It’s around that time of the year (Holiday Season!) , and you may be scrambling on gifts to get for your Ortho doctor friends. Here’s a wide ranging list of ideas to get for your orthopaedic friends (or attendings)! Various price tags!

1. Bones anatomy

Super simple. Having one of these at home can help your friend visualize the bones and their anatomy. Great learning tool. Also it’s just cool to have one of these around.

2. Shears

Invaluable tool !! This will be used by pretty much all ortho residents. It’t great to have good quality shears to help take off splits, dressings, etc. Your friend will appreciate this greatly! Regular shears are nice, but the ones that go on your hip are good too as they don’t take up much pocket space.

3. Millers review book

This is a useful gift for any orthopaedic surgery resident that has to prepare for the exams. It is also a good tool to use for a quick reference!

4. Crocks

These are my personal favorite and style of choice for comfortable OR shoes. The first time I was in the OR i wore normal shoes. I later regretted that decision. I can walk around all day and night with these on without any foot pain.

5. Rain Boots

Another great alternative idea to gift your ortho friend. These are useful in arthroscopy cases so your feet don’t get wet. There can be alot of water that comes down, and it sucks to get your socks wet on your first case out of 10 for the day.

6. Suture material

This will always be valuable. Practice at home makes perfect.

7. Pelvis Model

This is kind of a repeat from our 1st recommendation, but just a pelvis model to have and hold in your hands can help greatly in understand injuries and fracture patterns. This can also help you understand the pelvic fixation pathways – ( for my fellow ortho folks)

8.Bone pen

A classic. Why shouldn’t a bone doctor have bone pens?

9. Scrub cap

Custom scrub caps are always a good gift to give. Custom ones can be made and ordered via etsy.com . Although, i’m not sure if this will be the quickest turnaround.

10. Caliper

Some residents use this to determine two point discromination in patients with injuries to their hand or have nerve injuries. Also useful to have in your back pocket to measure the size of a wound.

11. Knot tying kit

Eventually all (or at least most) residents will have to do a rotation in sports. Practice on arthroscopic knot tying can be helpful in honing their skills. (or practice in knot tying in general)

12. Shaded Curtains

Super helpful for those post-call days. Coming home after a full night of call to a room that is full of sun can make it difficult to sleep. Curtains that block out the sun and keep the room dark can make life soooo much better.

13. Hip anatomy set

This is good to have at home, or this may be a useful gift in the office to help explain things to patients.

14. Scrubs

A good pair of scrubs can go a long way. You can find scrubs here, and they donate half of their proceeds to the charity of your choice. So a double win!

15. Jump rope/ equalizer bars/ Workout equipment 

We all know the ortho stereotype , that we like to workout. If your friend is the exercise type, a jump rope is something simple that they can use to stay in shape. Equalizer bars are also a piece of equipment that works well. You can do pull ups, dips, push-ups, etc from home.

16. Coffee maker

A timeless gift for your doctor friends. This will keep them awake after a long night of call.

17. Surgical loupes

These are a little bit more on the pricier side, but always a good gift that will be helpful in cases where you need better visualization. Spine cases, or some hand surgery cases are amenable to the use of surgical loops.

18. X-xray lead

Almost EVERY ortho doc will use xray at some time. A lead gown with a thyroid shield goes a long way and helps prevent extra radiation dosing. A plus, would be a personalized lead with their name on it!

19. Lead goggles 

Another one (DJ Khaled voice) . These can help protect against excessive radiation to the eyes. A good one to keep in your back pocket if you are an orthopaedic doctor.

20. Hoppenfield: Surgical Approaches in Orthopaedics

A classic good book that goes over surgical anatomy. This can be used to prepare for cases and used as a resource. 

21. Measuring tape

Super simple gift, but can be useful in measuring the differences in size between limbs. Commonly used for patients with muscle atrophy ( muscle gets smaller.

22. Reflex hammer

I had to re-order mine from medical school for residency and my spine rotation. This is a great gift that can be used to measure reflexes .

23. Workout shorts / leggings

Again, another simple gift that can be overlooked! Alot of surgeons like to get a workout in at some point of their day. Some extra gear cant hurt!

24. Protein bars

Sometimes we are so busy that we forget to eat. Protein bars or snack go a long way on a busy day! Never underestimate the power of this.

25. X-ray oven mitt

Sure, why not, right?

26. Computer monitor

I recently got one of these, it’s pretty awesome. You can have multiple screens up at one time and you can work on presentations or take notes or write papers without having to switch tabs. I would definitely recommend it!

There it is, 26 gift ideas for you Bone doctor (orthopaedic) friends. We hope this helps! Happy holidays!

Written by: Wendell Cole, MD

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