Stethoscope Donation Program a Thumping Success

The tradition of donating stethoscopes to new students is still young at P&S but has been embraced by the school's alumni. "The response is fantastic," says Elizabeth Williams, director of alumni relations. "We currently have more alumni who want to donate than we have students."

Most members of the Class of 2018—who recently picked up their stethoscopes—probably don't know how to use them, though at least one connoisseur was present. After seeing the box, she exclaimed, "Oh! It's the Cardiology III!"

Read more about the program below, in an article that appeared in its original form in the Fall 2011 issue of Columbia Medicine magazine.

Alumni Lend an Ear: Student Stethoscope Donation Program a Thumping Success By Peter Wortsman

René Laennec, the inventor of the stethoscope in 1816, never suspected how long a run that simple instrument would have. Almost 200 years later, in the heyday of high-tech medicine, the stethoscope is still a vital low-tech tool. It’s hard to imagine a doctor without a stethoscope dangling round his or her neck or near at hand.

So in 2007, when outgoing alumni relations director Kathy Couchells and incoming alumni relations director Elizabeth Williams wanted to find something meaningful to give new students, stethoscopes immediately came to mind. They floated the idea among alumni, and lo and behold, the checks started pouring in, along with a business card with a personalized message written on the back. Some alumni have donated several; one alumnus gave 10.

Suchita Shah’12 still recalls the thrill of opening the box with the stethoscope and the donor's business card. And though she initially fumbled with the device—“That first week of medical school, honestly, I had no idea how to use the thing, I actually put it in backward and couldn’t hear a sound”—the message was loud and clear. “To me, it was like: Welcome, you’re one of us now!”

Obstetric anesthesiologist Richard N. Wissler’83, a member of the faculty at the University of Rochester Medical School, who has contributed three stethoscopes, feels much the same way. “Each time I put in a business card and write a little something on the back, like: ‘Welcome to the P&S family. If I can ever help you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch,’ it’s my small way of saying thank you to my medical school and reaching out to a current student.”

“It’s the first tool you learn how to use in medicine,” says Michael McDowell’14, who keeps his curled up in his white coat pocket. “The stethoscope is still a quick way to access the interior compartments of the body. It still provides the physician with extremely useful, and cheap, information. I think alumni like to give it—and I can assure you, students like to receive it!—because of the symbolism of that idea of passing on the skills by passing on the equipment. While every alumnus cannot come and be a teacher for a current medical student, with the gift of a stethoscope he or she can at least facilitate the acquisition of those skills from day one.”

Yvonne Thornton’73, a respected specialist in high-risk obstetrics and currently a preceptor at Westchester Medical Center, gets all choked up when she talks about the stethoscopes she contributed. The author of the best-selling memoir “The Ditchdigger’s Daughters,” subsequently adapted into a TV movie, and a recent sequel, “Something to Prove: A Daughter’s Journey to Fulfill a Father’s Legacy,” Dr. Thornton was the first African-American woman to be board certified in high-risk obstetrics and to be accepted into the New York Obstetrical Society.

“My father called it a scripperscrap," she said. "For him, it was a symbol of being a physician, which is what he wanted all his daughters to become. He once had me paged at Roosevelt Hospital, where I was a resident at the time, just to hear my name on the loudspeaker and to see me wearing one around my neck. ‘Here you are with a scripperscrap hanging round your neck and the richest person in the world will come and ask for your help.’”

To rich and poor, and all those in the middle, the stethoscope remains a symbol of the healing profession.

Another enthusiastic donor, Susan Carlson’72, who, along with her husband, Robert Carlson’72, spent the greater part of her career providing primary care to Native Americans in remote rural corners of southeast Alaska, wanted to do whatever she could “to emphasize to new medical students the importance of physical examination. Modern technology is great and it’s helpful, but you still need to develop those basic clinical skills.” A stethoscope and the ability to do a physical and take a history were pretty much all she and her husband had at their disposal in the field for their first 20 years. “Back then, all stethoscopes were just plain black or gray,” she recalls. “So one day a patient of mine, a Native American lady very skilled at beadwork, gave me a beaded sheath. It’s really beautiful!”

Another donor, Kelly Kogut’91, a pediatric surgeon in Las Vegas, “loved what has now become a P&S tradition” of alumni reaching out to new students. “It’s really nice to give something I know they will need and really appreciate, as I did.” For her, the stethoscope still represents the thrilling transition from the classroom to hands-on clinical experience. “The first time I put it on, wow! it really hurt my ears.” To Dr. Kogut, it’s a powerful link between students and alums. “It doesn’t really cost me much to give, but I know it’s meaningful. A couple of times I’ve gotten some nice letters from students. It’s really moving to hear from them.”

For more information on stethoscope donation, contact Alumni Relations director Elizabeth Williams at 212-305-1472 or ej75@columbia.edu.