The End

This month's hours- 18
Total semester- 33
Total for the year- 73

April is coming to a close which means we did it! This week marked our last exam for Cell Control and our last seminar. It's hard to believe how much has changed in the last year, how much we have grown, and how much we have learned.

As for volunteering this month I participated in an event at the children's museum which focused on teaching children about dinosaurs. It was a so much fun, we had stations where we taught about a particular dinosaur or era and the children loved it. I also continued at St. Margaret's. This month on Monday afternoons I have been assigned to sit with a woman diagnosed with ALS, she is very enthusiastic and is a great communicator despite her progressing disability. The experience there has been invaluable and I hope to continue there throughout the next year. For environmental signaling we also contributed to an ongoing project of soil testing for lead deposits in children play areas. Other than volunteering and finishing up classes I have been focused on studying for the MCAT and working on my lab research project for which very excitingly has been accepted into publication.

All in all this semester has been very fun and interesting. I look forward to my next year in New Orleans and am glad some of my classmates will be staying as well. My decision to do this program has been one of the best I could have made for my career. The network connections, opportunities, and friendships I have made throughout this year are invaluable and it is bittersweet to say goodbye. Well that's all, good luck to next year's pharmers you're in for fun ride.

March '17

Hours this month-11
Hours total- 15

So the fun of Mardi Gras and spring break have passed here in NOLA and its been straight back to work in the program. This month we took the Med Pharm shelf exam which was a comprehensive exam covering all the topics we have studied from July until now. Prepping for the exam was a lot of work but I think it paid off though it will be a few weeks until we get our scores back. Other than the shelf we also had our second cell control exam. Coming up in the next month we only have one more exam for cell control and then thats it for exams! It's hard to believe it will be our last.

This month has been a slow month for volunteering with CRCL's coastal restoration due to bad weather cancellations. In the meantime I participated in a really cool volunteering event with the children's museum doing science experiments with elementary students. I also started volunteering at St. Margaret's Hospice here in New Orleans it's been a great experience so far and it is definitely something I can see myself doing longterm. Specifically I have been volunteering in their ALS residence which is provided for by Team Gleason an organization started after former Saints' safety Steve Gleason was diagnosed with ALS and it raises money to fund treatment and care to ALS patients as well as raise public awareness for a disease that is rarely talked about.

Next month I'm looking forward to continuing volunteering at St. Margaret's as well as participate in an upcoming planting event for CRCL.

February

It's Mardi Gras day 2k17! We are currently on our spring break this week and have all been having so much fun in the city at the Mardi Gras parades together! During this month we had another PBL and our second TBL for the reproductive and endocrine blocks. We also had two block exams so this being a short month has been a very busy one in the program! It has been such a nice change of pace to celebrate the ending of Principles, Med Pharm and our last block together now that we are on spring break and that its Carnival season!

So far this month I have participated in one service event with CRCL which was a lot of fun. All the volunteers gathered in Buras, LA which is one of the most southern points of Louisiana to gather up oyster shells to place on the shorelines in an effort to preserve the coastline and prevent erosion. Next month will have a lot more in store for me volunteering as our schedule will be much lighter after the shelf exam for Med Pharm.

Coming up in the program is our Shelf exam for Med Pharm and though we are done with Principles and Med Pharm we will still have tests in Cell Control and continue to have the rest of our classes. The semester is quickly coming to an end, and it is very bittersweet as we have all become such good friends but I look forward to everything thats to come this semester and the future.

Hours this month- 4
Hours this semester- 4

January 2017!!

We were very fortunate to have a quick break between semesters to unwind, spend time with our families back home, and prepare for Spring. This semester took no time to get started, immediately we began four new classes on top of Med Pharm, Principles, Advances, and Seminar. So far the new classes we have been introduced to are Cell Control Mechanisms, Advanced Topics in Cardiobiology, Environmental Signaling, and Endocrine Pharm. Sounds like a lot, but so far has proven to slightly less intense than what I was expecting!
This semester is really all about time management and for a lot of us its a big task as we prepare for the shelf exam and prep for the MCAT. As for me, I recently started doing research in the genetics department which has been great but has made my free time more limited.
We recently took our first block exam of the semester in Neurology and are now working through the Psychology block. Something this month and in this block that I really appreciated and found fascinating was a patient interview session in Med Pharm today. It was an unique and enlightening experience where a patient spoke to us about her condition and I think made many of us feel inspired and excited to continue to pursue careers in medicine.
So far, I have yet to get started on my service hours this semester but plan to get started following our next exam. I am excited for everything to come this semester and all the opportunities we will be given, but at this pace it will all be over before we know it!

November

November hours- 10 hours

Total semester hours- 40 hours 

November is coming to an end and marks the start of our last block of the semester, the GI block. This past month has focused heavily on Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology which we will complete with this last block. It has been a hectic month in the program with two block exams for each the Renal and Pulmonary blocks, but fortunately we earned a long and well deserved break for Thanksgiving. 

This month I continued volunteering at ARNO with Mythili and we even signed up for a couple of adoption events one event took place outside of a pet store and one took place at Lafreniere Park in neighboring Metairie. The events allow for people to meet and play with puppies that are currently being homed by the shelter in hopes of finding them a forever home. At the shelter I have been working mostly with the pups taking them for walks, a few of the dogs there are kenneled together and can be walked side by side, so for those Mythili and I are able to walk them together and chat. The time there really flies by as it's such a fun time, it has truly been a rewarding experience. Aside from ARNO I also volunteered at the Alzheimer Association's Walk to End Alzheimer's which took place in New Orleans' Audubon Park. At the event I helped with participant registration and helped hand out water to participants along the course of the walk. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet a lot of great people who work with the organization. I am looking forward to volunteering at more of their events in the future and maybe volunteering at the association's community homes for Alzheimer's patients. In December I am scheduled to volunteer at ARNO on the 4th and 11th for a total of 8 hours. 

It's really hard to imagine the program is halfway over and this semester is coming to an end. The fast pace of the beginning of the semester really made for a progressive semester and I cannot believe how much material I have learned and am able to use in everyday contexts now. Being a part of this program was such a great decision and I am excited for everything the spring semester will bring about. 

October

I can't believe October is almost over it has truly flown by. This month, for me, has definitely been the busiest month in the program thus far. We are currently in the renal block, the fifth block of the program. The CV block ended earlier this month and only focused on med pharm. In the CV block we had a PBL and also our first SIM exercise with the med students. Coming up later this week is a PBL for the renal block. Having the CV block before renal has provided some overlap in material which has been a huge benefit to studying and preparing for the exam which is coming up in the next week. Also this month we started Molecular and Cellular Pharm.

My time volunteering has really occupied a huge portion of my schedule this month. I started volunteering at ARNO- the animal rescue of New Orleans, upon my friend and classmate, Mythili's recommendation. So far I have spent the last three weekends there helping out walking dogs and I really like the people there who are all volunteers as ARNO is only functioning due to volunteers who care about animals in our community. Following the floods in Baton Rouge, shelters like ARNO have experienced a big influx of adoptable pets and also a lack of enough volunteers to help run the shelter. So my experience there so far has truly been a rewarding one.
In addition to volunteering at ARNO I volunteered at The Terraces, an assisted living home, two days, however they do not usually need very much help. I also planted trees in the wetlands this month for an all day event sponsored by the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL). It was an incredibly taxing experience but I know the efforts I and all the other volunteers put forth will make a huge difference to help stop the erosion of coastal Louisiana which is a huge issue especially in storm season.

There are only two more blocks this semester Pulmonary and GI. I am excited for everything else we are going to learn this semester and also to keep volunteering with ARNO and also volunteering at the New Orleans Alzheimer's walk that raises money for Alzheimer's research, a disease which is near and dear to my heart.

Hours this month- ARNO- 12, CRCL- 8, Terraces- 4 total for the month- 24 hours.

Ashwin & I planting trees in the wetlands for CRCL

September

It's finally fall here in New Orleans and though its been unbearably hot all month as I'm outside today it finally feels pleasant! We are now in block 4 covering cardiovascular which for this block is only taught through Med Pharm. Today was the first TBL of the program and going in I felt very anxious, but on conclusion I thought it was a helpful learning exercise and I thought it was really fun to work with my awesome group (who were really helpful!!) to come up with answers to some difficult questions.
This month I started volunteering at The Terraces which is a unique community for elderly residents. I found this volunteering opportunity through Volunteers of America and because of their lengthy background requirements I have not been able to work with the residents yet and have only assisted the staff there. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the staff and I will finally be placed in a group to focus on helping in a particular unit. I am so excited to finally meet the residents I will be assisting and even more excited to start building a kinship with them.
The next learning block is the renal block and I can't wait. After working on the CRIC and SPRINT trials here at Tulane I have become particularly fond of the topics surrounding CKD and blood pressure. I think a lot of the information we are learning now will be of particular use in the next block and this block is very dense so there will be a lot of studying in the next week and a half before the CV block exam.
Hours this month- Terraces- 6 hours