February flying by

Total 2nd semester service hours as of 2/28: 14

Wait...tomorrow is March? Wasn’t last month March?!

Following up the end of the last post - the second dose of the COVID vaccine hit me hard. Luckily after a few doses of ibuprofen, a smoothie, and some much needed rest, I was good as new in time to take our neurology module exam. I still feel extra grateful as I watch the vaccine rollout continue and more friends and family get vaccinated.

This month’s modules were super interesting. A lot of the material in the neurology module brought me back to one of my favorite classes from undergrad (Neuroscience of Brain Disorders). It was really cool to circle back to the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s again and learn how the pathophysiological mechanisms inform drug targets. Our final module, psychopharmacology, hits close to home. While learning about drug treatment algorithms for depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, I couldn’t help but think of how many people in my life have struggled to find drug treatments that work consistently for them.

Sadly, this month the Monday afternoon farmer’s markets overlapped with a module exam and an interesting discussion in environmental pharm. I am looking forward to getting back to the market and to exploring other service opportunities.

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January (& a sprinkle of December)

Total 2nd semester service hours as of 1/31: 14 January felt like the shortest and longest month in all of the best ways. December was also pretty long - after the end of last semester I was basically counting down the days till we started classes again! I was grateful to be able to spend time with my family over the holidays, especially since I hadn’t seen my younger brother in almost a year because of COVID. Over winter break I was able to volunteer at Glass Half Full NOLA. I was equally shocked and thankful at the steady stream of people that showed up to drop off their glass for recycling. This organization is so important to one of my friends, and getting to participate in something that makes her light up was awesome. I also have continued to volunteer at the ReFresh Farmer’s Market every other Monday selling candles for Hagar’s House. The community of vendors and patrons there is amazing, and I always like being able to tell people about the mission of Hagar’s House. Last ...

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 signifi...

March (not so much) madness

Total 2nd semester service hours as of 3/29: 20 I used to say that fall was my favorite season. Now I have to eat my words after experiencing full on New Orleans spring! March has been so lovely, but I always get a mixture of nostalgia and anticipatory anxiety around this time of year. With only a few more days till the NBME exam, I am starting to feel a little sad to be done with med pharm and almost done with the whole program. The end of med pharm lectures at the beginning of the month had me asking “how am I going to fill my time?” Instead of hanging out in my desk chair all morning, about two or three mornings per week have been spent with a precious one year old (Amanda’s niece!). It’s been so fun to watch her grow into more of a little person, even over the short time I have been babysitting her. This definitely plays to my love of kids, which is something I have been keeping in mind as I embark on my post-graduation job search. The hunt is on for a job that combines...

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