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Remember the old adage, “health is wealth”, if that were to be held true, the medical fraternity ought to be like our ‘wealth advisors’. Doctors, registered nurses, emergency medical technicians, specialists and other medical support staff are all members of the vital healthcare ecosystem. Medical pins have long been used to identify the personnel employed in a hospital. Medical pins are also given out on graduation day to newly graduate doctors, EMTs and registered nurses.

Once accessible only within the medical fraternity, today medical pins can be bought online and customised, making them not just ideal gifts for your physician or nurse, but as gag gifts or oddities to your loved ones as well. Medical pins are normally geared towards identifying the hospital’s personnel and therefore are either in the form of a badge, or a lapel pin, which doctors either wear on a tie, or nurses wear on their scrubs’ breast pocket. Let us take a closer look at these medical pins and understand the different types.

Types of medical pins:

●Doctor Pins: These medical pins identify a professional as a doctor. These may vary depending on the speciality of practice. But most of these pins feature the caudus symbol, which worldwide is the unofficial symbol of the medical fraternity. There are minute differentiations in colors, patterns and symbology to define the various disciplines and no two disciplines will have the same design. This means that a General Practitioner’s medical pin will be different from a Cardiologist’s and any other medical practitioner’s

●EMS pins: Emergency Medical Services is a branch of medicine that is a quick response team that rushes to the scene of an accident or emergency. The medical pin representing this service is a rather simple one, featuring a cross in either red or blue (depending on the state) and the words EMS emblazoned on it.

●Registered nurse pins: These form the most diverse range of medical pins. A nurse could either have a Certified Nursing Practitioner (CNP) pin, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) pin or the pin she received at her graduation, that identifies her as the alumnus of a certain medical school or college. There are also celebratory pins that can be fashioned for nurses, as a sign or token of appreciation, by either her colleagues or a grateful patient. The absolute variety and types of medical pins for nurses are mind boggling.

Metals:

●Silver: A majority of all medical pins, that are commemorative in nature are struck in silver and are intricately designed. They could feature popular medical iconography like stethoscopes, caudus symbols or even the speciality the physician, nurse or EMT is certified at, like cardiac, heart, general practice and others.

●Gold: It is extremely rare that 9 or 18k gold medical pins are ever forged or struck. If ever these are, they are almost always to mark a special occasion or achievement, like a milestone operation, or a long , illustrious career in a top-tier medical institution.

●Ultrium: Celestrium, or ultrium is a hardy white metal, a kind of stainless steel that has a finish like white gold. It is easier to maintain and infinitely cheaper, while being resistant to corrosion or damage. Therefore most medical pins are fashioned out of this or similar metals.