Eight Great Gifts for the Clinician in Your Life
By Jim Shearer
Director of Communications
The holiday season is upon us, bringing joy—and the occasional stress of finding the perfect gift. If you’re wondering what to get the clinician in your life, don’t panic. You don’t need to lose sleep or fall into a Google rabbit hole—I’ve got you covered. The following gift ideas are practical, thoughtful, and perfect for any on-the-go clinician.
Before we jump in, let me set the stage. This list is non-clinical. If you’re not a clinician yourself, chances are you’ll pick the wrong TheraBand or miss the mark with other tools of the trade. Instead, these gifts are useful and enjoyable, and show that you’ve got an eye for practical solutions they didn’t even know they needed.
1. FOX Stanley Quencher FlowState Tumbler
Last year, I was skeptical when the Stanley Tumbler became trendier than doing “The Floss” in 2017, but then my daughter got one and I became an instant believer. She started the day with a tumbler filled with ice water, and many hours later—OMG—the ice hadn’t melted yet. How do they do that? Throughout the year, my wife and daughter were so into the trend, that they amassed a collection of water bottles, including ones from Takeya and Owala. In my opinion, they’re all great. So, long story short, if you get someone a quality water bottle—despite any initial skepticism, like mine—they’ll be using it all year (and hydrating themselves in the process, which is a nice health perk).
Speaking of insulated items, if the clinician in your life packs a lunch multiple times a week, they would be pumped to receive a Yeti Lunch Bag. Here’s why I know they would love it: every month at FOX Rehabilitation, we offer up a prize for anyone who submits a Colleague of the Month nomination. During PT Month, we offered up an orange Yeti Lunch Bag and got the most submissions we’ve ever received! Yeti products tend to be on the more expensive side, yet their quality is revered.
Clinicians who make House Calls spend time driving from patient to patient, often using their phone as a GPS. A reliable car phone mount is essential. I spent years using cheap options that broke after a few months. I would go through mounts like the late great professional wrestler, Razor Ramon, went through toothpicks. To break myself from this cycle, earlier this year I looked for a higher-grade version, and I am completely satisfied with ESR’s MagSafe Car Mount. I bought mine in January, and almost a year later, it shows no signs of weakness. Not only is it a great car mount, but my magnetic iPhone case slaps on the mount with ease and instantly starts charging it, eliminating any need to fiddle with wires. I prefer having my phone mounted on the dashboard, not only because it’s safer to glance at a device from eye-level, but mounts that fit into a cup holder end up losing you a cup holder, and ones that attach to your air vent limit some airflow in your car.
4. A Subscription to Something
We live in the age of the subscription, and it’s important to remember during the holiday season that not everyone has a subscription to everything. Do a little investigation and find out what might interest the clinician in your life. Are they a music lover? Get them a subscription to Apple Music or Spotify. Are they into Star Wars of the Marvel? Get them a subscription to Disney +. If they’re a sports lover, get them a subscription to ESPN +. The choices are endless. If you’re not looking to drop triple digits on a gift, go with a simple 6-month subscription. Trust me, this gift is always appreciated. Years ago, I got all of my brothers and sisters subscriptions to Netflix, and they have been subscribers ever since.
It may sound like a lazy gift, and initially, it may even be greeted with some side-eye, but after the gift recipient misplaces their phone charger—which happens multiple times a year—this gift will be greeted like George Bailey coming back to Bedford Falls at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life. Here’s the only catch, even though all new cell phones are being made with an industry-wide USB-C port, there are older Apple and Samsung models that require different chargers. Just make sure you’re getting the right one!
After a long day of House Calls, nothing beats coming home to a pint of Jeni’s Ice Cream. As Director of Communications with FOX Rehabilitation, throughout the year I send out various incentive and morale gifts to colleagues (as noted above in the Yeti Lunch Bag breakdown). A shipment of Jenni’s Ice Cream always comes with an enthusiastic reaction. Here’s why I like Jenni’s: they have a bunch of different flavors (they also have dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan options), they have seasonal collections (yes, including a holiday-themed one), I’ve never had a problem with shipping, and each flavor conveniently comes in a pint-sized container. Gift boxes come with six or nine pints of ice cream, which should fit easily in the freezer and will most likely be consumed within a few days, if not sooner. It beats getting someone a quesadilla maker or foot bath, which will be used once or twice and then collect dust for the rest of the year.
7. Gift Cards
This was on our holiday list last year, and I hear you—it’s the gift you get when you run out of good ideas—but here’s something to consider. My wife doesn’t sigh when she gets her umpteenth gift card to Starbucks, she actually appreciates it. Keep in mind that we’re living in a digital world. It’s not like you have to keep all of your gift cards in the back of the junk drawer and hope that you don’t lose any of them; the codes on the gift cards can be quickly added to an app on your phone. If “gift card” is a dirty word for you, just think of it as adding a deposit to your favorite clinician’s Starbucks, Amazon, Dunkin’, Chipotle, or Chick-fil-A accounts.
I know this gift verges on breaking my earlier stated parameter of keeping things “non-clinical,” because everyone knows that the trunk of a car is what most FOX clinicians call office space. Chances are most PTs, OTs, SLPs, and EPs already have a system for their trunk, but if they don’t, that’s where this gift can come in handy. Trunk organizers come in all shapes, sizes, and prices. If you want to ease someone into the idea of keeping a clean and well-sorted trunk, there are organizers that you can buy for $20. If the clinician in question seems to like it, you can always upgrade next year!
There you go, eight great gift ideas for the on-the-go clinician in your life. We wish all of you a happy holiday season and hope that whatever you end up getting is well received!