The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
Original post by BG94
Hi guys! I have heard that you need to etch your name on the stethoscope as people will whisk away your stethoscope and won't be bothered to give it back to you. How far is this true especially amongst medical students?
P.S-I will be starting my first year of med school in 2022. Would appreciate all the advice I can get :smile:


I don't believe it is very common as I've only heard of a couple of students losing their stethoscopes rather than someone taking them, but I guess if you have your name engraved it will be easier to return it!

I got my name engraved because it was only like £3 or £4 more so I was like why not plus it makes it more personal.
Reply 2
Original post by SyedN
I don't believe it is very common as I've only heard of a couple of students losing their stethoscopes rather than someone taking them, but I guess if you have your name engraved it will be easier to return it!

I got my name engraved because it was only like £3 or £4 more so I was like why not plus it makes it more personal.

Hey! Thanks for your reply!
Because a good stethoscope costs 50-70 pounds, I am wondering is it worth it to etch my name in it besides making it personal so that people won't steal even if it is accidental 😅 would that make sense?
Because the last thing I want is to lose it😩
Reply 3
Original post by BG94
Hey! Thanks for your reply!
Because a good stethoscope costs 50-70 pounds, I am wondering is it worth it to etch my name in it besides making it personal so that people won't steal even if it is accidental 😅 would that make sense?
Because the last thing I want is to lose it😩

Damn that's much cheaper than what I had to pay last year for my stethoscope :eek3:. I think I paid around £110 or something after VAT and delivery costs, but I would say go for it as what you said does make sense and in case it gets lost it's going to be much easier to find it and return it to you!
NHS practitioners : This virus is spreading! Mask up, stay home, keep us safe!

Also NHS practitioners : I'll just take this stethoscope lying here and stick it in my ears.
Reply 5
Original post by Trinculo
NHS practitioners : This virus is spreading! Mask up, stay home, keep us safe!

Also NHS practitioners : I'll just take this stethoscope lying here and stick it in my ears.

😂😭😂😭😂😭😭😭
Reply 6
Original post by SyedN
Damn that's much cheaper than what I had to pay last year for my stethoscope :eek3:. I think I paid around £110 or something after VAT and delivery costs, but I would say go for it as what you said does make sense and in case it gets lost it's going to be much easier to find it and return it to you!

Really? I got it from medisave😅
Yes, I think it definitely makes sense to get your name engraved on your stethoscope.
Reply 8
Original post by Chief Wiggum
Yes, I think it definitely makes sense to get your name engraved on your stethoscope.

Have you heard of this happening (if you're a medical student)?
Reply 9
Original post by SyedN
Damn that's much cheaper than what I had to pay last year for my stethoscope :eek3:. I think I paid around £110 or something after VAT and delivery costs, but I would say go for it as what you said does make sense and in case it gets lost it's going to be much easier to find it and return it to you!

Out of curiosity, what stethoscope did you buy?
Original post by BG94
Have you heard of this happening (if you're a medical student)?

Heard of what happening? People getting their name engraved? The vast majority of people do that.
Reply 11
Original post by BG94
Out of curiosity, what stethoscope did you buy?

This exact on here:
https://www.medisave.co.uk/littmann-classic-iii-stethoscope-chocolate-copper-5809.html

Medisave's big prices are without vat the smaller price tag is the one with VAT like this one says £84.99 but it's actually £100.79 with £4.79 for engraving.
Reply 12
Original post by Chief Wiggum
Heard of what happening? People getting their name engraved? The vast majority of people do that.

Sorry for not being clear, I meant the NHS or med students stealing stethoscopes
Stethoscopes are easily sterilised and easily swiped. My colleague lost her new one the first week she had it and spotted it hanging round the neck of the senior reg the next week. He actually tried to gaslight her into admitting it was his and then bizarrely switched tack and said that the fact that she hadn’t replaced it in the week she’s lost it showed that she didn’t really need it. And kept it. She had to ask him in the middle of handover the next day if he was finished with her stethoscope. With an audience he didn’t quite dare refuse.
There’s another doc the physios warned us about who’s extremely covetous of their stethoscopes (which our hospital bizarrely pays for if it’s a physio but not if you’re a doctor) because he’s apparently too cheap to buy a littman. He apparently wanders in and asks to observe their sessions, puts his own cheap one down and tries to “borrow” the physios’ equipment to listen in and then attempts to wander off with them. They’ve all got stickers on them now “property or physiotherapy not for general medical use”!
Engraving = good idea in my view. Can’t guarantee it won’t go awandering but makes it easier to take back if it’s nicked!
Original post by BG94
Hi guys! I have heard that you need to etch your name on the stethoscope as people will whisk away your stethoscope and won't be bothered to give it back to you. How far is this true especially amongst medical students?
P.S-I will be starting my first year of med school in 2022. Would appreciate all the advice I can get :smile:


My first stethoscope which I used during medical school was a gift and not engraved. It never went walkabout and is now enjoying retirement in its box on the shelf.

I bought my current stethoscope shortly after qualifying and engraving was free with MediSave. It was considerably more expensive than the first one so I keep a close eye on it or put it in my bag when not in use. So far it has not gone missing. Occasionally a consultant will ask to borrow it and some of them absentmindedly forget to give it back but I always remind them :wink:

Original post by BG94
Sorry for not being clear, I meant the NHS or med students stealing stethoscopes

It happens occasionally but it's not like there's a thriving black market in stolen stethoscopes lol.
I am not aware of a stethoscope-stealing epidemic. What does occasionally happen is that you put it down somewhere, forget, and then someone else either tidies it up or "borrows" it and puts it down somewhere else. If your name is in it then the chances of it eventually making its way back to you are significantly higher. I've had two go missing for months at a time and then got texts from colleagues saying "did you know your steth is hanging up in the ICU handover room/theatre 5?" It's also much easier to send out a group text/email looking for it if it has some identifying features.

So yeah, get it engraved for identification purposes but don't get too stressed about stethoscope thieves.
Original post by BG94
Hi guys! I have heard that you need to etch your name on the stethoscope as people will whisk away your stethoscope and won't be bothered to give it back to you. How far is this true especially amongst medical students?
P.S-I will be starting my first year of med school in 2022. Would appreciate all the advice I can get :smile:

Check that your medical school doesn't give you one :wink: Couple of my friends got burnt at Imperial on that!

If you're getting your own though it's pretty cool to get it engraved for the extra couple quid and it will reduce the chances of losing it etc. Personally though I just put a little bit of tape with my college ID on mine as a low tech alternative :lol:

Spoiler

(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by SyedN
Damn that's much cheaper than what I had to pay last year for my stethoscope :eek3:. I think I paid around £110 or something after VAT and delivery costs, but I would say go for it as what you said does make sense and in case it gets lost it's going to be much easier to find it and return it to you!

You think £110 is bad? Try being a dental student and paying £2600 for a good set of dental loupes :cry:
At least the engraving was free, I suppose.
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by Mesopotamian.
You think £110 is bad? Try being a dental student and paying £2600 for a good set of dental loupes :cry:
At least the engraving was free, I suppose.

What if you can't afford them :eek:
That's insane, I don't think I could just pay that out of pocket at the start of the year!
Original post by becausethenight
What if you can't afford them :eek:
That's insane, I don't think I could just pay that out of pocket at the start of the year!

You’d have to wait until you qualify to buy them - but by then you won’t have the luxury of student discounts so you’d be paying at least £2000-2500 more :frown:

To be fair, I suspect dental loupes are like stethoscopes: first, and I dare say even second years don’t need them. There was a big rush to purchase a pair this year in my cohort because of a group discount - and we were in our penultimate year. Even now, I don’t think they’re absolutely necessary for a student, but it’s the student rates which entice people because the regular rates are downright eye watering. I’ve heard of some loupes selling for £10,000+!