Holiday Gift Ideas for Your Med Student or Resident

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

Please feel free to add your own ideas.

  1. compression socks
    (prevents feet & ankles from swelling from long periods of standing during surgical cases or shifts on the wards)

  2. hand cream
    (to prevent dry skin due to frequent hand washing. NOTE: NOT hand lotion which often contains alcohol which can irritate skin and be painful when used on very dry hands)

  3. white noise machine
    (for day sleeping after overnight call or night shifts)

  4. colorful/patterned surgical caps
    (there are plenty of commercial and free patterns available if you sew. Try Etsy if you don’t. There are special designs to accommodate a ponytail for women who have long hair.)

  5. comfortable shoes for ward duty
    (Lots of individual preference here. Some people like clogs; others like athletic shoes–though check w/ your student, not all hospitals allows med students/residents to wear athletic shoes. D1 has been wearing Crocs to work lately because they can easily be disinfected by dunking them in a diluted bleach solution.)

  6. eye mask (for day sleeping or sleeping in the on-call room.)

  7. box of their favorite snack bars (for a quick bite while on rotation since your student may not have time to eat)

  8. weighted blanket (to improve sleep quality, esp for day sleeping)

  9. electric pressure cooker or slow cooker

  10. meal kit delivery service (assuming your student has the time or inclination to cook)

  11. gift card for Door Dash, Uber Eats, GrubHub or other food delivery service

  12. earplugs (again to help with day sleeping) Low tech foam ones are
    best.

  13. Pandemic (the board game–not the Covid-19 pandemic we’re currently experiencing)
    https://www.amazon.com/Z-Man-Games-ZM7101-Pandemic/dp/B00A2HD40E

2

This is a great list! They don’t really tell us what they need. I was going to give our DD2 some lingerie!

3

During the first two years, our kid wanted a membership to the local swim club. She had time to swim each week, but she had no money to pay for the membership.

Money is always a good gift for medical schools students. Most really are unable to work at all…and having some extra petty cash is nice.

We also got gift cards for the local grocery stores. As a special treat, we would get a Whole Foods card. Even now, our kids like that!

If your kid is into any kind of exercise, see what they might need for new stuff. One year, we took our kid shopping for new running shoes.

The Christmas of third year, we gave our kid money to buy some nice interview clothes. And shoes. Right now, that’s not such a big issue, but it might be in the future.