3 May 2016

what's in my bag #18: surgery placement

With it almost half a year since I last did one of these, I thought it was time for another. This time, I have a new bag - one that is more floppy so I can stuff more into it but still small enough to carry around on ward round.

Clockwise from top left: Hobonichi, Oxford Handbook of Clinical Surgery, a cheap black gel pen, a black biro, Lucozade tablets and mints.
Around my neck is usually a stethoscope and on my lanyard is a roll of tape, a pen torch and my Lamy. In my pocket is usually a tissue (my nose can be quite sensitive so always useful to have a tissue on me!) and sometimes a neuro tip or a vacutainer (for blood taking) or two.

I used to carry a snack around with me but I've never felt the urge to eat whilst on ward round (surgical ward rounds are super quick!). However, Lucozade tablets are always in my bag in case I ever need a burst of sugar (hot wards + not enough sleep = a sleepy upright medical student).

Sometimes I carry around extra pieces of paper and some lip balm but I try and lug around as little as possible and only carry the necessities as shown above. One thing not shown is my water bottle - this comes everywhere with me as I'm conscious of the fact that I never drink enough on placement. 

1 comment

  1. Thanks for this! I start on the wards next year and have started my hunt for the perfect ward-sized bag.

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