Medical Student Holiday Gift Guide

Building off our recent Holiday Book List post, and on previous gift guides, here are a few gift ideas for the medical or healthcare profession student in your life. These suggestions include both light-hearted and practical ideas, from stocking stuffer to larger items. Regardless of what you choose, your gift will show your cared one that you support them on their journey to becoming a practitioner of the healing arts.

* Giant Microbes
The always popular plush Giant Microbes are really getting into the holiday spirit this year by releasing a stocking stuffer collection, literally in a stocking! The collection includes:

• Penicillin with red, green and white caps
• Limited Edition Green Amoeba with scarf and ear muffs
• Dust Mite with reindeer antlers
• Salmonella with holly embroidery
• Red Blood Cell with snowflake embroidery

Additional collections can be ordered in Christmas tree or wreath boxes.


* Brain Slice Coasters
Budding neurologist or neurosurgeon in your midst? Check out these brain slice translucent coasters. They look pretty neat, especially when stacked! The set includes ten 4" x 4" coasters, hand wash only.

* Black& Decker Personal Coffee Maker
Looking for something to put on those snazzy coasters you just picked up? How about this Black & Decker personal coffee maker with included mug? The Brew 'N Go has a permanent filter and the mug is designed to fit most car cupholders.

Other novelty mug ideas include:

* Amazon Echo
The Amazon Echo is a voice-activated speaker system that is powered by Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. While it does not have any direct healthcare application (yet), the device is useful for providing news, weather, sports, and other information. The Echo is also a pretty decent speaker and can play music from Pandora, Spotify, Amazon Music, and other streaming services. Through its skills platform (think app store), it can be extended to perform a wide range of functions like hailing an Uber, ordering a pizza, and many more. If you have a connected house (such as Phillips Hue lights or a Nest thermostat), you can use Alexa to control those devices with voice commands as well. The Echo does have some rough edges - you have to speak clearly and concisely for it to work really well. While it will understand multiple people, it's best to keep your phrasing simple. Also, don't expect Alexa to magically answer any question you through at it. The search function works best when you ask simple, close-ended, fact based questions like "What is the capital of Florida?", but not so well with broader, open ended questions like "What is the best time of year to visit Florida?"

* Stethoscope
If your loved one is new to their training, a stethoscope is a great way to both look the part and gain a useful tool. If they are already in training but have a budget stethoscope, upgrade them to a higher quality one. The Littmann line is well regarded and comes in a wide range of styles and options. For a basic choice, a Classic III is a fine place to start:

For a limited time, Amazon is offering a 10% discount off the price listed above!

And last but not least, when in doubt, you cannot go wrong with an Amazon Gift Card to let them get that perfect esoteric item for themselves:

5 Healthcare Professional / Medical Student Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

This isn't our first attempt at a Valentine's Day gift guide for med students, but admittedly the last one was a bit gender-biased. For 2012, we're going to try a little different approach, one that may involve a lot heart puns, allusions to cardiology, and other corniness. Or may not. You'll just have to read on to find out!

1. A Stethoscope

Yep, gotta start with the heart (for those scoring at home, that's 1 for the corny rhyme meter). Yes, I know, your loved one already has the plastic $10 stethoscope that can tell if the patient's heart is beating or not... barely. But shouldn't a quality guy or gal work with quality equipment? If they don't have a cardiology grade stethoscope, consider getting them one. It's a gift that they'll use daily in almost any specialty they go into, and one that may potentially last for decades. Read this guide to stethoscopes if you want more background info.

2. Cards... Flash Cards

 And you were thinking cardiology... nope! It's bad pun #2! As much as any med student hates to study, flash cards are an effective way to cram all that information into one's brain. Getting your beloved a soon-to-be beloved set of learning tools is a productive way to help them reach their goals. The pharmacology and ID/microbiology ones are particularly helpful. For you future internists, the Pharm Cards are by the same author as Pocket Medicine (Harvard's Marc Sabatine), the essential guide for any medicine intern or resident.Although, it would be nice to sweeten that pot with....

2b. Cards... Gift Cards

 Haha, kind of takes the sting off of having to study, no?

3. Listen to your Heart

And have your Valentine listen to their new iPod! The Product (RED) iPods donate a portion of the proceeds towards the campaign to help eliminate AIDS (You know Bono from U2, President Bush, and all those Gap t-shirts...)

4. Get that blood pumping

Nothing will get your lover's blood pumping faster than a plush stuffed erythrocyte! Hm, or not, but they just might get a case of the warm fuzzies!

5. Love in the Time of Cholera

And last but not least, for the literary lovebug in your life, might we suggest a non-medical novel? Sure, 100 Year of Solitude is better known, and this book arguably has little to do with infectious diseases ultimately, but it's a good read nonetheless and perhaps a welcome break from the trials and tribulations of modern medicine & medical education. Happy Valentine's Day!

Updated 2015-12-20

Scrub Notes 2012 Med Student Holiday Gift Guide

Happy Thanksgiving! While this is a time to give thanks and count your blessings, tomorrow is a time to shop! However, most med students, residents, and other medical professionals may not be joining on these shopping trips: they're probably studying or on call! So, to celebrate their commitment to caring for others, here are a few ways to show them you care for them:

Kindle Fire by Amazon

The latest tablet from Amazon is quite a break from previous Kindles. Offering an Android-based operating system and full color, the Kindle Fire is Amazon's first foray into the competitive tablet space. While not as full-featured as the iPad, the one killer aspect of the Fire is the price: $199.

That's right, $199 - a full $300 cheaper than the iPad. For med students, the 7" form factor makes it much more portable than the iPad. While lacking 3G support, most students would likely use it in a library or lecture hall (or Starbucks), where Wifi hotspots are plentiful. And with access to Amazon's site well-integrated, it will be easy for them to purchase e-books... or TV shows whenever they need blow off some steam.

Giant Microbes White Blood Cell (Leukocyte)

A popular gift idea last year, the Giant Microbes are back! These stuffed toys are whimsical depictions of all things medical. From bacteria to neurons, check out all the options available. For the immunologically-minded, I put the white blood cell here. I can almost hear him saying, "Meep! A bacteria! Must defend!" Haha, almost like a Pokemon... but one that saves lives!

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

This book has been on my reading list all year long and hopefully I can get to it before the year is out. However, from all accounts, the book is well-written and lives up to its subtitle as a biography of cancer. Mukherjee details mankind's history in battling this scourage and how modern science has revolutionized the fight. However, with the great advances come new challenges and new concerns in how we deal with when our bodies fail us.

Looking for more gift ideas? Check out last year's med student gift guide. And if all else fails, you can't go wrong with a gift card =)

Updated 2015-12-20

Medical School Valentine's Day Gift Ideas

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and even the medical students in your life need some love. Actually, if you believe the reports, medical students are much more depressed than the average population, so they probably need the love more than most. As you may recall from my past effort in this area Practical Gifts For Medical Students: A Holiday Gift Guide, I like getting gifts as much as the next guy, but I prefer a practical gift, one that I will use at least on a monthly basis. Not only are such gifts longer-lasting and more useful, but it reminds me of the person who gave it to me everytime I use it. The memory helps stir positive feelings in me, and helps sustain the connection I have with that person. Then again, a box of chocolates also helps me stay connected with the gift giver as their "gift" is always by my, um, side?

Anyway, giving flowers or jewelry is quite common during Valentine's Day, and I won't discourage anyone from pursuing those items if they have a good idea in mind of what they want to give. However, if you are looking for particular items that are more tied into medical school, I found a few you might like. Some are practical, some are not, but hopefully all intriguing.

Gift Ideas

Apple iPod Shuffle
I cannot begin to explain how money these Apple iPod shuffles are. Med students love the size, the style, and the colors. They are especially good for people who like to hit the gym or jog outside. Basically, it's "cute" and that's all that matters. For the medical connection, well... you could always load them up with Goljan USMLE Step 1 podcasts and study in style.

Nintendo Wii
It is a bit of a stretch to tie a Wii into medicine, but the Wall Street Journal Health Blog recently noted that some surgeons have been using the Wii for training (Surgeons Hone Skills On Nintendo Wii), so... there ya go. If there's still any doubt whether this is practical, perhaps add in a Wii Fit as well just so you know you're getting some exercise out of it.

Gift Card
You know, I was gonna come up with a long list here, but frankly, most med students I think would be happy with a plain ol' gift card. Heck, I was happy playing with the wrapping paper when I was 5, and still am now. On a more serious note, I think any medical student, guy or girl, would be happy with a gift card because they could simply use it to buy textbooks and other study materials of their choosing online. Not the most romantic thought in the world, but certainly quite practical.

Updated 2015-12-18