Must Haves for Rotations / Clerkship

Congrats on being done with didactics and starting your clerkships! Here is a list of must buys for rotations. Make sure you know if your school gives out any of these goodies so you are not spending extra money!! You do not need everything on this list to succeed, they just make life a lil easier. 

1. H&P Notebook: Everyone carries a little notebook with them when they are on rotations that they use to document the patient they are following and organize their thoughts to present to the team. Well, if you have 2-3 patients everyday, you’re spending a lot of time re-writing the same things and/or forgetting certain aspects. This notebook template has boxes for a patient's past medical history, your assessment, and a list of physical exams you can check off instead of writing. I like it because it saves me time and allow me to do a thorough oral presentation. They have general templates or you can buy more specialty specific ones too! 
2. Maxwell Quick Medical Reference: a great little booklet that helps you get the high yield questions/SOAP notes per specialty, hospital medicine values/calculations, and physical exams. 
3. Medical clipboard: It is a foldable clipboard with reference sheets on it! You can use it to write on, for your patients to fill out paperwork, or as a fact sheet! 
4. Badge reference cards: You can get a comprehensive set or specialty specific! They may help you with some of those pimping questions or make it easier to search stuff up without having internet access. 
5. Medical pen light/ badge light: When you’re seeing your hospital patients, most rooms don’t have an otoscope/ophthalmoscope and you really just need to take a quick look into their mouth, nose, or ears. Having this is convenient to make sure you’re getting the most out of your physical exam. You wouldn’t really need these in clinics because scopes are usually available in outpatient settings 
6. Collapsible water bottle/pouch: I see many students carry around clunky water bottles which is okay because you want to stay hydrated but then they have to keep picking it up and putting it down. Having one saves a ton of space and makes it accessible! 

If you have other great hacks, leave it in the comments below because I would love to add them to my arsenal. All of these products will be on my Amazon storefront! I make a very smol commission so if you want to support me, make sure you buy it through my link!