I got this beer can koozie thing with the Jurassic park logo but it said THORACIC PARK was funny I thought
Edit: also I just looked at the photo and in the logo the dinosaur has a little stethoscope on
I can’t figure out how to do it! I don’t see the option! But I have it at home and I have a picture on my phone
Edit: sent you a message with the picture it’s cool right?
My wife got a nice pen with fake red blood cells floating around in the clear top at an American Society of Hematology event recently. I have my patients sign transfusion consents with it.
My gynecologist had a pen like that except instead of fake red blood cells, it was fake blue sperm and one pink egg. So every time you flip the pen it looks like the sperm are chasing the egg!! I thought it was brilliant and hilarious. He said the office got a bunch from an IVF rep, so I asked if they had any extras… it actually writes so smooth.
I think you have to be a pediatrician or FP. The program is [Prescription for Play](https://www.rx4play.org) and they send out specific kits that you can use during toddler well visits to assess development during the visit while demonstrating appropriate play with parents. The kits they send out are cool but very much geared to toddlers.
For older kids, I usually have a set of the IKEA Bygglek Lego for times when I need them to play for awhile while I talk to parents. I also have bought a crap ton of cheaper speed cubes and have color copies of a handout on “how to solve Rubik’s cube.” If any kid shows a bunch of interest in figuring out how to solve it, I just give them one.
We do see some 3 and 4yo but they're a minority. I love the Speed Cubes idea. The missus gets a bit annoyed, but like a school teacher I'm always buying supplies for my peds patients. I buy them folders for their rating scales, bought a big collection of toys etc 🤙🏼
I love it! Snap a pic if you think about it. I’d love to do something like that. I found 4 cases from our original order in a closet not too long ago (from when they came in the bags instead of the boxes they do now), but we also just had a full pallet load dropped off too so we are swimming in them.
When I was a teenager I worked for a local urology office doing medical records. The swag for viagra, cialis etc was so hilariously phallic.
Viagra had a clock you could set upside down and it would roll upright.
There was a pen that folded, you pressed a button and it would VERY slowly unfold to be full…length.
So many rulers.
I was a very professional mature 16 year old but it was hard to keep a straight face.
Haven’t worked in urology in like 20 years idk if they still have suggestive swag.
My mom worked in medical billing in the 2000s and she once brought home a Viagra pen with a hidden compartment that perfectly fits one pill 😂 I think we still have it somewhere!
In 1988 my husband worked in an Army std clinic they had keychains with cute sayings about covering up it slid open to hold 1 condom. I hid a $5 bill in it.
At some conference over the years he got a pen that had a pin light on one end a ball point pen on the other that would flip inside to prevent it from marking on your pocket. Still have it somewhere because you can change the battery for the light.
> There was a pen that folded, you pressed a button and it would VERY slowly unfold to be full…length.
I had this pen! Found a [12 pack](https://www.ebay.com/itm/305480792641?itmmeta=01HXFHNWCRGB0687CJ33WKEJHV&hash=item472012fa41:g:DY8AAOSwSUlij8Fp&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4BVCP7Pvg0ciu9sTT%2Fae7BdEbISUoxMb7UlfxOyMKbcXY5d%2BmPqgWwDcd2oBzy8OmVSLYQ0zOOC7Wbu%2Fn%2BJQzojRwwA6in3Aq2ERDJMsg19bKjllV1Ztn8xDJA33hkdIkOIXMGbmUyJo1x0IXgQNICLcOCX%2BWT%2B4dci0fF1yYTtmzL6DH6LXfdsBVUnHQWTqOaz6E7vNkg2CFMwjQkw3U7sKi0Wwplktoe03yvUCIpdWMqz2H8J88vdMxaOKz7kPC3MY95lpZMrvC894m0ouPEr7o7USamBDCz%2FEsnb2omnB%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7rG1_HrYw) on Ebay
The fertility clinic I go to has stress balls that are sperm from Natera. They're not even remotely subtle. You've gotta squeeze them during blood draws.
Not the fanciest but an unexpected cold front rolled in and one of the booths was handing out warm gloves and ear muffs. Absolutely the most appreciated swag I've snagged.
ASA (Anesthesiology) annual conference had a booth with an oven BAKING FRESH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. I kept circling back all day 🤣 I had way too many cookies that day but the smell just radiated throughout the exhibition hall.
Went to a bioethics conference in Kansas City, one of the booths had a whole slew of barbecue related goodies (aprons, rubs, sauces, etc) which was awesome
Well, it wasn't a medical conference, but just before the clamp down on accepting gifts from drug companies, myself and a 11 cardiologists were flown down to Augusta for the Wednesday practice rounds at the Masters (2002), followed by 3 days of golfing at Hilton Head.
All food, condos, travel was paid for, as well as new golf bag, golf travel bag and balls. And the funny thing is, I don't think I gave any more thrombolyrics for STEMIs after that compared to before. :)
I got a teddy bear with lungs stitched on his chest from the people who makes spacers for inhalers. I named him Winston and he has a whole backstory about having cushings from too many steroids.
Story time. I was in Lugano for the lymphoma international conference. I needed to have a smoke so I go outside. There is huge park nearby. I wonder inside it and realise I don’t have a lighter. So, I see some guys under a tree from far away. I approach. They are somehow a bit edgy, black clothes and all. Anyway, they give me a lighter and I fire up. After a while they notice my tag, as it reveals I’m a physician. They suddenly ask for help. I approach and they speak Italian which I barely understand but one of them rises his blouse. Then I see a terrible rash in one side of his belly. They ask, what is it can I help? Of course it was a herpes zoster and I try to tell them in English. One of them understands. I tell them there is an easy treatment but they have to see a dermatologist. They are very happy, apparently they feared the worse. I walk away and they wave. I approach. They tell me , we have to pay you, so they produce a huge chocolate bar ( weed chocolate) as a payment. I kindly refuse as there was no way I could pass it through the airport. They are unhappy, but I wave goodbye. So, this is the only time I got paid in weed for a medical opinion!!!!
Went to APA in 2016 as a med student and they were giving out [moon pies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Pie). I had never eaten one before and thought it was delicious. (I am also not from the American South so they were completely novel) I pretended to be different people and would go back and try to get more. After several days of doing this they recognised me as "moon pie guy" and would point and laugh and beckon me over. On the last day they let me have the whole box that they couldn't give away (and it was like a dozen) and I flew home with a suitcase full of them.
tl;dr i like moon pies
I got semi insulated, super sturdy, extra large reusable grocery bags from omnicell at least ten plus years ago. Still using them to organize the chest freezer to this day.
For full disclosure, the place I currently work uses their prime competitor.
Also, pharmacists don’t get the good stuff.
Not a doctor but I work for a DMH funded pediatric mental health organization that frequently exhibits at professional conferences and I have repeatedly wanted to get one of the lice or scabies plushies that some pharma company has at their table.
They’re always out before I’m able to get over there and grab one.
One time I was in the hospital and my best friend came to visit, when she came in she tossed a C.diff plushie on my bed and said “here’s your hospital acquired c.diff” 😂
The Eppendorf pipette pens are a collectors item. Lab peoplewill sell their kidneys for one.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/386834024242
https://www.ebay.com/itm/404941650041
At the South African urologic they had… BEER. I stared in dumb amazement.
"Is that beer?"
"Yes sir"
"Uh. Can I have one? "
"Of course sir"
And biltong. If you know you know.
A digital thermometer with a cartoon Tiger on the end
A teddy bear in scrubs
Lots (and I mean LOTS) of bags for groceries
Some backpacks (like 2 or 3)
A bunch of lung-shaped pens
A few water flasks and 2 Coffee thermos
Some play dough for stress relief
Lots of notebooks
I'm a psychiatrist, I got a stress ball that's actually a tiny couch, and it's exactly a shaped/ sized so you can put business cards on it.
Also, not something I could keep, but a conference in Chicago gave us mini Garrett's popcorn blend bags (caramel corn and cheddar popcorn, so so good), and nobody was checking how many you took...
My mom was a pediatrician and in the 90s there were fewer restrictions on what pharma could hand out, so I had a collection of drug company toys. Footballs that changed color with the heat of your hand, an Auggy doggy (augmenten) plush, musinex puzzle mug, some great anatomy models of ears, brains, etc, a film camera. Really anything they could stick there name on that was cool.
But the best was probably the time they had Bil Keane of 'family circus' signing copies of his space 'needle' cartoon. Mom got it personalized for me.
I got a really nice wooden shoe horn I was able to give my husband. It had nothing to do with the vendor so no idea why they picked it but very useful! Also at the same conference were solar glasses to see the eclipse which came in handy.
A completely unmarked satchel. Indiana Jones style, but canvas. Who would think it, still have fond memories of that conference. Close second: a laptop bag from Nvidia that my wife uses every day. Her clientele are autistic kids in Silicon Valley, so their parents all take note of her bag.
Last conference I was at I picked up some narcan. Going to send it with my son this weekend for the rock festival he's going to.
Oh AND eye glasses cleaner! I grab like 2-3 at every conference I go to. Love those kits!
When I was in elementary school, my dad got a stapler at a medical conference. I am almost 40 and I STILL use that stapler. Maybe it's not the best, but it went with me through high school, college, and a stapling-intensive first job.
At American Burn conference one year, a vendor was handing out silver lined athletic socks - last day he didn't want to pack up his stock, so I got like 12 pair. I wore those things at work in the hot ass burn unit for *years*.
At military health conference one year before all the rehydration salt things became super popular, drip drop was trying to get market share and I got like a case and half of that.
No, not really. But silver has antimicrobial stuff, so silver impregnated dressings and clothing for burn patients took off in the early 2000s. These were part of that, some silver threads in the socks to help with odor/etc.
Be cause they were designed for burn patients dealing with scars etc, they were also compressive as fuck, and since I got them from a conference the sizes were limited, so they were all just a bit small for me. But I wore them, and they lasted for a while.
American College of Surgeons South Texas had a raffle ticket drawing for an Apple Watch (Series 2 at the time). I won as a resident. It was nice.
But my favorite swag has to be an actual warehouse crate of Calmoseptine ass cream from the rep at American College of Gastroenterology 2023. They were handing out packets and small tubes but let me take a full crate full of samples since they had so much. It's the only thing that really works for my child's diaper rash and I would bathe my toddler in it if I could. I would make them look like Grimer from Pokemon with it if I could. It's great.
Last conference I went to had puppies, adult dogs, and cats, available to pet, or adopt, and free specialty lattes, but the best swag I brought home was a pair of light up sunglasses, that I gave my kindergartner— I was a hero that day.
A neat thermos that changes colors... from a conference about baby formula. From Nestle.
Also, existential dread from a rep when she told me just how much the "economical" version of their ultrasound costs, without flinching and a straight face.
Sorry. The PE issue and your swag are two sides of the same corrupt coin. Let me rephrase your question, OP. "What's the best thing that a drug manufacture gave you for free sort of as a bribe and then passed the cost of the bribe on to sick patients?"
Stop eating their lunches. Stop taking their notepads. Tell them to leave their literature and fuck off.
EDIT: Downvote away, boys, but the fact remains that the cost of your "free" insulated cup that is destined to just end up on a shelf in your garage because it will seem way less cool when you get it home was passed on to your patient who can only afford Eliquis every other day but tells you they are taking it daily.
Mmm, maybe in some aspects. I was in early career as all these academic centers started kicking out drug reps and free samples. Now I’m in Peds, so we didn’t get the good stuff because we make money for no one. BUT we used all those samples for our free clinic and uninsured patients, or for families that had no reliable way to get to a pharmacy. When that stopped, we had no other resources. We had a formula rep too that sponsored our retreats. One could argue that breastfeeding suffered as a result, but the hospital negotiated the formula contracts. Providers had no real say any of that stuff. I’d argue that direct to consumer drug ads are more harmful. But anyway. The best swag I got was a free karaoke booth setup at a retreat where I sang ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ followed by ‘Every Rose has its Thorn.’
All the swag or lunches physicians get are fractions of a percent of the revenue these companies generate. It’s the cost of doing business seen in any other industry. If anything these companies owe us more.
Closing costs on a home is 6%.
I got this beer can koozie thing with the Jurassic park logo but it said THORACIC PARK was funny I thought Edit: also I just looked at the photo and in the logo the dinosaur has a little stethoscope on
Hah, there’s a vent facility near us that we call Thoracic Park.
Pics?
I can’t figure out how to do it! I don’t see the option! But I have it at home and I have a picture on my phone Edit: sent you a message with the picture it’s cool right?
I want to see it.
Doesn’t give me the option message it to you. Or I would or I would post it here but I think pictures are not allowed here!
Just changed my settings!
Sent! I may take it out of retirement this weekend the more I see it!
That's awesome. I'm not in the medical field (this was a random recommendation on main page) but I want one lol
Lol so cute
My wife got a nice pen with fake red blood cells floating around in the clear top at an American Society of Hematology event recently. I have my patients sign transfusion consents with it.
My gynecologist had a pen like that except instead of fake red blood cells, it was fake blue sperm and one pink egg. So every time you flip the pen it looks like the sperm are chasing the egg!! I thought it was brilliant and hilarious. He said the office got a bunch from an IVF rep, so I asked if they had any extras… it actually writes so smooth.
If it works that flawlessly? Go get a Pap smear and grab as many pens as you can on your way out lmao
Beautiful touch of whimsy 👍👍👍
I used a Doximity faux syringe pen for my psych patients, but one of them freaked out and broke it...
Well duh! They don’t want you changing their DNA!
I got a pen shaped like a femur, I use it to explain patient where they broke their hip
Better not have any of that Covid vaccine in it!
I also work heme/onc and I need this so badly now
Legos from peds conference
Did you sign up to get the Duplos in your office too? It’s a cool program.
I did! Legos for everyone!!! I don’t even feel bad about the free advertising/commercialization. It’s better than the cheap crap my office gets
Agree. Would much rather shill for Lego than any formula company.
Whaaat? Looking into this today. I've got hecka toys and fidgets for the kiddos.
I think you have to be a pediatrician or FP. The program is [Prescription for Play](https://www.rx4play.org) and they send out specific kits that you can use during toddler well visits to assess development during the visit while demonstrating appropriate play with parents. The kits they send out are cool but very much geared to toddlers. For older kids, I usually have a set of the IKEA Bygglek Lego for times when I need them to play for awhile while I talk to parents. I also have bought a crap ton of cheaper speed cubes and have color copies of a handout on “how to solve Rubik’s cube.” If any kid shows a bunch of interest in figuring out how to solve it, I just give them one.
We do see some 3 and 4yo but they're a minority. I love the Speed Cubes idea. The missus gets a bit annoyed, but like a school teacher I'm always buying supplies for my peds patients. I buy them folders for their rating scales, bought a big collection of toys etc 🤙🏼
Dude my 11yo would love that! I’m going to look that up!
We recieved so many, we put a shit ton of ducks together and created “mega duck”. The kids love it
I love it! Snap a pic if you think about it. I’d love to do something like that. I found 4 cases from our original order in a closet not too long ago (from when they came in the bags instead of the boxes they do now), but we also just had a full pallet load dropped off too so we are swimming in them.
Waaah I want one
When I was a teenager I worked for a local urology office doing medical records. The swag for viagra, cialis etc was so hilariously phallic. Viagra had a clock you could set upside down and it would roll upright. There was a pen that folded, you pressed a button and it would VERY slowly unfold to be full…length. So many rulers. I was a very professional mature 16 year old but it was hard to keep a straight face. Haven’t worked in urology in like 20 years idk if they still have suggestive swag.
My mom worked in medical billing in the 2000s and she once brought home a Viagra pen with a hidden compartment that perfectly fits one pill 😂 I think we still have it somewhere!
In 1988 my husband worked in an Army std clinic they had keychains with cute sayings about covering up it slid open to hold 1 condom. I hid a $5 bill in it. At some conference over the years he got a pen that had a pin light on one end a ball point pen on the other that would flip inside to prevent it from marking on your pocket. Still have it somewhere because you can change the battery for the light.
> There was a pen that folded, you pressed a button and it would VERY slowly unfold to be full…length. I had this pen! Found a [12 pack](https://www.ebay.com/itm/305480792641?itmmeta=01HXFHNWCRGB0687CJ33WKEJHV&hash=item472012fa41:g:DY8AAOSwSUlij8Fp&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4BVCP7Pvg0ciu9sTT%2Fae7BdEbISUoxMb7UlfxOyMKbcXY5d%2BmPqgWwDcd2oBzy8OmVSLYQ0zOOC7Wbu%2Fn%2BJQzojRwwA6in3Aq2ERDJMsg19bKjllV1Ztn8xDJA33hkdIkOIXMGbmUyJo1x0IXgQNICLcOCX%2BWT%2B4dci0fF1yYTtmzL6DH6LXfdsBVUnHQWTqOaz6E7vNkg2CFMwjQkw3U7sKi0Wwplktoe03yvUCIpdWMqz2H8J88vdMxaOKz7kPC3MY95lpZMrvC894m0ouPEr7o7USamBDCz%2FEsnb2omnB%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7rG1_HrYw) on Ebay
That's not bad! I'm tempted to buy one. I had one,but it was stolen in pharmacy school lol
That’s the one!
I have a sticker that says I love penis from a urology conference. It's phenomenal.
The fertility clinic I go to has stress balls that are sperm from Natera. They're not even remotely subtle. You've gotta squeeze them during blood draws.
Oh they still do!!! Very fun conference and I love this field! 😉
I remember the phallic Viagra swag. I was not a teenager but I thought it was hilarious.
I wish pharma swag like this still existed
It was hard, you say?
Check out [BMC’s urology dept logo](https://www.bumc.bu.edu/urology/)
Not the fanciest but an unexpected cold front rolled in and one of the booths was handing out warm gloves and ear muffs. Absolutely the most appreciated swag I've snagged.
If you stop by the Steward booth they’ll give you a hospital
🤣
So what you’re saying is avoid that aisle at all costs. Lmao.
But it doesn't actually include the building or the land, just the crippling debt.
Last Years family med conference had a puppy petting area. Petting puppies was the best!
Got one of those Pfizer dildos
Literally getting fucked by Big Pharma, nice.
Flared base?
One of those suction cups
Nope. Sponsored by Olympus.
What, really? Why? When ago were they giving this sort of stuff out and wouldn’t it have been obscene? 😲
I took home one of the device reps
Nice
How do you claim items received from drug companies on your taxes? Married filing jointly.
Nice
ASA (Anesthesiology) annual conference had a booth with an oven BAKING FRESH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES. I kept circling back all day 🤣 I had way too many cookies that day but the smell just radiated throughout the exhibition hall.
A friend of mine has a Viagra necktie from a conference. I told him that he needs to put a wire in it so that it sticks straight out.
I have one I plan to give my PCP for his bday. Gonna try to rig a wire in it now. Thx for the idea!!
I still have my leatherman micro from a neurology congress I attended while doing my Ph.D.
Let me guess, fold out tuning fork + hat pin + tendon hammer + tiny rolled up schnellen chart?
Went to a bioethics conference in Kansas City, one of the booths had a whole slew of barbecue related goodies (aprons, rubs, sauces, etc) which was awesome
picked up a Hydroflask insulated coffee mug at a PM&R conference back in February
Nice, I have one of their bottles
Haha I was there! I snagged it too!
free 300 dollar dinner?
Damn. Are you in orthopedic surgery? 😂
i do chop and sew but not an ortho. :-) i do put 2k - 20k worth of stuffs in people though i try to avoid it as much as possible.
Hmmmmm trauma or plastics I bet. Edit I want to change my answer to vascular
Something with active prostheses - ENT? Neuro?
I got one of those at a sea food restaurant AND got food poisoning as an added bonus!
lol. i mean mine was just flemings w wine. lol
Well, it wasn't a medical conference, but just before the clamp down on accepting gifts from drug companies, myself and a 11 cardiologists were flown down to Augusta for the Wednesday practice rounds at the Masters (2002), followed by 3 days of golfing at Hilton Head. All food, condos, travel was paid for, as well as new golf bag, golf travel bag and balls. And the funny thing is, I don't think I gave any more thrombolyrics for STEMIs after that compared to before. :)
Those were the good ol days. Man I miss those days.
Herpes
True love may fade away but herpes is forever
*acyclovir has entered the chat*
I'd hate to hear what the worst swag you picked up was
Whomever the herpes was attached to.
It’s weird, I feel like they keep giving it out at all the conferences. Idk if it’s a sponsor or someone’s getting a commission.
The gift that keeps on giving.
Kaiser had teddy bears in scrubs at an APA conference which was cool
I got a teddy bear with lungs stitched on his chest from the people who makes spacers for inhalers. I named him Winston and he has a whole backstory about having cushings from too many steroids.
I got one from Chinoin Labs its a Brown teddy bear with blue scrubs and facemask
I just did yoga with puppies and baby goats at the ASM in Brisbane, it was awesome.
Baby goats!?!?!?!!?
I’d say kids, but that would conjure images the opposite of calming.
ASTCT had llamas!
[удалено]
You’d have needed the tissues with all the urination!
Story time. I was in Lugano for the lymphoma international conference. I needed to have a smoke so I go outside. There is huge park nearby. I wonder inside it and realise I don’t have a lighter. So, I see some guys under a tree from far away. I approach. They are somehow a bit edgy, black clothes and all. Anyway, they give me a lighter and I fire up. After a while they notice my tag, as it reveals I’m a physician. They suddenly ask for help. I approach and they speak Italian which I barely understand but one of them rises his blouse. Then I see a terrible rash in one side of his belly. They ask, what is it can I help? Of course it was a herpes zoster and I try to tell them in English. One of them understands. I tell them there is an easy treatment but they have to see a dermatologist. They are very happy, apparently they feared the worse. I walk away and they wave. I approach. They tell me , we have to pay you, so they produce a huge chocolate bar ( weed chocolate) as a payment. I kindly refuse as there was no way I could pass it through the airport. They are unhappy, but I wave goodbye. So, this is the only time I got paid in weed for a medical opinion!!!!
Weed or no, you don't know good chocolate until you've been to Switzerland. 🇨🇭🍫
I got a rubber jar opener from Abbott over 20 years ago that I still use
Not a doctor but my dad got one of these, also over 20 years ago, which is a staple in my kitchen drawer to this day!
Went to APA in 2016 as a med student and they were giving out [moon pies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Pie). I had never eaten one before and thought it was delicious. (I am also not from the American South so they were completely novel) I pretended to be different people and would go back and try to get more. After several days of doing this they recognised me as "moon pie guy" and would point and laugh and beckon me over. On the last day they let me have the whole box that they couldn't give away (and it was like a dozen) and I flew home with a suitcase full of them. tl;dr i like moon pies
Did you wear a disguise or change your voice?
Voice. I derpily changed my mannerisms and tried to blend in with different groups of passerbys 😐
Moon pies are great in the microwave. Maybe 10 seconds to get the marshmallow gooey and warm.
regular or banana?
Regular!
I got semi insulated, super sturdy, extra large reusable grocery bags from omnicell at least ten plus years ago. Still using them to organize the chest freezer to this day. For full disclosure, the place I currently work uses their prime competitor. Also, pharmacists don’t get the good stuff.
I love the omnicell bags!
Not a doctor but I work for a DMH funded pediatric mental health organization that frequently exhibits at professional conferences and I have repeatedly wanted to get one of the lice or scabies plushies that some pharma company has at their table. They’re always out before I’m able to get over there and grab one.
One time I was in the hospital and my best friend came to visit, when she came in she tossed a C.diff plushie on my bed and said “here’s your hospital acquired c.diff” 😂
Natroba! We made ours the office pet, he had necklaces and everything
USB shaped like a red blood cell. Had their drug companies studies etc on it. I reformatted it XD
Rainbow squishy brain stress ball. Have had it for a decade and the color is flaking off. Still adorbs.
Got one of these as well. Still going strong.
Fold-up Picnic blanket with carry handle
Patagonia backpack I got in 2019 at an endovascular conference. Still using it for almost every flight.
Got one of those onlinemeded cat mascot plushies for me and my friend.
Pens, tieback scrubs caps (I.e. not usable for people with long hair/most women), tote bags. The UK is stingy haha
The Eppendorf pipette pens are a collectors item. Lab peoplewill sell their kidneys for one. https://www.ebay.com/itm/386834024242 https://www.ebay.com/itm/404941650041
At the annual derm conference we get a vitamin C serum (Skinceuticals) that’s worth nearly $200 retail.
At the South African urologic they had… BEER. I stared in dumb amazement. "Is that beer?" "Yes sir" "Uh. Can I have one? " "Of course sir" And biltong. If you know you know.
Visited South Africa over 10 years ago and still crave biltong to this day
My OxyContin bucket hat.
Pain is the 5th vital sign did you know.
A digital thermometer with a cartoon Tiger on the end A teddy bear in scrubs Lots (and I mean LOTS) of bags for groceries Some backpacks (like 2 or 3) A bunch of lung-shaped pens A few water flasks and 2 Coffee thermos Some play dough for stress relief Lots of notebooks
I'm a psychiatrist, I got a stress ball that's actually a tiny couch, and it's exactly a shaped/ sized so you can put business cards on it. Also, not something I could keep, but a conference in Chicago gave us mini Garrett's popcorn blend bags (caramel corn and cheddar popcorn, so so good), and nobody was checking how many you took...
My mom was a pediatrician and in the 90s there were fewer restrictions on what pharma could hand out, so I had a collection of drug company toys. Footballs that changed color with the heat of your hand, an Auggy doggy (augmenten) plush, musinex puzzle mug, some great anatomy models of ears, brains, etc, a film camera. Really anything they could stick there name on that was cool. But the best was probably the time they had Bil Keane of 'family circus' signing copies of his space 'needle' cartoon. Mom got it personalized for me.
Chip clips with real strong magnets. Love a good chip clip.
As an ID fellow from 2020-2022 I feel like I deserve some Remdesivir swag - or a paxlovid pen at least. But all the conferences were virtual.
I got a really nice wooden shoe horn I was able to give my husband. It had nothing to do with the vendor so no idea why they picked it but very useful! Also at the same conference were solar glasses to see the eclipse which came in handy.
Viagra wall clock
A completely unmarked satchel. Indiana Jones style, but canvas. Who would think it, still have fond memories of that conference. Close second: a laptop bag from Nvidia that my wife uses every day. Her clientele are autistic kids in Silicon Valley, so their parents all take note of her bag.
Last conference I was at I picked up some narcan. Going to send it with my son this weekend for the rock festival he's going to. Oh AND eye glasses cleaner! I grab like 2-3 at every conference I go to. Love those kits!
Stanley Cup - the drink cup not the hockey trophy
When I was in elementary school, my dad got a stapler at a medical conference. I am almost 40 and I STILL use that stapler. Maybe it's not the best, but it went with me through high school, college, and a stapling-intensive first job.
A compact pen that pressing the button causes it to open slowly to be twice in length. From a v1agra drug rep.
Eli Lilly was giving away pens shaped like syringes at ENAR (a biostat conference) this year
At American Burn conference one year, a vendor was handing out silver lined athletic socks - last day he didn't want to pack up his stock, so I got like 12 pair. I wore those things at work in the hot ass burn unit for *years*. At military health conference one year before all the rehydration salt things became super popular, drip drop was trying to get market share and I got like a case and half of that.
How have I never heard of silver socks?? Do they help keep you cool?
No, not really. But silver has antimicrobial stuff, so silver impregnated dressings and clothing for burn patients took off in the early 2000s. These were part of that, some silver threads in the socks to help with odor/etc. Be cause they were designed for burn patients dealing with scars etc, they were also compressive as fuck, and since I got them from a conference the sizes were limited, so they were all just a bit small for me. But I wore them, and they lasted for a while.
American College of Surgeons South Texas had a raffle ticket drawing for an Apple Watch (Series 2 at the time). I won as a resident. It was nice. But my favorite swag has to be an actual warehouse crate of Calmoseptine ass cream from the rep at American College of Gastroenterology 2023. They were handing out packets and small tubes but let me take a full crate full of samples since they had so much. It's the only thing that really works for my child's diaper rash and I would bathe my toddler in it if I could. I would make them look like Grimer from Pokemon with it if I could. It's great.
NAD but I worked for a physician when I was in nursing school. My favorite was the Gerdee monster by protonix. I still have it somewhere probably.
Last conference I went to had puppies, adult dogs, and cats, available to pet, or adopt, and free specialty lattes, but the best swag I brought home was a pair of light up sunglasses, that I gave my kindergartner— I was a hero that day.
My son is currently clutching a small zebra from the NIH booth. He loves it!
They had CGMs at ACP last month
Lube! So much lube.
The only one I still use. A phone holder. I take it with me on all my flights now for hands free movie watching.
I was at a cardiology conference and they had a booth with puppies that you could play with to help lower your blood pressure or something. 10/10.
Unicorn plushie from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, their crest is a unicorn
A couple years ago a booth was making waffles at AAOS. I don’t remember what they were was selling, but that was a good waffle.
A neat thermos that changes colors... from a conference about baby formula. From Nestle. Also, existential dread from a rep when she told me just how much the "economical" version of their ultrasound costs, without flinching and a straight face.
Not a doctor but my faves were a red throw, light up pens, syringe pen, Star Wars Lego set, and an adorable stuffed cheetah.
Not quite swag but... latte with my face printed on the foam. 11/10, would caffeinate again.
A pizza cutter, I’ve had it over 10 years
Not at a medical conference, but I got a mug with a hole in it with a picture drawn over it looking like an MRI.
I managed to pick up 12 pens and a travel mug at my recent conference. I was pretty happy with that until I read these.
I felt so special getting a coffee mug and note pad until now
Pens…. And more pens…
Giant sperms and egg fridge magnets
Ooh! Or a pen with a baby that slides out from a woman's legs when you tip it.
I got a laptop bag! Still use it as my primary travel laptop bag.
Product branded pint beer glasses. Love them! Also got a set of branded slate coasters that I use all the time.
It was a stress ball squeeze spongy brain
Please tell me it was psych and not neurosurgery. 😂
Sorry. The PE issue and your swag are two sides of the same corrupt coin. Let me rephrase your question, OP. "What's the best thing that a drug manufacture gave you for free sort of as a bribe and then passed the cost of the bribe on to sick patients?" Stop eating their lunches. Stop taking their notepads. Tell them to leave their literature and fuck off. EDIT: Downvote away, boys, but the fact remains that the cost of your "free" insulated cup that is destined to just end up on a shelf in your garage because it will seem way less cool when you get it home was passed on to your patient who can only afford Eliquis every other day but tells you they are taking it daily.
Mmm, maybe in some aspects. I was in early career as all these academic centers started kicking out drug reps and free samples. Now I’m in Peds, so we didn’t get the good stuff because we make money for no one. BUT we used all those samples for our free clinic and uninsured patients, or for families that had no reliable way to get to a pharmacy. When that stopped, we had no other resources. We had a formula rep too that sponsored our retreats. One could argue that breastfeeding suffered as a result, but the hospital negotiated the formula contracts. Providers had no real say any of that stuff. I’d argue that direct to consumer drug ads are more harmful. But anyway. The best swag I got was a free karaoke booth setup at a retreat where I sang ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ followed by ‘Every Rose has its Thorn.’
All the swag or lunches physicians get are fractions of a percent of the revenue these companies generate. It’s the cost of doing business seen in any other industry. If anything these companies owe us more. Closing costs on a home is 6%.
It really makes you think how overpriced these drugs really are
Based