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