Designing Your Medical Room Basic essentials in your medical/treatment room should include electricity with even, sufficient lighting, a heat source for cold weather, a water source with a utility sink and hot water.  An on-demand water heater is ideal for this situation. It is inexpensive and unobtrusive as there is no holding tank.   Of course, you are limited only by your imagination as to other amenities you may want to include.    The actual layout or design of the room should be dictated by the work being done there.  For example, I saw a very nice medical room at a farm, but the scales were directly in line of the door.  This is not great for the animal that staggers in and has to be led around the scales.  Do keep in mind a floor with drainage so it can be hosed for cleaning. Rolling bins used for storing medical supplies. When designing your room, remember you need to be organized and clean.   You can accomplish this several ways - with shelves, cabinets, counters and pegboard.  You may use the pegboard to hang equipment for easy identification and quick access and store items in the shelves and cabinets.  You should meet with your veterinarian and the two of you (and your manager if you have one) can customize the room. Some of what you have will be dictated by how comfortable you are doing specific kinds of procedures.    You and your veterinarian will determine some things as basic need items.   I have found stacked closed bins on rollers work better for me than anything.  The items in the bins stay clean and I can move them when needed.  One set of bins holds items used on a regular basis.  The second set holds those items not used often but needed nevertheless.   Dolores J. Gardner     418 County Road 1108  Daingerfield, TX  75638   903.645.2650  Copyright 2005