Anesthesia students gift guide / most used supplies
Here is an updated gift guide / list of my most used supplies in CRNA school. My original gift guide received a lot of traffic, so hopefully this new list is equally useful for shopping for the anesthesia student/resident/professional in your life :)
Headphones, specifically with noise-cancelling bluetooth capabilities. These will be used heavily during Zoom/online classes and studying
Hoka shoes. In my last guide I recommended Birkinstocks, but I have now upgraded to Hokas and I will never look back. It's something of a club, as every rotation I go to, people who wear Hokas see me wearing mine and say hi & strike up a conversation. I have both the Bondis and the Cliftons and prefer the Bondis.
My favorite pen and ink cartridges in 0.38 size. I've had this pen since my days in ICU, it's my "Official Hospital Pen." It's a pleasure to write with, people are less likely to walk off with your pen because it looks different/expensive, you can have multiple color inks in the pen (so you can develop your own system e.g. blue = original notes on the patient; red = updates throughout surgery), can buy ink cartridges in a variety of colors/widths, and it's more sustainable than continually buying and throwing away cheap pens.
Compression socks. I like the brand ProCompression because they specifically tell you the amount of compression of the socks. For maximum compression I like their "Marathon Recovery" line
5. Scrub caps! Everyone loves a cute or witty scrub cap. I especially love anesthesia related scrub caps… so much so that I started my own company, Blue Laundry 💙🧢. The photo above is our best seller 💖 Yes, that’s a Miller and a Mac blade… and a bottle of Exparel!
6. Takeya waterbottle in either 24 or 32 oz. I just like the "active spout" which I find to be the best combination of being convenient yet sanitary. I noticed that Lululemon recently released water bottles that look extremely similar in design — I wonder if they partnered with Takeya or just blatantly copied them lol??
7. Gift cards for DoorDash/Uber Eats or iTunes. I use food delivery services SO MUCH. Sometimes you just don't have time to go to the supermarket, prep food, cook food, and then clean up. This is real life people, not a millennial vlog. And I said it before: iTunes giftcards will be well used for apps like Vargo, Otter, Notability, Notion, etc.
8. Coffee cup warmer. Why didn't I think of this sooner?? Why didn't anyone TELL ME
9. Bulk thank you cards from Amazon. You thank a lot of people during CRNA school — for example, at the end of every rotation you'll thank the anesthesia department and clinical coordinators
10. Apple watch. Quickly read messages with the turn of your wrist when your hands are dirty/busy, easily accessible timer for lunch breaks or timing between propofol boluses for that perfect wakeup, gawk at how many steps you took (or didn’t take that day #drapesupbuttdown). I pay extra for data/cell service to my Apple watch because I like to go running without my iPhone.
11. Breville Oracle espresso machine. I mentioned this in my old anesthesia gift guide and I still stand by this recommendation 100%. I’ve had it for 3+ years now and it’s the best $2500 I have ever spent. It produces espresso better than many cafes and it does so at your convenience, in your own home! Considering the average coffee these days costs appx $5, I broke even in about 1.5 yrs. If you wait until the holidays, William Sonoma often offers a 20% discount. (FYI, do not cheap out and get the Breville Barista Touch ($700-$1000) because it uses different parts than the Oracle, like a lower quality milk frothing wand. I purchased the Barista Touch when I got an apartment for CRNA school, because I wanted to have an espresso machine whether I was at home or at the apt lol, but the Touch isn’t as good so we returned it.)
I hope this was helpful, if anyone has ideas for other lists I can put together, or wants to gift any of these to me, don't hesitate to drop a comment below lol