There is no doubt that whether you are a medical student or an experienced and fully qualified doctor, you always must use stethoscope. It forms the foundation both for trainee students and also for trained and professional doctors. However, the students who are in the process of qualifying as a doctor have problems of money in more ways than one. Hence, it is quite natural for them to cut corners wherever it is feasible and worthwhile. When buying a stethoscope, they certainly would like to go in for cost effective or affordable stethoscope, if one would like to put it that way.
Does Affordability Affect Quality
However, the question is whether there is anything known as affordable stethoscope and even if it is available will it be reliable, trustworthy and function the way it should? We will try and get answers for the same over the next few lines. Yes, if you look around, do some research and then go in for purchases you will be able easily identify stethoscopes within the price range of $100 which certainly is quite affordable. However, information is the key and you must not hesitate to spend time in some renowned websites like Stethoscopes.ninja. You will be able to get a fair idea about the different types of low cost stethoscopes which are also of good quality.
Things To Bear In Mind
While these low cost stethoscopes will certainly do the job they might lack some functions which would be required for you as a professional doctor. There could be problems when it comes to getting clear hearing of grade 1 murmurs of mid-systolic clicks. There could be others which might do the job but their shelf life could be much lower when compared to the high end ones. Hence, you must do your research and learn how to draw the right line between cost and performance. This is all the more important if you are student getting into the first lessons as a qualifying doctor. You must try and avoid stethoscopes which are made from plastic because over a period of time you can be sure that they will not serve the purpose for which they have been hired. It might be good for you as a student but when it comes to identifying and listening to S3 and S4 heart sounds, you certainly have a problem coming your way.
Usage Is A Factor
Further the level of usage is also an important factor when you are planning to buy a cost effective stethoscope. As a student you may have to use it for a few hours of the day. However, once you are a professionally qualified doctor, it is quite obvious that you will be using it for many hours. In such cases it always would be better to go in for high quality stethoscopes instead of settling for those sub-$100 devices.
If you spend some time on the internet, it will not be long before you are able to come across many brands which sell low priced stethoscopes with reasonably good quality attributes.
