These top five “Must-Haves” is a mixture of things that I found useful in the program and things I just wanted to have. You do not need to have any of these.
1. Invest in a good printer or look into a printing service
Remember that this program is about ultrasound which means you will need a lot of black ink! What a group of us do each term is print out all our notes at once at BCIT’s Campus Print & Copy. For my level 1 notes I paid ~$45 for 4 classes and level 2 it will be around ~$35 for 4 classes. We print our notes in black and white, if you print in colour the price goes up significantly. Colour would have been nice for some sections in Cardiac, as I had to colour the ultrasound pictures myself which was a bit tricky.
2. Gelly Roll and FriXion pens
You will definitely need gel pens. They are handy for drawing on, outlining and labeling structures on ultrasound images. A number of us own Gelly Roll pens, and we love them. I also love the FriXion pens and highlighters they are handy because you can erase your mistakes, it helps if you are a perfectionist like me. I have never seen erasable highlighters, it’s like magic!
3. BCIT Merchandise
I bought a BCIT Sonography hoodie, in grey. We had the opportunity to buy them in Grey or Maroon and as a Crewneck or Hoodie. I picked grey since everything in the program is in shades of grey. It costed ~$47 including tax, and we got a free t-shirt along with it. I also bought a retractable badge holder and lanyard to hold my student ID. It is super handy because It keeps your ID accessible and you need it to get into the lab.
4. Book Binding
After I completed Level 1, I bounded 4 of my classes notes. Since we have to write board exams later I thought it would be a good idea. I paid ~$25, you can get it done at BCIT’s Campus Print & Copy and I think Staples does it too. It saves space, I can reuse my binders for level 2 and it’s easier to flip through the pages.
5. Textbooks
When it comes to textbooks, I would talk to the teachers and the level ahead of you. They will tell you which textbooks they find most useful. It is hard to know which ones to get because some textbooks are recommended, required and additional textbooks so it’s a good idea to ask. Also on our D2L Sonography HomeRoom there is a place where you can buy textbooks from the different levels. If you don’t want to buy brand new you can find them there. I would recommend waiting until school starts before buying any textbooks.
