What's in My White Coat?

Hey all! Can you believe the holiday season is upon us!? It's my most favorite time of the year :).
I'm sorry for not being as active on the blog lately. Even though I had ideas for posts and things I wanted to share, I just had difficulty putting my thoughts together. Starting rotations has definitely played a role in it. It's quite an adjustment and everything else kind of took a back seat meanwhile. However, I think I've got the hang of it now and will try to be more interactive with you all!

My "what's in my bag" post was a hit and I had such awesome feedback from it that I thought it'd be fun to do a similar post for what I carry with me on rotations. This time I'm going to share what I carry in my white coat to give you a sense of what I need daily at work.

Stethoscope: we bought ours together as a class at the beginning of didactic so I've had it for a while. I usually tuck in one of the larger pocket in my coat because otherwise it either slides off the back of my hair or makes me feel restricted. I use Littmann cardiology IV.

Reflex hammer  I bought this new reflex hammer with a monofilament at the other end during my first rotation (family med) because my preceptor had a similar one and I've used it all the time since. It's super helpful for doing a quick monofilament test on patients with diabetes (it checks for decreased sensation in their feet due to diabetic neuropathy).

Maxwell's medical reference: best $5 I've ever spent! I've used it numerous times to find lab values and even my preceptors have asked me to see if something we're looking for is in there.

Pens: I carry 1-2 pens with me at any given time and have more in my handbag because preceptors are well known for borrowing a pen and never returning it.

Notebook: I take this into the room with me almost every time. I write down the information I need about every patient (excluding any protected health information) to chart for my school and any additional notes that I learned during that interaction from my preceptor. I also have written little notes to myself in the back for routine exams/common disease states as a reference if I feel like I'm forgetting to ask something.

Snacks: they come to my rescue all the time! I usually have a protein bar or a small ziplock with walnuts hiding somewhere in my coat.

Phone: I usually don't check my phone during the day unless we're super slow or need to look something up and am not close to my iPad.

Vaseline lip moisturizer: favorite lip moisturizer in the whole wide world. Nothing works as well and for as long as this for me. I also carry extra hair ties in my coat especially during surgery rotation incase I lose one or it snaps.

Cash: starting surgery rotation, I've started to keep small bills in my pockets for a quick run to the cafeteria. I haven't needed it so far because my awesome preceptor has been kind enough to buy me breakfast twice now!



iPad: I don't literally carry this in my white coat but I have been using my iPad to chart patients during day if I get the chance to. This is usually sitting at the nurses station and I try to chart as much as I can  between patients or during downtime so I have less to do after I get home.

That's pretty much all I've got! If you guys have any suggestions of what else I should stuff in my pockets or what you carry around on the day, I'd love to hear from you in the comments. Thank you for reading :) Stay tuned for a post about my EOR study tips!

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