My friend is going to med school at imperial in October and a couple of people want to get her a gift. What equipment is needed she mentioned something about Otoscopes, and of course there is always the Stethoscope.

Basically what's a good present we have about £500 to spend. I'd prefer to get nice stuff so it lasts.

armpit length thick rubber gloves?

Litman stethoscope and a massive box of booze.

Ok cheers, based on this table http://solutions.3m.co.uk/wps/portal/3M/en_GB/Littmann/stethoscope/purchase/buyers-guide/

would you buy anything better then the Cardiology 3 based on you after med school or won't it last.

Lintman stuff last for ages really are very good. I use the cardiology 2 it's superb. There's a place engraves them in with the price I'll hunt it tomorrow if I remember.

If it lasts for ages then we might get the 3100 or is that to good a stethoscpe for the level, ie are they going to turn around and tell her to buy a standard one?

Cardiology III Stethoscope will be ideal for students as it's good for general work with adults and paeds. Copy of Davidson's p&p of Medicine might be appreciated too (don't forget the booze either).

Think the site is medi-save and I was mistaken mine is the classic II se.

Pretty much all the students at my med school have got a classic II se. Also, as a student I dont think there is a real need to have an otoscope etc. After a stethoscope all I've really had to buy are textbooks. Kumar and clarke clinical medicine as a reference, martini or tortora for basic physiology and anatomy, grays anatomy for students and various oxford handbooks.

Tortora is the best book by far I reckon, least I found it was for me.

If you have the money (which you have) get:
Cardiology III stethoscope (it IS better than the classic etc, and it's the one they'll wish they got once they graduate). About £150
Oxford handbook of clinical medicine ("cheese and onion"). Pocket book. About £20
Kumar and Clarke . ? £50

DrP

Right cheers guys, I though the more expensive would be a bit much, and make it kinda useless, if that makes sense, we'll get her the stehescope and a book voucher because I don't know what books she has already.

Drac any idea where you got yours engraved?

Medisave for stethoscopes, classic II (dont want to be the one riding a carbon full susser on day 1) engraved for free and loads of colours (or give them some pennies towards it so they can choose? plus normally get a discount as a fresher)

books is pretty personal choice, maybe a whopping great amazon voucher? I use grays for anatomy but some mates prefer tortora.

The clinical med handbook (you get the tiny one when join defence union so get the a5 sized one) and kumar and clark are staples for most folk however.

You could make a fun box of various stuff as well as vouchers if worried about it being a bit dull. Is it their first degree? if so a pile of stuff like mobile phone top up card, condoms, compass, emergency chocolate, plastic toy stethoscope and a photo of you would be funny/nice touches

any other questions just email me

Sure it was medi-save once out of bath I'll look.

Yeah medisave http://www.medisave.co.uk/3m-littmann-stethoscopes-c-121.html

Stretching to the cardiac iii will be worth it, it makes my classic ii look like a cheap job. You can hear a mouse fart at the end if the hospital.

Lol cheers, sorry I missed you mentioning it earlier, I'll def get the cardio 3 because I like nice shiny good quality things even if they are not for me.

Cheers fontmoss, some good suggestions, it's her 3rd degree after messing up her alevels, and after them saying no twice, and her getting a first with distinction in her first degree, forensic science, then getting the best marks for exams and coursework in her second degree, forensic medicine, imperial have finally let her in. And all this while working a full time job, though when she gets to imperial she'll cut that down a day a week.

So hats off to her, she's wanted this for the 12 years that I've known her, and she has more patience, grit, and determination then i will ever have.

out of bath!

I'm also on third degree 😀 The other thing I meant to say was that sometimes courses have textbooks that the tutors either wrote or draw upon which are very useful come exam time, there are a couple of examples on our course but I could try and find out about imperial if you like

I did ponder for a bit looking to see what I could do to switch to becoming a Dr but the cost was a big factor so never did. Add on top of that I love working on the road I'd miss that plus trauma is great to work with. Still our role is changing all the time so see what comes in the few years. Although talk of Drs now having to go back to being on call may effect our role again.

A book being written as we write now,

" How to survive the privatisation of the NHS,"

And in ten years time,

"The failure of the privatised NHS,"a needless failure by the state.

Both available from http://www.Nile.com, like Amazon but longer wait for the books to arrive.

Forgot,, best wishes on your freinds choosen careeer.

I went into Blackwells to buy what is apparently the Bible of contraception for the girlfriend (she just qualified as a GP) and came out with a Moomins cook book. I she said I chose well.

I went into Blackwells to buy what is apparently the Bible of contraception for the girlfriend

were you trying to tell her something? 🙂

it was her suggestion, she needs it for work, I commented that calling it the Bible of Contraception was a bit odd being that a large selection of people who read the Bible don't believe in contraception but she didn't get it

+1 for principles & practice of medicine by davidsons, very very easy to use and pretty thorough.
i know diddly about stethoscopes.

Well, we've just purchased the Littmann Master Cardiology Stethoscope, we have the kumar and clarks book, and looking for the clinical med hand book, but just want to check that it's this one.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Handbook-Clinical-Medicine-Handbooks/dp/0198568371/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282930564&sr=1-3

looking for the clinical med hand book, but just want to check that it's this one.

Looks right to me. Used by medical students and consultants everywhere. In my day, dreadful phrase, you messed around with anatomy, physiology etc. for the first two years and all the textbooks you bought for clinical medicine were two years out of date when you saw a patient. Now they tend to throw them in at the deep end and the Clinical Handbooks are excellent.

+1 for the Littmann cardiology and also for the book vouchers/book tokens as allows some flexibility. The one universal thing about medical textbooks is they don't come cheap, albeit most medical students these days seem to find their laptop and broadband connection the essential they cannot do without. Agree that Otoscopes etc. are not necessary.

30 years ago our prof of anatomy put one of his own books on the essential list. It was never referred to again at any time in the ensuing 6 years. Never liked the man.

Main thing about surviving medical school is having an absolute determination to succeed. Sounds like your friend has that bit sorted and I wish her well.

Yes, the link refers to an old edition, obviously I'll get the 2010 version

Yup I got a littman Cardiology good balance between price and performance 🙂

Book vouchers, she'll need loads of books….

I'd go for vouchers too. She should get a reading list – would not buy everything at once but there will be a few core texts. Luckily many are now mass produced so the prices are reasonable.

The royal society of medicine, (if thats what it's called) do 1-2-3 day courses, which apparently are good to go on, is their anyway to pre pay for these?

I would heartily recommend this book, there are some excellent chapters written by the very knowledgeable Dr Land……..

😈

A few years ago I did a medical trial where some german medical phd students wanted to quantify the effects of ketamine on brain function, supposedly. I just thought it'd be a laugh and get paid, and it was. They had a cool contraption to inject a substance reeeeally slowly, over a defined period, into your bloodstream, through an artery in yer hand. Some kinda large syringe on a computer controlled hydraulic.

Buy that contraption.

Not medical although OH is a GP so no idea what to buy her but wish her all the best and lots of luck. She will have a fab time – I went to Imperial – it's a great University and the best location ever. I miss London 🙂