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The Physician's Guide to Gifts for Any Occasion

Over the years, we’ve seen countless posts within our virtual doctors’ lounge Facebook group asking for recommendations from the hive mind for gift ideas for different special occasions, whether it’s a “just because” gift for a spouse, a graduation present for a family member or family friend, or general holiday gifting ideas. Members often also ask for special perks and discounts for their favorites. We’ve pooled the advice from our members to provide physicians with popular ideas for gifts, including our members’ favorites as well as some of our own.


We often run special promotions and holiday sales within our online physician community, so if you’re shopping for a specific season such as Black Friday, make sure you explore our community for exclusive discounts and perks on member favorites.


Disclosure: This page contains information about our sponsors and/or affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which support us monetarily at no cost to you, and often provide you with perks, so we hope it's win-win. These should be viewed as introductions rather than formal recommendations. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. To learn more, visit our disclaimers and disclosures.


Ideas for gifts for graduations, holidays, and other special occasions for physicians from our online community




Guide to Gifts for Physicians


Explore our PSG favorite gift giving ideas based on age, relationship, and situation below.


When it doubt, members have mentioned across all gift related threads that you can’t really go wrong with an Amazon gift card (affiliate link). While you might not know what they want or need for the occasion, they certainly will, and you can contribute to their cause easily this way.



Gift Ideas for a Holiday Gift Exchange


If you’re looking for ideas for a white elephant gift exchange or other gift exchange and don’t know where to start, our members have you covered. Consider:


  • A phone charger or battery power bank


  • A small kitchen appliance, such as an air fryer, veggie chopper, or immersion blender




  • A tire air pump for their car


PSG member perk:

Consider also gifting them a My Best Year Journal, developed by PSG member Dr. Jolie Keenan. This journal contains goal setting, priorities of the day, gratitude writing, to do lists, habit tracking, weekly celebrations, 30-60-90-180-360 day markers, travel planning, bucket lists, and more. PSG members can save 10% on their order. Find our exclusive 10% off group discount code here.



Gift Ideas for Staff, Colleagues, and Other Professionals


If someone has gone out of their way to be amazing to you, you may want to return the favor, but might not know them well enough to know their personal tastes. In these situations, our members often recommend:


  • A voucher or gift card to a nice restaurant


  • A gift of coffee or tea, whether a gift set or a gift card such as Starbucks


  • A nice bottle (or three) of wine or spirits


  • Gift baskets, such as Omaha Steaks, wine, or charcuterie items


  • A nice travel mug, heated coffee mug, or customized water bottle; our members tend to love the Ember coffee mugs (affiliate link)


  • Compression socks (while noted that these aren’t a “fun” gift, they are much loved by our members and their staff)


  • Scrubs or white coats


  • Meal service


Related PSG perks:

  • Herbs and Kettles is a premium Indian tea company founded by physicians Poorvi Chordia and Abraham Thomas. Their Chai Lover Gift Set has been featured by the Food Network. PSG members get 15% off with the affiliate code PSG15 through the Herbs and Kettles website.

  • Bombas sells extremely popular compression socks that our members rave about for clinical days. New customers can get 25% off all socks plus free shipping on orders of $70 and more using the instructions on our affiliate link

  • Thistle meal service - PSG members can take $120 off the first five weeks, then 10% off future purchases. Use our affiliate link to get started. Thistle is a subscription meal service that delivers fully prepared plant based meals, snacks, and cold-pressed juices right to your doorstep. Thistle’s meal design, emphasizing whole, natural foods, reflects scientific, evidence-based principles of dietary choices that lead to optimal health and a healthier planet. Approved by more than 1,000 healthcare providers, Thistle assists you in staying healthy and nourished with nutrient dense meals made with abundant gut healthy fiber, plenty of plant based protein, low glycemic cards, and heart healthy fats.

  • We often have discounts on scrubs, fleeces, and white coats on our merchandise discounts for physicians page.



Gift Ideas for the Entire Family


Around the holiday season, members hit up our communities looking for gift ideas for all ages. We break down community recommendations below by age category, but there are a few popular gifting ideas across the entire family when you’re doing holiday shopping.


If you’re looking for gifts that can bring enjoyment to the entire family, check out the favorite board games from our physician community.


For clothing, Allbirds makes some amazing sweatpants that are warm and cozy for the holiday season. You can get 15% off your order using our code PHYSICIANSIDEGIGS through our referral link.


Bombas apparel, especially their socks and slippers, is popular within our communities. New customers can get 25% off all socks plus free shipping on orders of $70 and more using the instructions on our affiliate link



Gift Ideas for Your Parents


  • If feasible, give them the gift of time with you and/or their grandchildren.


  • Consider getting a framed photo, photo album, photo calendar, digital album, or photo collage of favorite times together and memories.

  • We've found that parents love the extremely comfortable Oofos sandals (see perks below).



Gift Ideas for Adult Family and Friends


  • Some members say the best gift they give is agreeing to skip giving gifts to each other! Others echoed this sentiment and said they try to plan experiences together instead.


  • Make a custom snack basket of their favorite treats.


  • A gift certificate for an experience such as a cooking class, a music lesson, or even maybe paddle boarding lessons, depending on their interests


  • An Ororo heated vest, which comes sized specifically for men and for women. (Affiliate links)


  • For the special women in your life, gifts of makeup, clothing, and candles can also be popular ideas.


PSG related perks:

  • twenty/twenty beauty products were developed by Dr. Diane Hilal-Campo, a board-certified ophthalmologist, after witnessing countless women facing ocular complications from conventional eye makeup. twenty/twenty beauty is the first clean beauty line dedicated to eye health, designed to enhance your eyes' natural beauty without causing irritation or sensitivity. Get 25% off using our exclusive group code within our community.

  • Allbirds, Oofos, Bombas, and Rothy’s all offer discounts on apparel. Check out our PSG member merchandise discounts page for specifics for each.

  • If you’re looking to celebrate a huge milestone and want to go all out, check out our travel page for discounts on amazing vacation ideas like African safaris and cruises around the Galapagos Islands.



Gift Ideas for Adolescent Kids


  • Take them to an experience you can do together (and maybe take one of their friends), such as a concert, play or museum.




Gift Ideas for Younger Children


  • Kiwi crates are popular for creative kids.


  • Members recommended anything that comes with a remote control to keep them entertained.


  • The Nugget couch (affiliate link) is popular in our community for its versatility as your kids grow.



Gift Ideas for Toddlers


There are so many ideas for gifts at this age, but some of the favorites were:


  • Melissa & Doug toys


  • A basketball hoop


  • A toy kitchen


  • A selection of children’s book (we have a few children’s books authored by PSG members on our recommended books page)



Gift Ideas for Medical School Students, Residents, and Fellows


When looking at gift ideas for future physicians, our members have several ideas depending on how well you know them and even their financial situation.


  • If they are stressed (like most are in medical school and residency), a day of being pampered might be a wonderful treat. Consider gifting a certificate for a massage, facial, or pedicure. It’s a luxury they likely wouldn’t consider spending the money on in this season of their life.


  • Give the gift of an experience if there’s a local show in town, such as Cirque du Soleil, or perhaps a paint and sip class, depending on their interests.


  • If they don’t have time to go out, consider bringing dinner to them with a meal or food delivery service.



  • A monogrammed stethoscope or stethoscope holder can be a practical graduation present.



  • Kids just need money, so consider a gift of cold, hard cash to help them get through the rest of their training.


  • Give them a custom badge reel.


  • Some members joked about giving an UpToDate subscription, but it was actually a popular idea.


  • A nice pair of scrubs can make a great gift.


  • Or consider gifting them a nice office chair.


Related PSG perks:

  • Through our collaboration with Wolters Kluwer, Physician Side Gigs members can get a discount on personal UpToDate subscriptions as a special member perk. PSG physician members can save 15% and trainees get 20% off on an annual or longer subscription to UpToDate! The promo code can be found within our physician online community.

  • Instacart enables grocery delivery in as fast as 1 hour. New customers get free delivery on your first three orders over $50 with our affiliate link.

  • Eko offers PSG members up to $50 off their digital stethoscope when you purchase through our affiliate link.

  • We have several discounts on scrubs on our merchandise discounts for physicians page.

  • Herman Miller makes highly rated furniture known for ergonomics. You get a 20% discount through our group affiliate link and discount code. In order to get the discount code, please go to this post on the group.



Gift Ideas for the New Parents


If you’re looking for a baby shower present or just a gift idea for new moms and dads with a baby, our members have lots of favorites to share:


  • Onesies




  • Start a meal train or bring meals, especially frozen meals or meals that can be frozen for later, to the new parents. You could also gift them a subscription to a meal service!


  • Gift a baby carrier for the parents that are on the move.



PSG related perks:

  • The Nessl is an ultra-lightweight baby carrier, designed by PSG member Dr. Lena Shahbandar, a physician mom with 15 years of experience in spine care. She designed the Nessl to support the unique needs of moms during and after pregnancy. The carrier is not only back healthy for parents but hip healthy for babies. Use our PSG code PSGSPINE on their website for 20% off!

  • Instacart enables grocery delivery in as fast as 1 hour to help you contribute to the meal train. New customers get free delivery on your first three orders over $50 with our affiliate link.



Gift Ideas for Those Goings for a Hard Medical Time


Unfortunately within our communities, we also see posts of members asking how to help support family and friends going through rough medical diagnoses. Some of the comforting and motivational suggestions (as well as practical gifts to help support the family) have included:


  • Clothing (shirts, pajamas, etc.) with easy access for ports or drain tubes


  • Gift cards for meal and food delivery, as well as cleaning services


  • A fuzzy blanket or warm socks


  • Pay for a babysitter to help out with the kids


  • A comfortable pillow to take in the car for appointments and to appointments


Related PSG perk:

Instacart enables grocery delivery in as fast as 1 hour to help you contribute to the meal train. New customers get free delivery on your first three orders over $50 with our affiliate link.



Happy gifting!



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