Hey everybody,
So, the time has finally come and the program officially ended today!!! We all took our last exam yesterday, and I finished up with my volunteering for community service hours today as well. I was finally able to participate in a build for Habitat for Humanity, and I wish I could have done a few more because I really enjoyed the experience, but I've run out of time unfortunately! As I've said before in my previous posts, and I will end with..... this program completely flew by, and it seemed like just yesterday, when I arrived to this great city with a goal in mind! Now, I can return back to good ol' Georgia knowing that I successfully completed what I came here for!
I will take all of the experiences I had here, remember all the people I met, and will reflect with fond memories in the future. It was quite the honor to be chosen for this program, as well as to be in a class with such incredibly intelligent, talented, and gifted people. I know all of us will do amazing things in the future! Thank you to all the faculty, my classmates, and Tulane for the experience and now onwards to the next chapter!!!!! 😁
April Volunteering Hours: 21
Total Spring Semester Volunteering Hours: 24
Hey everybody,
So, March has come and is almost gone, and I can't believe this program is almost over!!! We basically have only a month left! I have learned so much and have met so many people, since arriving to this city last August. I know that I have said this way too much already, but the time has gone by SO quickly! All we have left now is our two cell control exams, and I have two presentations that I have left to do!
The shelf exam that we had a few weeks ago lived up to its dubious reputation and was INCREDIBLY challenging. We are all extremely happy to have that over with because it was a huge burden for us all, and we are now just waiting for our results! The exam gave us all a preview of what is to come because we'll be taking many other shelf exams and standardized exams once we are in medical school. The rest of my community service hours need to be completed by the end of April, so I will be working on completing that this coming month. My parents will be coming into town this Wednesday and leaving this Sunday, so I am going to enjoy spending time with them and showing them around the city!!!!! ..... 😊
March Volunteering Hours: 3
Spring Semester Volunteering Hours: 3
Hey everybody,
So, the month of February has come to a close already, and I'm shocked of how it has just flown by!!! The month is only 28 days, and I just realized it, when I was reminded that I needed to submit my blog post from my classmates luckily!!! Our final block exams for our psych module exams have concluded, and now we have the NBME customized shelf exam to study for, this coming month! I will be honest and say that I'm not afraid to admit that I'm quite worried about this exam because I've heard that it is quite difficult and that it is CUMULATIVE and covers everything we have learned in medical pharmacology for the Fall and Spring semesters! I have already started studying and will plan to have reviewed everything ASAP!
I have finished my Endocrine Pharmacology presentation, as well as one of my Advances presentations, so that is quite the relief as well! All I have left presentation wise is one more Advances presentation, as well as one for Neuropharmacology. I will DEFINITELY start my community service this month, and I will plan to have at least 12 hours completed by the end of March! I’ve unfortunately been extremely busy and have not had the time to start my community service until now! I look forward to the coming month and the challenges that lie ahead, which should be extremely interesting!!!!!
February Volunteering Hours: 0
Spring Semester Volunteering Hours: 0
Hey everybody,
The Spring semester has started and has already become quite hectic, and we're only done with January so far!!! We completed our Endocrinology/Reproductive system block exams and now we have started our Neurology block, which is fascinating so far! I am so intrigued with the many different types of psychiatric drugs and their mechanisms! How these drugs work to treat seizures, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, migraines, etc. is so complex and will take a great deal of time and effort to remember and understand on my part!!! Also, opiates were extremely interesting, and I was impressed on how they worked in the body in reducing pain.
The other drugs used to decrease pain were also compelling in what receptors they interact with and how similar they are to each other in their mechanisms of action! I really look forward to starting to volunteer again, since I was unable to do so and start that this month unfortunately, and I will continue to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and the KIPP school. I do hope to add different volunteering experiences as well like Edible Schoolyard and others! Volunteering is something that I always look forward to and enjoy so much! Exploring the city more will also be extremely high on my list, and I will try to do that more, whenever I can with the weather permitting since it has been extremely cold the past few weeks!!!!! ..... 😊
January Volunteering Hours: 0
Spring Semester Volunteering Hours: 0
Hey everybody,
So, the month of November has come to a close, and it's starting to feel cold and like Winter! I'm still shocked, as to how this semester and year as a whole has flown by! We have completed our Cardiovascular/Renal block as well as our Pulmonary & Molecular Biology block, and it all feels like it went by so very quick!!! This program has been such a wonderful experience for me, and I feel like I have learned so much and improved in so many different ways! The Cardiovascular/Renal block was my favorite block so far, even though I found it to be extremely challenging and our most difficult block so far!
For volunteering, I have continued to volunteer at the KIPP School, and I will volunteer at Habitat for Humanity, and another organization possibly for this semester. I got the chance to finally see the students during a school day for the first time, so it was wonderful to see that we are making a difference in their lives and their learning! It makes me extremely happy to see the students so happy and enjoying themselves, as well as the teachers! There seems to be a joint effort on both of their parts to make a wonderful learning experience! Our final block for the semester is GI/Neoplasia, which I'm really enjoying so far, so I'm looking forward to ending this semester on a high note!!!!! 😊
Updated November and December Volunteering Hours: 21
Total Fall Semester Volunteering Hours: 24
Hey everybody,
October has come and flown by!!!!! We had our exams in the infectious disease and cell biology block, as well as the nervous system and physiology block! I found the infectious disease and cell biology block to be the most challenging so far, since it was so condensed with so much material, in such a short amount of time! Shadowing in the ER from the past helped me to be familiar with many diseases and drugs that we learned in the block, which was very helpful to me on the exams! I started my volunteering with the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) school, and it has been a wonderful experience so far from helping everyone at the school, including the children!
We helped organize things, such as chairs and other equipment in the gymnasium. We also helped in decorating the schoolboards for the Fall/Thanksgiving season and with moving boxes from place to place. I will continue to volunteer at the school and plan on volunteering in other organizations like Habitat for Humanity and The Edible Schoolyard! Helping to build houses in Habitat for Humanity is something that I really want to do, and I'm looking forward to! Our upcoming exam in cardiovascular and renal is coming up next Thursday, and it is a lot of information, so it will be extremely challenging!
October Volunteering Hours: 3
Fall Semester Volunteering Hours: 3
Hey everybody,
So, this is my first post, as I have started the Tulane University School of Medicine Masters of Pharmacology program here in NOLA!!! The program has been fantastic so far, and I have amazing and supportive professors and classmates! We have really developed a true sense of comradery as fellow students, which I am so impressed of, and I can see it when we help each other study and converse about our learning in our classes. We had our first exam and it went well, but I am now focusing on the learning objectives to not get overwhelmed with extraneous information. The learning objectives help us focus on what we need to know and help us to remember important drugs and treatments!
I found the subjects of antiviral drugs, stem cells, and tissue culture to be the most interesting topics so far!!! My classmates and I have already done things together, such as meeting up for food, watch a movie, etc. We went to the Pythian Market for brunch one weekend and also went to Johnny Sanchez after our first exam! Both places were so delicious, and I had tacos for both food experiences!!! 😊 I will start my volunteering experiences this coming month, and I am extremely interested in volunteering for KIPP!
I will do even more volunteering besides that, once I look at my other options. Volunteering with organizations that help with children, will be very high up on my list for choosing for sure! The food has been wonderful, and I hope to explore the city even more in the next month and coming months!!!!! 😁
September Volunteering Hours: 0
Fall Semester Volunteering Hours: 0
