Would this be a waste of money?

[zeppelinpage4]

Hi everyone! I'm really excited to finally be posting here. I just matched pediatrics and had a question about getting a new stethescope.

So way back in MS1, I got this ADC cardiology stethoscope in maroon (cheapest color available at that time) for $75.
American Diagnostic Corporation - Core Medical Device Manufacturer. Stethoscopes, Blood Pressure, Thermometry, and EENT

I fully expected to accidentally damage or lose my stethoscope over the 4 years of med school, and so I purposely got something cheaper, while my classmates got the Littmann Cardio scopes in fancy colors.
I told myself I'd get something nicer if I finished med school.

To my surprise, this stethoscope I first bought is still with me and in tact (just a bit scratched up). It's served me well, and got the job done in my clinical years. Regardless, from the beginning I planned to get a nice stethoscope in a bright or fun color (especially since I'm doing pediatrics).
I've also grown attached to my current stethoscope (sentimental value, it's silly), and don't want to risk losing it in residency, so I am debating if it might be better to keep it at home as a backup, and use a new one that I'm not attached to for residency.

All that considered, would upgrading to a Littmann cardio, or Classic be worth the price I'd be paying? I was also considering getting a pediatrics scope, since my current one is an adult size one.

Or should I just stick with my ADC, and save the $100-200 for something else? The pediatric floor and new born nursery at my residency don't have otoscopes or opthalmoscopes in the rooms, just 2-3 sets shared by the entire floor. So I was thinking of getting a small set for myself so I don't have to run around looking for the otoscopes or opthalmoscopes for every patient that needs it.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

First off... congrats!

Second, I lost my stethoscope like 3 or 4 times. Also know, that many patients are on contact precautions in the hospital for various reasons, so your personal stethoscope is unlikely to be helpful. If you plan on doing cardiology, investing in a nice stethoscope is probably worth it. Outside of that, best to save your money for night-off cocktails or a movie. If you want to spruce it up for pediatrics, people attach all sorts of gizmos and gimmicks to their stethoscopes.

As for personal otoscopes and the like, again, I never bought them because every place will typically have them. For the residents I know who bought them, they typically only used them on their own kids to see if they had otitis and save them a trip to the doctor.

 

[mvenus929]

According to the ENT that just lectured us the other day, if you're not going to invest in a good otoscope, there's really no point. Dunno if I'd go that far, but in the nursery, we'd grab the ophthalmoscope when we headed out to do prerounds, and returned it when we were done. There's not much reason to have your own there. On the floor it can be somewhat helpful, since those really tend to grow legs, but most often we do exams in the ED before they come up to the floor anyway, and they're mounted on the walls there.

As far as a stethoscope--my dad bought me a neonatal one when I graduated med school. I don't recommend that unless you're going to be working in a nursery for an extended period of time, because it's way too small to use even on toddlers. When my cardiology III got a hole in the tubing, I moved to a Classic II, which works perfectly well, and I still have the two diaphragms, with a smaller one to use on the smaller children. I don't think you need a pediatric one unless you really want one, but an adult one with one slightly smaller head will do just fine.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

First off... congrats!

Second, I lost my stethoscope like 3 or 4 times. Also know, that many patients are on contact precautions in the hospital for various reasons, so your personal stethoscope is unlikely to be helpful. If you plan on doing cardiology, investing in a nice stethoscope is probably worth it. Outside of that, best to save your money for night-off cocktails or a movie. If you want to spruce it up for pediatrics, people attach all sorts of gizmos and gimmicks to their stethoscopes.

As for personal otoscopes and the like, again, I never bought them because every place will typically have them. For the residents I know who bought them, they typically only used them on their own kids to see if they had otitis and save them a trip to the doctor.

Thank you so much SurfingDoctor! I've followed your posts for years now, I didn't realize you were in pediatrics! So glad to be joining this awesome group and hopefully taking care of the kiddos soon.

And I hadn't thought about that! That's a really good idea. Honestly, a big part of why I was looking to get a new stethoscope is because mine is pretty bland and I want to get something that would comfort or at least distract a child if possible. I'm gonna look at some good light up Star Wars key chains maybe.
And I don't plan on doing cardiology right now, so if the sound quality from my ADC steth is good for basic pediatrics care I'm happy to continue using it. I just saw so many folks with the Littmann scopes, I thought it must be amazing compared to mine.

Oh okay, wow that's actually really good to know. I thought the personal otoscope and opthalmoscope use would be more common, but it looks like residents who have them didn't end up using them much in the floors. That's a couple hundred saved right there. We just had our financial management meeting and I wanna be careful with my spending. I also want to use what I have saved to make the most of these next few months of free time, so cocktails and movies sound good to me.

Thanks again SurfingDoctor.

According to the ENT that just lectured us the other day, if you're not going to invest in a good otoscope, there's really no point. Dunno if I'd go that far, but in the nursery, we'd grab the ophthalmoscope when we headed out to do prerounds, and returned it when we were done. There's not much reason to have your own there. On the floor it can be somewhat helpful, since those really tend to grow legs, but most often we do exams in the ED before they come up to the floor anyway, and they're mounted on the walls there.

As far as a stethoscope--my dad bought me a neonatal one when I graduated med school. I don't recommend that unless you're going to be working in a nursery for an extended period of time, because it's way too small to use even on toddlers. When my cardiology III got a hole in the tubing, I moved to a Classic II, which works perfectly well, and I still have the two diaphragms, with a smaller one to use on the smaller children. I don't think you need a pediatric one unless you really want one, but an adult one with one slightly smaller head will do just fine.

Thanks mvenus929, sounds like you also echo SurfingDoctor on not needing the otoscope or opthalmoscope as much as I think I will. They would be useful on the floors, but like you said, our ED also has a set of otoscopes and opthalmoscopes in each room when doing admissions. I may only use them a handful of times on the floor itself.
I also planned to get a cheaper budget set, so if only the good more expensive ones work, then I'll skip on it altogether for now.

And noted, so it sounds like the extra small peds sized scopes are best for nursery care, but not for general pediatrics involving toddlers and up. I'll definitely stick with a normal size scope then. Nice to hear you like the Classic II btw, I'd much rather save and get that than the cardiology, unless there was a big difference between them, which it seems there isn't

Really appreciate the welcoming advice guys, thank you.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Thank you so much SurfingDoctor! I've followed your posts for years now, I didn't realize you were in pediatrics! So glad to be joining this awesome group and hopefully taking care of the kiddos soon.

And I hadn't thought about that! That's a really good idea. Honestly, a big part of why I was looking to get a new stethoscope is because mine is pretty bland and I want to get something that would comfort or at least distract a child if possible. I'm gonna look at some good light up Star Wars key chains maybe.
And I don't plan on doing cardiology right now, so if the sound quality from my ADC steth is good for basic pediatrics care I'm happy to continue using it. I just saw so many folks with the Littmann scopes, I thought it must be amazing compared to mine.

Oh okay, wow that's actually really good to know. I thought the personal otoscope and opthalmoscope use would be more common, but it looks like residents who have them didn't end up using them much in the floors. That's a couple hundred saved right there. We just had our financial management meeting and I wanna be careful with my spending. I also want to use what I have saved to make the most of these next few months of free time, so cocktails and movies sound good to me.

Thanks again SurfingDoctor.



Thanks mvenus929, sounds like you also echo SurfingDoctor on not needing the otoscope or opthalmoscope as much as I think I will. They would be useful on the floors, but like you said, our ED also has a set of otoscopes and opthalmoscopes in each room when doing admissions. I may only use them a handful of times on the floor itself.
I also planned to get a cheaper budget set, so if only the good more expensive ones work, then I'll skip on it altogether for now.

And noted, so it sounds like the extra small peds sized scopes are best for nursery care, but not for general pediatrics involving toddlers and up. I'll definitely stick with a normal size scope then. Nice to hear you like the Classic II btw, I'd much rather save and get that than the cardiology, unless there was a big difference between them, which it seems there isn't

Really appreciate the welcoming advice guys, thank you.

Yes, they make Lego and Star Wars characters that have LED lights, that way you don't need a penlight/flashlight.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E..._SY340_QL65&keywords=lego+batman+led+keychain

 

[Ismet]

I was in a similar situation, I had an MDF stethoscope throughout med school which was perfectly fine. I waited until starting residency to buy a new one because we get "book money" to spend on books/equipment/etc.

I agree about not getting the neonatal scope. The pediatric side of the Littmann will be small enough for most babies and children, and if your NICU is like ours, each infant has their own neonatal scope at bedside (no personal stethoscopes in NICU). I considered getting a pediatric scope and just keeping my MDF adult scope but realistically I wouldn't have 2 scopes with me anyway so that would be pointless at this point. The pediatric scope is silly when you're auscultating a 200 lb teenager.

I haven't touched my oto/ophthalmoscope since med school. All of our exam rooms and hospital rooms have them, we have portable ones for backup if the ones in the room break, and in the nursery and NICU there are a couple that we can take around.

These are popular lights for people to have on their stethoscopes: Lizard Lights

Also I have a bunch of Projector Pens that kids go nuts for.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Yes, they make Lego and Star Wars characters that have LED lights, that way you don't need a penlight/flashlight.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00E..._SY340_QL65&keywords=lego+batman+led+keychain

Yay! This is perfect. Great recommendation, I'm ordering a Boba Fett figure right now. ^_^ He should match well with the maroon scope I'm using.

I was in a similar situation, I had an MDF stethoscope throughout med school which was perfectly fine. I waited until starting residency to buy a new one because we get "book money" to spend on books/equipment/etc.

I agree about not getting the neonatal scope. The pediatric side of the Littmann will be small enough for most babies and children, and if your NICU is like ours, each infant has their own neonatal scope at bedside (no personal stethoscopes in NICU). I considered getting a pediatric scope and just keeping my MDF adult scope but realistically I wouldn't have 2 scopes with me anyway so that would be pointless at this point. The pediatric scope is silly when you're auscultating a 200 lb teenager.

I haven't touched my oto/ophthalmoscope since med school. All of our exam rooms and hospital rooms have them, we have portable ones for backup if the ones in the room break, and in the nursery and NICU there are a couple that we can take around.

These are popular lights for people to have on their stethoscopes: Lizard Lights

Also I have a bunch of Projector Pens that kids go nuts for.

Thanks Ismet, that's really helpful to know. I would have spent a lot of money on the neonatal scope, so it's good to know I don't need one. My ADC has the pediatrics side and an adult side, so seems like I can do just fine with that.
I'll skip on buying the otoscope and opthalmoscope as well since you're also echoing what the others have said.

And those projector pens are amazing! :O That would be so helpful to give a child something to focus on. I really need to control myself haha. There are so many fun toys and things I can use and wear now, I might buy them all.

Thanks again guys, this really helped. I was about to blow a couple hundred dollars on the otoscope and opthalmoscope, or the nursery sized stethoscope. I'll be saving that money now.

 

[HSUReddie]

Yay! This is perfect. Great recommendation, I'm ordering a Boba Fett figure right now. ^_^ He should match well with the maroon scope I'm using.

I have the Boba Fett one on a matching Boba Fett lanyard. Also Target has the new Lego Batman Movie light up keychains.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

I have the Boba Fett one on a matching Boba Fett lanyard. Also Target has the new Lego Batman Movie light up keychains.

Woot! Mine just came in the mail. The Boba Fett ones looks so cool. I'm tempted to get more now haha.

Now I just need to figure out how I'm gonna attach this to my stethoscope and I'm all set. The key ring won't stretch wide enough to get the stethoscope lumen through.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

Woot! Mine just came in the mail. The Boba Fett ones looks so cool. I'm tempted to get more now haha.

Now I just need to figure out how I'm gonna attach this to my stethoscope and I'm all set. The key ring won't stretch wide enough to get the stethoscope lumen through.

String, zip tie (green or red for color coordination), rubber band, etc. Something that preferably won't break when a 2 1/2 year old grabs it.

 

[HSUReddie]

Woot! Mine just came in the mail. The Boba Fett ones looks so cool. I'm tempted to get more now haha.

Now I just need to figure out how I'm gonna attach this to my stethoscope and I'm all set. The key ring won't stretch wide enough to get the stethoscope lumen through.

I have mine on a lanyard instead. Most of the time we use the disposable stethoscopes in the room anyway so I personally would rather have mine attached to a lanyard with my ID.