Portable Otoscopes

[Trainspotter]

Are portable otoscopes helpful in residency?

Which brand do you recommend?

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[bluesteel]

a recommendation on where and what type of scopes to buy would be great.

 

[abcyxz]

a recommendation on where and what type of scopes to buy would be great.

i personally bought a welch allyn set at the start of med school (i worked in a clinic with nothing of their own). it hasnt failed me once. i recommend it since they have an amazing warranty (during med school or residency, if anything happens to it, they fix it free (unless u drop it, run over it with ur car, then set it on fire). the case is as small as it can be i suppose, but still its a pain to carry around. The newer otoscope head is awesome, i will get it once i have the money - i recommend just gettin it now upfront since its a bit cheaper that way. for the optho head, i dont think it really matters since we are dealing with itty bitty pupils we cant see in anyway.

where to get it -- good old internet search would do the trick. plus near every major medical center are a number of medical supply stores. they will compete for your buisness... try to haggle a little. i got mine thru a dealer that comes thru our school who provided a good discount.

 

[KidDr]

Are portable otoscopes helpful in residency?

Which brand do you recommend?

I echo the above poster--Welch Allyn is a good brand. It's been about 5 years since I bought mine, so I'm not sure what's available these days or what they cost. I spent about $400 on my otoscope/ophthalmoscope set back in the day.

I'll also throw this out--spending the $$ to buy one of these sets probably doesn't make sense for most med students, because you won't use it much. But as a peds resident I use it a lot--I rotate through 5 hospitals as a resident, and most only have a big otoscope/ophthalmoscope on a stand that you have to roll from room to room when you need it, and it's big and bulky and has to be plugged in, so it's a pain to use. And in peds you're always looking in ears, so having the portable one is really nice. Just make sure you put your name on it cause you'll inevitably end up leaving it laying around and forget where you left it.

 

[kristing]

Are portable otoscopes helpful in residency?

Which brand do you recommend?

It was a shock to my fellow first year residents that we would need ours for our clinics... I am so glad I have mine - I bought a Welch Allyn - the top of the line one in 2001 - it's the lighter battery one (it's black, not silver), that doesn't let you put double A batteries in it - I get quite a life out of it - I'll charge it about once a week when I am doing an ambulatory clinic month. I am so happy with it. I also often carry it on the wards, too, since it is just so much easier to maneuver than one wired to a wall or to find the rolly one.