As a medical professional, you rely on various pieces of equipment and different accessories to complete your daily tasks. Whether it’s a pair of scrubs for a long day in the theatres or a trusty stethoscope to measure a patient’s blood pressure, you can use your tools to identify abnormalities and make accurate diagnoses.
Whether you work in a hospital or a community-based healthcare facility, you can benefit from investing in high-quality tools to make your job easier. Your tools and accessories become an extension of your body when you’re a doctor. You will use multiple pieces of equipment to diagnose and treat patients on a daily basis so that they can overcome or manage their conditions.
Every specialist department, including IVF facilities, pediatric wards, oncology daycare centres, or A&E departments, will each have their own specialized equipment. However, there are certain essentials that every medical professional needs to own. Let’s take a look at some of these essentials.
Stethoscope
You won’t need to walk far into a hospital building to spot a doctor with a stethoscope hanging around their neck. It’s one of the simplest, yet most essential pieces of medical equipment that can be used in the diagnosis of a range of health conditions.
Stethoscopes are probably one of the first pieces of equipment that you will invest in as a medical student. You will use it for general patient check-ups to manually measure blood pressure alongside a sphygmomanometer. But the uses of a stethoscope don’t stop there.
You can also use this handy piece of equipment to identify heart murmurs, heart arrhythmias, and lung problems, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. If you spot any abnormalities, you can then send your patients for further testing to confirm a diagnosis and get started with the necessary treatments.
Pen and Paper
It might sound simple but having a pen and notepad to hand as a doctor is essential. You never know when you might need to quickly jot down a patient’s vital signs or write down the mobile number of a specialist that you need to get in touch with.
If you can, keep a pen and small notepad in your pocket at all times. You want something that’s easy to carry around with you and won’t weigh your pockets down too much when you’re running around the hospital.
Alcohol Antiseptic Gel
As you will know, thoroughly washing your hands with soap and warm water is necessary when you’re working in a healthcare facility. It’s especially important when you’re seeing multiple patients during a clinic or on a ward round to avoid putting patients at risk of catching something.
However, keeping a bottle of hand gel on your person can be hand to quickly disinfect your hands as you go about your day. It can be helpful to keep the germs at bay and keep the hospital ward or community clinic as safe as possible for staff and patients.
