Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Pharm or Treat?

Hi y'all!

I've never used the term "y'all" before I came down South and now it's something I say without hesitation. Cool beans. Where do I begin...well, where did October go? October has been a whirlwind of a month. Busy to say the least. We started the month halfway through our Cardiovascular/ANS block. That block was especially dense and complex so a large chunk of my time was devoted to studying. I must say; I believe this was the hardest block so far but it was also the most interesting and rewarding block. After spending so many hours learning about all the heart failure drugs and ANS drugs, it felt good to be able to explain it to my friends and family back at home with ease. I’ve been in this pharmacology program for about 3 and a half months now and I feel like I am getting a taste of what medical school will be like. It is all about time management, keeping up with school, extracurricular activities; while finding time to do everything you want to do in between. It is doable and to be able to do it all without feeling overwhelmed or tired is an amazing feeling. I believe it is a routine and the sooner you get into it, the easier it gets. It took me over 2 months to get into the mentality and it is something I still work on every day. But as with anything, practice makes perfect. I feel like I say this on a monthly basis (and I’m sorry about that!) but I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to experience all of this through Tulane’s Pharmacology department. This program has made me a stronger medical school applicant and that is something I sincerely appreciate.


Another activity I’ve been busy with this month is volunteering at SciHigh. The kids just had their Science Fair last week and it was awesome to be a part of it again. Science Fair was one of my favorite activities in high school and I definitely had some trouble containing my excitement for it. Being a part of it this time as a teacher was also a different but fun experience nonetheless. What I realized is that the challenge of being a teacher is getting a wide range of kids who are very curious and involved to kids who don’t seem to understand the excitement of science. So, it is up to the teacher, and the volunteer, to make it fun and exciting for those students. I tried my best and hope the kids were excited as I was. And this wraps up my October post. November feels like it’s already in full swing and it is only the 1st. But no problems here, I’m ready to dive right into it! Cheers!

This month's community service hours- 8 hours
Total semester service hours- 14 hours