1. A quick reference book. I read these
LANGE Instant Access Hospital Admissions: Essential Evidence-Based Orders for Common Clinical Conditions (affiliate)
OR
Tarascan Hospital Medicine Pocket Book (affiliate)
2. A nice stethoscope. You may buy one you like. Most of the hospitalists like this
3M Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope (Multiple Sizes/Colors) (affiliate)
3. A pen light
Please do not buy a penlight with white LED light. It is too powerful for eyes and patients hate it.
4. Knee hammer
5. White coat which the hospital gives if you are working for the hospital.
6. Some hospitalists buy UpToDate subscription with CME money so that they can start accumulating automatic CME whenever they read any topic on UpToDate website.
7. Try to buy a car with ‘steering wheel heating’ and ‘4 wheel drive’ if you are going to work in a snow area. This can change your life. Trust me!
8. I don’t think you need to carry your own pulse oximetry , ophthalmometer or otoscope.
9. I consider having an amazon account is also a tool to save a lot of time by ordering online the stuff you need. It has helped me tremendously for the last 10 years to save time as you can save time for shopping.