracie369]

During my anger phase I thought it was real helpful to have boxing gloves and a heavy bag.

I then went through a real long phase of depression and probably used a box of tissues per week.

After accepting the situation I found that finger painting allowed me to relieve stress and express myself at the same time.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll do just fine.

 

[blebb]

Fleshlight


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[Pisiform]

Fleshlight


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Already have it since MS1

 

[backcountryrez]

Already have it since MS1

And you still have it? Sounds like it's paid for itself many times over!

 

[Crayola227]

Already have it since MS1

fleshlight? isn't that a euphemism for your knob? didn't you have that before MS1? or am I totally confused?

 

[backcountryrez]

fleshlight? isn't that a euphemism for your knob?

Believe it or not, it's an actual product.

 

[Toutie]

One addition to Crayola's post: go to rite aid and buy everything you could possibly need for an illness. motrin, acetaminophen, Dayquil, Nyquil, Benadryl, numbing throat spray, gas drops, Pepcid, tums, and pepto. Then buy it all again: one set for your locker in residency and one for your medicine cabinet at home. It is insanely hard for residents in a hospital to actually access medications when they're sick.

I would also recommend a bottle of melatonin for switching from day to night float, and a small bottle of 100 mg jetfuel caffeine pills for your backpack to act as a backup for when you can't get to coffee.

Instead of stocking your locker and home with the full size of all those items, I like to keep a few travel size packs of each of those items. Available in the travel size section at Target and drug stores etc...AND this website below has a great selection. They not only work great for your locker, but also for travel.

http://www.minimus.biz/

 

[Winged Scapula]

Before you go buying a lot of stuff to keep in your locker, make sure your program/hospital actually has lockers.


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[Apollyon]

One addition to Crayola's post: go to rite aid and buy everything you could possibly need for an illness. motrin, acetaminophen, Dayquil, Nyquil, Benadryl, numbing throat spray, gas drops, Pepcid, tums, and pepto. Then buy it all again: one set for your locker in residency and one for your medicine cabinet at home. It is insanely hard for residents in a hospital to actually access medications when they're sick.

I would also recommend a bottle of melatonin for switching from day to night float, and a small bottle of 100 mg jetfuel caffeine pills for your backpack to act as a backup for when you can't get to coffee.

No NyQuil. That is 50 proof (which is a part of why it helps so much).

 

[AdmiralChz]

Before you go buying a lot of stuff to keep in your locker, make sure your program/hospital actually has lockers.


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I was just thinking the same thing. There would be nowhere to stash this mini-CVS of supplies at my hospital.

 

[caffeinemia]

If I had 1500 dollars before residency, I'd have bought a half decent suit, shirt, tie, and a nice pair of oxfords.... or a however many shares of APPL.

 

[atomi]

Vacation.

From where I live, you could get a week in Maui (flight and hote) for less than that.

Lol, no you can't. A week in Maui is 3 grand at the absolute minimum for a bare bones experience. 5k to stay at anywhere decent.

 

[gutonc]

Lol, no you can't. A week in Maui is 3 grand at the absolute minimum for a bare bones experience. 5k to stay at anywhere decent.

Yes...yes you can.

I just spent 5 days on the Big Island for $2K and didn't barebones anything.

 

[Dr.Acula99]

Very much agree with the OTC Meds for your locker, probably most important. Have ibuprofen, Tylenol, pseudoephedrine, Benadryl and tums on hand for yourself and others. Nothing worse then being nauseous, congested, or have a headache all day.

Other than that, you will have an educational fund, so don't too much else. If your really looking to get ahead, you can study a bit for step 3 and take it as early as possible int run year. Unfortunately you need to be graduated from medial school to take it

 

[Iso4ane]

If I had 1500 dollars before residency, I'd have bought a half decent suit, shirt, tie, and a nice pair of oxfords.... or a however many shares of APPL.

Not APPL, but TSLA or NVDA. Or a single share of GOOG or GOOGL.