Why Doctors Still Need Stethoscopes. The instrument may have outlived its use, but it hasn’t lost its power. An Object Lesson. By Andrew Bomback. Jeff Roberson / AP. May 10, 2016. Share.

Doctors’ Stethoscopes Can Transmit Bacteria As Easily As Unwashed Hands New research shows that the instruments could be a vector for bacterial infections—a concern, as they’re infrequently ...

DETROIT (WWJ) - They're a symbol of healing, but a new study finds one of the tools doctors use can be a magnet for bacteria. The diaphragm of a stethoscope — the round piece placed against a ...

In the coming years, new policies may help turn the ebbing tide of stethoscope skills in practicing physicians and those in training. Starting in 2000, internal medicine doctors who renew their ...

Though doctors may disinfect their hands to prevent spreading illness, there may be another bacteria-ridden object they have on them that doesn't get the same cleaning treatment: their stethoscopes.

Doctors are supposed to wash their hands before touching a patient. But that stethoscope draped around the doctor's neck may be loaded with bacteria, too. Cleaning it would help, researchers say.

The stethoscope may be the iconic medical tool that most doctors cannot do without, to diagnose and cure their patients' illnesses. Unfortunately, it may also be a cesspool of germs that could ...

From stethoscopes to chocolates, doctors reveal the essentials they carry daily. On National Doctors' Day 2025, we explore ...

In this 1915-1923 photo made available by the Library of Congress, a doctor examines a child with a stethoscope, accompanied by a nurse, in the United States. Show Caption. Amr Alfiky/AP.

The modern stethoscope, made of rubber and later plastic, with a bell-like end that is placed on the patient, emerged in the 1890s and since then doctors have rarely been seen without them.