November

I can't believe how fast time is passing! We have only one more block left of the semester. Today was our first day back from Thanksgiving Break and our professors welcomed us back with a whole new set of drugs to learn for the GI block.

Despite time passing by so quickly, I recognize how much I have grown as a student over the past several months. I have greatly improved my study habits and I have learned what I need to do to succeed in the program. The more I learn, the more eager I am to begin medical school in the fall.

This past week I went home to visit my family in Thibodaux for Thanksgiving. This holiday was different from usual because my family and I also celebrated Christmas. This is due to the fact that my brother is leaving for South Korea with the Air Force in a few weeks and I am working Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the hospital. I am going to miss my brother while he is gone, but I am very proud of what he is doing. And who knows, hopefully I can visit him after graduation.

That's all for now. I hope to get in a few more hours at UMC before the semester ends.

Volunteering:
11:6: 3 hours
11/13: 3 hours
11/20: 3 hours
12/4: 2.5 hours
Total November and December: 11.5 hours
Total Semester: 30.75 hours

Happy Halloween?

This week we finished up with the renal block (yay). While our workload in Medical Pharmacology and Principles of Pharmacology has significantly decreased, we had the addition of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology to keep us working hard. I’m looking forward to beginning the pulmonary block next week.

Friday afternoon I went to UMC after seminar for my weekly volunteering. I began talking with an older woman who needed help checking into the kiosk in the Emergency Department. She was alone and we weren’t busy so I began asking her questions about her life. She told me stories of being a first responder in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. As a (future) healthcare provider, I worry that I'll be too busy to take the time to get to know my patients.

With my exam and volunteering over, you would think it would be time to celebrate, right? Not so much. Friday night I worked a night shift in the Emergency Department. I had imaged that people would be outdoors at Voodoo fest or celebrating Halloween on Frenchmen/Bourbon St. Boy was I wrong. The party came to me. We were slammed for most of the evening and I saw many interesting costumes, high alcohol levels, and several facial lacerations (among other things).

This month my mother came into town to celebrate her birthday. Sometimes you have to act like a tourist in your own city. She and I took a riverboat tour down the Mississippi River and we walked through the French quarter.

Volunteering
10/9: 2.25 hours
10/16: 3 hours
10/30: 3.5 hours
Total October: 8.75
Total Semester: 19.25

Studying Hard in September

Studying was the name of the game at the beginning of this month, and it definitely paid off. On September 11 we took our third block exam involving Neoplasia, Hematology, and Cardiac Physiology. I really wanted to do well on this particular Principles of Pharmacology exam as it is worth approximately 31% of my total semester grade. While covering the topics of the EKG, I went straight to the physicians I work with at Ochsner Baptist for help. They provided me with an EKG book and made a point of teaching me about interesting EKG findings during all of my shifts. That, combined with helpful advice from some of my classmates, allowed me to successfully prepare for the exam. Now that most of my Principles grade is done for the semester, I can (moderately) relax and focus on studying for the Cardiovascular Medical Pharmacology block exam next week.

On September 14, I listened to a talk by Bill Nye at the Tulane uptown campus. His message was simple: Let's Change the World. While easier said than done, I felt he successfully motivated his audience to begin making small changes in their lifestyles and to take a stand against further climate change. At the end of the talk, he called Neil deGrasse Tyson during the Q&A session. Look forward to some updates when I get to see Neil deGrasse Tyson speak at the Sanger Theatre in November.

September 15 was my 23rd birthday. For the first birthday in years I did not have class, work, exams, or a hurricane. With the temperature a balmy 85 degrees, I could almost feel fall in the air. I spent most of my afternoon at City Park with some of my classmates. And of course, what's a trip to City Park without a beignet and cafe au lait run?

Volunteering at UMC is never a dull moment. I'm finally able to successfully navigate the Emergency Department without losing myself in the seemingly endless hallways. I find it difficult each week to see very sick patients wait several hours for triage, let alone to receive an ED bed for evaluation of their complaint.

Today my group presented a review article of the effects of integrin treatment in type 2 diabetes for our Advances in Pharmacology course. I (reluctantly) appreciate the experience this class gives me in improving my public speaking skills. This class is also beneficial in that helps keep my classmates and I up to date on relevant research topics.

Volunteering:
9/18: 3.5 hours
9/25: 4 hours
Total September: 7.5 hours
Total Semester:10.5 hours

New Orleans: Where The Unusual Occurs and Miracles Happen...

UMC main lobby

Despite growing up in Thibodaux, LA, I've always considered New Orleans to be my second home. I remember visiting the Audubon Zoo with my grandfather, seeing plays at the Saenger Theatre, and riding on the street car for the first time. I moved here after graduating from Louisiana State University in May 2014. One thing that drew me to the Tulane Pharmacology program is its commitment to giving back to the New Orleans community.

Last week the city commemorated the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As part of the scheduled activities, I went to see a showing of Big Charity, a documentary by Alexander Glustrom, at the Joy Theater with a group of my classmates. The film describes in detail the politics behind the closing of Charity Hospital and the eventual shutdown of the charity medical system in Louisiana. Inscribed on the wall of the old Charity Hospital building is "Where the Unusual Occurs and Miracles Happen." I can't think of a more fitting quote for a city that is defying the odds and rebuilding, despite the extensive damages from the storm and the levee breaks.

Sculpture in UMC main lobby depicting the location
 of the charity hospitals in New Orleans through time. 

I began volunteering weekly with Patient Liaison at the Interim LSU Hospital in February 2015. My duties typically involve registering patients at the online kiosk and bringing patients to see family members. One of the most exciting parts of this volunteering experience is that I am able to observe trauma activations at the only L1 trauma center in Southeast Louisiana.

This month we moved into the brand-spanking new facility: University Medical Center. The new hospital is incredibly busy and not yet functioning at full capacity. As such, the wait times are long and the patients are often frustrated with the speed at which they receive their care. It has been difficult for me to tell patients that I do not know the estimated time before they will see a provider, especially when I can see that they are in extreme discomfort.

I am continuing to work as an Emergency Department Medical Scribe at Ochsner Baptist Medical Center. Through my classes, I am beginning to understand the thought process of how physicians choose certain drugs for the treatment of their patients. For example, during one of my shifts, a patient presented for a wound infection from a surgery three months prior. Several days after finishing a course of antibiotics, she had onset of increasing erythema and edema at the surgical site, as well as fever and chills. Because of the rapid onset of symptoms, the physician quickly started her on more potent IV antibiotics and admitted her to the hospital for further management.

Today I signed up for the background check required for volunteering at Sci High. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) assisting a teacher in chemistry/biology or doing one-on-one tutoring with a student.

Volunteering:
UMC 8/14 1.5 hours
UMC 8/21 1.5 hours
UMC 8/27 2 hours

August total: 5 hours