Guide To Find Best Gifts For Medical Residents
Finding gifts for medical residents could be a tough challenge, but with our suggestions and tips, it won’t be anymore!
Becoming a medical resident is the next phase after medical student life and after med school graduation. Some medical students think that residency will be easier, but actually, the real struggle is just starting.
In a medical residency, it is crucially important to support them. Therefore it is important to find gifts for medical residents which will help them during their path. But to know exactly what to buy for medical residents we need to know a little background about them. If you already know everything about medical residents then you can skip the introduction and move to the gift selection.
Table of Contents
- Gift ideas for medical residents in 2021
- Wireless Ultrasound Scanner
- VR headset for medical applications
- Smartwatches, activity trackers and sleep trackers
- Who are medical residents?
- What challenges medical residents face in residency?
- What medical residents do?
- 10 useful gifts for medical residents to help them in residency
- Kindle Paperwhite
- Nespresso Coffee and Espresso Maker
- Medical Board Games
- Overnight/Weekend Bag
- Oxford Handbook of /insert medical residents specialty here/
- High-Quality Scrubs
- Amazon Prime Subscription
- Backpack for Medical Resident
- Neck and Shoulder Massager with Heat
- Perfect lunch box
- White noise machine for sleep
- Motivational T-Shirt for Resident
Before You proceed we present You TOP 3 best gifts for medical residents:
Kindle Paperwhite
Can You imagine – thousands of books just in one small book-sized device? That’s a reality with Kindle Paperwhite.
Download all the necessary literature for medical studies. In addition, the battery can last up to 2 weeks.
✓ Easy to use
✓ Useful
Smart Backpack
Stethoscope, computer, scrubs, prescription lists, charger for phone, etc. All these things can fit in smart backpacks and keep digital devices alive with charger.
Additionally, you can read our guide on choosing scrubs here.
If you are still in a hurry we present You our extended table on gifts for residents!
| Item | Usefulness | Our Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Kindle Paperwhite | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Portable, easy to use, useful. |
| Tactical Backpack | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | All the accessories fit in perfectly! |
| Smart Backpack with Charger | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | If residents phone battery runs out – there is a solution! |
| High-Quality Scrubs | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | High-quality scrubs are always welcome! |
| Perfect lunch box | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Food is essential for a living – so bring it to work! |
| Overnight/Weekend Bag | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Keep an eye on size – everything has to fit in! |
| White noise machine for sleep | ⭐⭐⭐ | Nothing is sweeter than sleeping! |
| Neck and Shoulder Massager | ⭐⭐⭐ | Get that resident a nice pleasant shoulder and neck rub! |
| Oxford Handbook of Residents Specialty | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | The more residents know the better! |
| Nespresso Coffee and Espresso Maker | ⭐⭐⭐ | Each morning rounds will be much more pleasant with a nice cup of coffee. |
On the other hand, if you don’t know who medical residents are and what do they do in the hospital then feel free to read our introduction about medical resident life, work environment and struggles during their growth in medical residency!
Gift Ideas For Medical Residents In 2024
Of course, each year there are several good innovations in terms of medical education and 2019 is not an exception! We already covered these things in medical student gift selection, but here are medical resident edition.
There are several things that have changed in medical school:
- Complex things are being taught earlier,
- Medical students are more advanced with modern technology,
- Clinical imaging basics (or radiology basics) is essential for everyone involved in the medical field.
So, as a result, medical residency has to keep up with the changes and level-up their skills. Here are the same 3 things that were appearing in the medical student gift guide, but with some comments regarding residency.
Wireless Ultrasound Scanner
Nowadays, in residency, it’s essential for every medical specialty to know ultrasound basics and perform examinations which are relevant for their specialty. For example, vascular surgeons can check blood vessels to examine blood flow, gastroenterologists are checking abdominal cavity, other surgeons are checking organs which they will operate, cardiologists will check heart, endocrinologists can check thyroid gland, etc.
So, if one is about to start residency – a great way to train for it is a wireless ultrasound scanner.
While this ultrasound scanner shouldn’t be used for medical studies, it’s perfect for studying ultrasound, basic anatomy, and basic pathologies.
VR Headset For Medical Applications
Probably, at this moment everyone has heard about virtual reality headsets and VR environments. It was a matter of time until the VR environment would be used for medical applications. So, it’s here!
VR headsets are used for anatomy, surgeons, or interventional radiologist eyes and for different medical device applications.
Also if you ever have used VR headsets You know that video (medical videos on YouTube, for example) are super convenient to watch.
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Smartwatches, Activity Trackers And Sleep Trackers
While we have emphasized the benefits of these trackers in other articles, now, with our present knowledge and scientific research, we can list three very important aspects of smart trackers for medical residents:
Sleep tracking (residents are always ready to have some nap),
Activity and movement tracking (movement is essential if residents want to keep up their health),
Timer settings (keeping track of time and time planning is one of the most important skills that a medical resident has to possess)
We can agree that all these things are important for medical residents’ life.
We won’t go into much detail about these functions because they are self-explanatory and are covered in much detail in other tech sites.
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Check out our post on healthcare gadgets for wellness
Who Are Medical Residents?
Medical residents are the main workforce of the health care system. These are the people who have the hardest time of their life – hard work, sleepless nights, no free time and an increased stress environment. Despite all these environmental conditions they still manage to study and learn a new thing every day. So these are the first things to remember when searching for gifts for residents. Try to ease their life during residency!
Medical residents are somewhere between student life and adult life. They have finished medical school, they have a diploma, they can work in hospitals under supervision, but they are not quite doctors yet.
Therefore they are doctors without specialization. To become doctors, medical residents have to finish residency which can vary from 3 to 6 years or in some cases even longer.
Pro Tip: Ask your friend which specialty he is willing to pursue! That could be a great help in the gift search for medical residents.
During these 3 to 6 years, there are a lot of things going on. Night shifts, long working hours, first successes, first mistakes, first surgeries and so on.
As a result, step by step, residents become more competent in their chosen field and in the final will blossom into successful doctors.
What Challenges Medical Residents Face In Residency?
According to Medscape Residents Lifestyle and Happiness Report 2016 biggest challenges faced in residency are:
- Work-life balance,
- Dealing with time pressure and demands,
- Fear of failure,
- Developing clinical skills
- Dealing with stress.
Also routinely residents work longer works hours than most physicians. It can range anywhere from 60 to 80 hours per week.
Gift idea: Anything that will help residents relax, rest their brain, get out of routine will be perfect!
You thought bullying is a problem only in elementary school? Well, in medicine you can be bullied too. According to the questionnaire, 4% of residents stated that bullying happens often and 20% stated that it happens occasionally – in total 24%. So, according to statistics, if You know 4 residents – one of them probably is being bullied.
“Doctors, nurses, secretaries, and pretty much anyone else who works at the hospital think they can talk down to residents”,says a resident from Medscape questionnaire.
More interesting revelations:
- 43% of residents get depressed always or sometimes,
- 34% of residents rarely have time for personal health/wellness,
- 30% rarely have enough time for satisfying social life,
- 21% most of the time are too tired to function well because of long shifts.
Seems like it is a little bit depressing…
Now as You know how hard it is to be a resident, hopefully, you are getting a better understanding of how medical residents feel during their residency.
Because of all that is stated above it’s important to help medical residents get through residency and maybe make them a little bit happier at least with a small “thank you” present.
What Medical Residents Do?
Residents are called the workforce of the medical system and there is a reason for that. Despite new regulations on working hours residents still tend to work 60-80 hours workweek and these regulations are disapproved by different specialties and as always there are ongoing discussions about that matter.
Therefore one thing that residents do – work longer hours than any other staff member in the hospital. Consequently, medical residents probably will be the most exhausted too.
Specific duties will vary from a selected field of residency:
- Surgery residents will perform surgeries,
- Radiology residents will report,
- Internal medicine residents will do a little bit of everything,
- Pediatricians will help small children,
- General practitioners will help everybody and the list can go on.
Gift ideas: Hopefully by now You know which specialty your friend is choosing. Look for gifts related to his specialty. For example, radiology resident works a lot with computers and usually, they enjoy medical gadgets. Surgeons need to stay fit to perform surgeries. General practitioners have to run their own practice and need knowledge from a business.
Medical Gift Guide team has created recommended gifts for each medical specialty. So if you know which specialty medical resident has chosen – You can browse our ultimate guide for each medical specialty!
10 Useful Gifts For Medical Residents To Help Them In Residency
The usefulness of gifts for residents is an important factor. Here are our top 10 picks on useful gifts for medical residents. If You won’t find the perfect gift at least You will get some more ideas for gift selection!
Kindle Paperwhite
Kindle is an excellent present for anybody who has to read and learn a lot, so it would be a perfect gift for a resident too. There are different models of Kindle e-readers.
You can see a comprehensive comparison here Compare Kindle E-readers. I would go for Kindle Paperwhite and would not suggest buying the oldest version, because there is a very small difference in price but user experience and readability on Kindle Paperwhite is state-of-the-art – led light, better battery life, and overall better user experience.
In addition, there are other gadgets that could be useful for medical residents – 10 Doctors Gadgets for Geeky, Technology Loving Doctors!
Nespresso Coffee And Espresso Maker
“Coffee is the perfume of the morning.”
Or as medical residents would say – the perfume of noon, afternoon, evening and night. Coffee is tasty. Additionally, it enhances your productivity and improves your mood. What else is necessary for an excellent day? Also, it is hard to find medical specialists who are not drinking coffee at all.
Why choose Nespresso?
Preparation of Coffee is super simple – add water, insert special Nespresso coffee capsule, press the button and coffee will be ready in a few seconds.
Preparation for other coffee machines is harder – you need to buy filters, specific coffee beans, clean it on a regular basis, etc. It takes time and what medical residents don’t have? – Exactly, time!
If you don’t like a coffee machine and prefer self-made coffee you should check Coffee Lovers Care Package.
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Medical Board Games
Medical residency is not only about studies, but you need to learn how to relax your mind too.
Great way to do so is to play medical board games with your friends and colleagues.
Check Out Psychology Board Games
Overnight/Weekend Bag
Night shifts during residency is a must. So there is no chance that medical residents will be able to escape night shifts. The best way to prepare for the night shift is to take everything you need.
These things can include – clothes (scrubs), toothbrush, razor (for guys), some snacks and basically everything you need. To do that you will need as we call it “overnight bag”. I would suggest to keep the design simple, formal and choose a middle-sized bag. This S-Zone weekend bag is an excellent choice.
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Oxford Handbook Of /Insert Medical Residents Specialty Here/
In the medical field learning never stops. It doesn’t stop in medical residency either. It changes a little bit, you have to start learning more specific things which are related to your specialty.
There are plenty of handbooks but the most popular brand is Oxford Handbooks. You can find Oxford Handbook for every specialty, for example, Cardiology, Clinical Surgery and basically any other specialty in residency.
So you need to know specialization and there you go – a gift which resident will use almost every day.
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
High-Quality Scrubs“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world!”
There can never be enough scrubs for medical residents.
Why?
Because scrubs can get dirty, someone could spill coffee on it, not even mentioning some bloodstains, other bodily fluids or stains from food. So it’s good to have back-up scrub which will save you from unpleasant moments. Secondly, keep in mind that scrubs should be of high quality.
Better quality scrubs will be a little more expensive but it’s worth paying a little bit more for the clothes which will represent you and serve as the first impression to the patients!
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Amazon Prime Subscription
Yes, that’s right – good ol’ Amazon is here to help medical residents too!
While this is not the most creative gift, the medical resident will definitely enjoy all the benefits which Amazon Prime can offer! It is a well-known fact that Amazon last year became the biggest retailer in the world passing even Walmart.
Some of Amazon Prime benefits which will help medical resident:
- We already mentioned that books will be important in medical residency too. Amazon Prime offers unlimited access to over a thousand books, scientific and non-scientific magazines, books with Audible narration, and more. With access from any device – phone, tablet, or Kindle!
- Want to relax and give Your mind a rest from medicine? No problem! With Prime, You get instant access to Amazon Prime video with hundreds of TV shows and most popular movies (there is a great TV show about medical residency – The Resident)!
- As a medical resident, You need things ASAP. With Prime, You get free and fast delivery!
- Money-saving also is important in medical residency. With Prime, you get first-hand access to lightning deals. Also, there are college deals and exclusive promotions.
Moreover – it comes with a 6-month trial period and it’s worth a try!
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Backpack For Medical Resident
While they are in residency one of the medical residents’ tasks include writing scientific papers, preparing for presentations, learning and keeping in touch with the latest research! To successfully complete all these tasks there are some things you need – laptop, books, notes and a backpack where to put it!
Booq Cobra Squeeze Backpacks are excellent in design. Additionally, it can hold it all together. SO it’s our top choice to keep things organized in your backpack and to carry everything you need around! Also, You could consider looking for a more advanced backpack with charger and solar batteries or as it is called – smart backpacks.
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Neck And Shoulder Massager With Heat
Proper relaxation is crucial for every human being. Therefore if you have night shifts and a huge amount of work it’s always good to get a proper shoulder massage. Probably all your colleagues will be busy saving lives and nobody will help you. So neck and shoulder massager with Heat is here to help you!
Moreover, science also backs up this gift because the shoulder and neck rub increases blood flow to those specific regions and also increases blood flow to the brain.
Generally speaking, it can prevent headaches and help with muscle stiffness, read more in our post on – Neck Massagers and Why They are Important?
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Perfect Lunch Box
If you got this far then you probably know – residents don’t have too much of free time. Most of the medical residents will bring their lunch from home, but where to store it?
That’s right – in a perfect lunch box!
All in all, this lunch box is our favorite as it includes portion control, meal prep containers and also an ice pack!
Moreover, check out these tips on night-shift diet tips!
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
White Noise Machine For Sleep
On those rare occasions when residents are not working in the hospital and they are home. Only when they finally will have an opportunity to get proper sleep and rest.
As a result, one way to make their sleep even better is with a white noise machine for sleep.
This White Noise Machine is Amazon’s top choice and has great reviews. So there is no chance that this machine won’t improve sleep!
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon
Motivational T-Shirt For Resident
On the other hand, a motivational t-shirt for medical residents also could be a good option!
Altogether these are our top useful gift ideas for medical residents. If You have any questions, suggestions or comments – feel free to leave a comment below.
Still didn’t find anything useful?
Try searching for useful gifts in other blog posts that are devoted to each medical specialty separately.
