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September 2020

This past month-plus of living in New Orleans and starting the Pharmacology Masters has been pedal to the metal from get go. Settling in to NOLA life and school was a much easier transition than expected from my previous gap year working as an emergency department scribe in Memphis. There are points in almost every lecture that I can’t help but think back on a case from that job. Working in a clinical setting not only equipped me with a wide knowledge base coming into the program, but it also gave me real life cases to refer back to when learning about a particular pathophysiology or drug mechanism. During our Infectious Disease module, I was able to think back on all the antibiotics prescribed for different infections or initiated as first line empiric therapy and understand why certain antibiotics were given. In this most recent module while learning about cardiac physiology, I finally gained an understanding of the parts of an EKG and their clinical significance. These "aha!" moments have been great learning reinforcers.

    Community outreach during this pandemic is very weird. We as a program have written letters to seniors in assisted living. I wrote to a woman who likes flowers and Bible verses, and it reminded me of my own great aunt who is in an assisted living home. Part of what drew me to this program was the opportunity to get involved with service in the New Orleans community, and I’ve had the opportunity to spend a few hours volunteering with the Louisiana chapter of Basket of Hope. BoH distributes baskets of toys to children living with chronic illnesses. Even though we can’t be hands on, I enjoyed being able to help make the baskets and set up a meal and basket drop off at Hogs Family House (the NOLA Children’s version of Ronald McDonald house). It is upsetting to not be able to meet the patients and families receiving the baskets; however, the director passed on a message that the families at Hogs House appreciated the outreach. Both these service experiences allowed me to reflect on the loneliness this pandemic has introduced into the lives of so many and also on how we as a community have come together.




Service hours completed as of 9/30: 5 hours

   

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