If someone asked you what the ten most important tools in a doctors office were you would probably have a mental flash of shiny, sharp surgical supplies and cutty torture devices you have seen on the wall during your routine check-ups. Honestly, though, the answers may surprise you.

Even with high tech equipment being introduced into the medical field that seemingly renders many of these items obsolete, many doctors stick to the classics even if they are only used as a reference assessment. Like the wheel or the hammer, some tools just got it right the first time.

Though all doctors tools are important for when they are needed, a doctor’s most important tools help them get the right diagnosis. After getting the proper diagnosis, doctors then fall back on a variety of tools and medications to treat the problem.

Nearly everything on this list is something you have had used on you before, or have at least seen. A lot of them seem arbitrary and yet have proven to be critical to your doctor’s mission of providing you with the best healthcare possible.

Reflex Hammer

So simple and yet so important. This is that cool little triangle hammer your doctor has been gently tapping just below your knee with since you were a child. This one little tap tests you for nerve problems and several serious diseases.

Watch/Stopwatch

It doesn’t even have to be medical issued. Doctors and medical professionals of all caliber depend heavily on watches to assess their patients. This tool helps doctors determine mostly whether or not their patients have fast, slow, or irregular heartbeats.

Stethoscope

The Swiss army knife of the doctor’s office. The stethoscope gives doctors the ability to asses your heart, lungs, stomach and more without ever needing to plug you into high tech equipment. Not bad for a hundred-year-old piece of equipment.

Alcohol

No, not to put up with your WebMD-ing to their face. Sterilization is a big part of the medical field. Doctors do not move without ensuring whatever they are doing is clean, sterile, and safe. Alcohol wipes and the like play a big part in this.

Sphygmomanometer

Say that five times fast. This is the actual term for the device used to check your blood pressure. Your blood pressure gives your doctor a floodlight into your current state of health.

Scale

Nobody enjoys being weighed at his or her routine checkup. It is, however, very important for diagnostic reasons that your doctor keeps tabs on your weight. Rapid weight loss or gain can give your doctor a plethora of medical information on your physiology and psychology.

Common things a scale helps diagnose are signs of stress, cancer, mental instability, and depression.

Otoscope

Your ears not only help you listen selectively, but they also aid in keeping balance. Having an infection in your ear can greatly affect your whole body. This is why the doctor sticks this handy device into your sound port.

They are checking for everything from redness, swelling, blockages, fluid, and even bloody discharges.

Syringes/Needles

Doctors may need to check your blood sugar or take some samples. Perhaps you are just due for a vaccination. You will never meet someone who enjoys this process but, doctor’s orders. Look away if you have to.

Protective Gloves

Ever hear the term “body substance isolation?” Protective equipment is important for the doctor’s safety and for their patients. Quality latex or nonlatex rubber gloves are a mandatory part of the medical field and save more lives than you will ever know.

Clipboard

The most important tool a doctor uses is their clipboard. This allows them to take notes on everything the above-mentioned tools have told them. Everything written on this clipboard goes into your file and can be used as a reference for future routine tests.

Wait, That’s It?

You may be scanning this list feeling sort of let down it didn’t have more interesting items on it. The truth is the truth and these are the tools doctors feel are the most important.

The human body is a very complex puzzle. The wrong diagnosis can cost you mountains of money, years of your time, and even your life. This is the reason doctors put so much emphasis on quality diagnostic tools and practices.