Medical equipment is rather expensive, often running upwards of thousands of dollars, and not every small independent hospital and medical school can afford them. In fact, many med schools today have to rely on the charity of hospitals and clinics to donate to their cause. Medical school equipment is no cheaper than that made for hospitals.
Many medical schools rely on the charity of hospitals and clinics to stock up on medical school equipment. Because this need for state of the art equipment has presented itself as more and more crucial everyday, a market has grown specifically catering to this demand. When they can't receive enough donations, medical schools will now be able to go to online vendors who sell used medical equipment for nearly 40 percent off the listed retail price. Oftentimes, they have extensive inventories of more than 5,000 items at a time because hospitals are constantly receiving new equipment from other sources and need a place to discard their older used medical equipment. This, however, does not mean that the used medical equipment is sub par. Most items are graded according to a legitimate rating system and only the ones in good condition would be able to be sold.
Durability and affordability are two main concerns when purchasing used medical equipment because the medical schools want their students to get the maximum amount of utilization and practice from the devices they will eventually need in their professions. It is one thing to learn about theories and cases, but it is an entirely other thing to have hands on experience dealing with the machine itself. Medical research programs require an exceptional value for high quality equipment but at the same time, the institutions are not always sponsored by trust funds. Having used medical equipments is beneficial to their financial situation because the price of a used EKG machine is usually not as high as brand new ones. As a side note, medical schools aren't the only establishments in demand for used medical equipment; foreign countries--particularly poorer ones--need affordable equipment more than ever. Some countries with smaller medical centers that are run out of the pockets of kind individuals lack the proper resources and machinery to run their clinics with utmost efficiency. In the end, used medical machines benefit not only the education of medical school students but also third-world foreign doctors who may be a step behind.
