Group purchases? Seniors..what do you REALLY need?

[NorthernDancer]

Does NOSM facilitate group purchases of stethoscopes and other equipment, textbooks, etc. What did senior students find imperative, desirable or downright ludicrous?

[Northerndoc]

Hmm.. good question. I am one who made a few "purchasing" errors. I thought I would love to have an opthamology/otoscope set.. but despite the hundreds of dollar output have used them only to examine my families ears for fun (the school has plenty to practice with, and the family starts to complain if you do it more than a few times). I have also bought a BP set, once again fun and exciting but not practical.. every where I have went there is of course no use for these. Pretty much all you need is a good stethoscope. I have also made the mistake of buying a few texts that are now shelf ornaments... so think hard before getting too many books, online is a good option.

[Opiedog]

I agree with NorthernDoc...a good quality stethoscope, and go for the online texts as much as possible. There are tons available through our e-library resource. There are some key texts you will want to have on hand, but wait till school starts to sort that out. Check on the school message boards to see if anyone is selling off their old texts (I will be!).

[NorthernDancer]

Thanks for your ideas. I understand that Littmann stethoscopes are the way to go. Is the Littmann Cardiology 3 the best bet or is the Littman Classic 2 SE quite adequate? Any thoughts or other suggestions? How much might I expect to pay for a cardiology 3? Are they offered as a group purchase and if so at what price?

[Kuantum]

I currently have a cardio III and so far have had no problems with it. To be honest though, I don't think I could even assess whether it was good or bad compared to others. The only issue I have is the length of the stethoscope. I got the longest, however, I'm tall and still find it quite short. I know people say the longer the stethoscope, the more the sound gets diminished...but at the medical student level, I doubt you can even tell the difference.

 

Most people, to my understanding, get the cardio III because it has the pediatric diaphragm as well. I sometimes use the peds one for certain things on the adult as well, so it can be useful.

 

As long as you don't buy some piece of crap, I'm sure you'll be fine. CardioIII is a safe way to go though.