Trick or Treat? How About Stethoscopes!


This year Halloween was filled with treats for the entire class of first year medical students.  On Tuesday, Oct. 31, 173 students each received a stethoscope as a gift from a BUSM alum.

For a decade alumni have participated in the Stethoscopes for Students program, coordinated by the BUSM Alumni Association.  Along with the stethoscope each student also receives a blood pressure cuff, ophthalmoscope, otoscope, reflex hammer, tuning forks, and a hospital gown so that students can practice exams on each other.

In addition, each member of the class received renowned surgeon Atul Gawande’s most recent book addressing patient mortality, “Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End,” which was graciously donated by four faculty and alumni. Pediatric neurologist Elizabeth Dooling, MD, BUSM ’65, who has donated the book to students for three years now, was joined this year by Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Arvin Garg, MD, MPH, BUSM ’99 SPH ’99, Associate Professor of Otolaryngology Anand K. Devaiah, MD, and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Manju L. Subramanian, MD.

“In my work I find these issues can come up with children with disabilities or terminal illnesses.  As people enter middle age they are taking care of their own children and sometimes their parents, and as they continue to age they may experience some diminishment of their own physical and cognitive abilities” said Dooling.

“Whether you’re a student in surgery or psychiatry or any other area of medicine, as a healthcare provider the issues in this book are going to have an impact on you and with your family and I think they are very thoughtfully addressed in this book,” she said.

Jack Killion, BUSM ’21 said, “I want to give a big thank you to all of the BUSM alumni who generously donated stethoscopes to our class.  Medical school is very expensive and we greatly appreciate these gifts. Thank you!”

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