Stethoscopes

There's a quote from the book 'The House of God' that describes a doctor's stethoscope:
"He wore a butcher-length white coat and a long old-fashioned stethoscope wended its way across his chest and abdomen and disappeared mysteriously into his pants. A question flickered across my mind: WHERE DID THAT STETHOSCOPE GO?"

I remember watching a movie or a TV episode or seeing a picture about wearing stethoscopes and how wearing them in a certain way told a lot about the individual.

There was this doctor at my hospital who wears his stethoscope, so that the ear pieces are around his neck and the diaphragm dangles down to his waist. I specifically remember this position being considered the 'bastard' way because it's meant to draw attention to the crotch of the individual and I have to agree.

Whenever men wear stethoscopes which dangle of their crotches, I wonder, "Do you feel the need to listen to your penis?"

As a med student, having your stethoscope on display is a debatable topic. On the one hand, wearing your stethoscope around your neck is the most comfortable and accessible place and makes it easy to use BUT also gives the actual Doctors the wrong impression that you're actually capable of using it, which, let us be honest isn't true about any of us. Most of the time, if mines around my neck I spend my time adjusting which side is audible and then low-and-behold when I come to use it, I can't hear anything because I've switched diaphgrams. Useless. On the other hand, wearing your stethoscope around your neck is considered 'dicky' by other students, like you're showing off so a lot of students store it in their bags or their pockets and as a result above-mentioned doctors criticize our lack of commitment to the practice.

It's a conflicting situation.