April Service Hours: 5 Spring Semester Service Hours: 24 Cumulative 2018-2019 Service Hours: 52 Greetings, At last it is time to say goodbye. I have spent a lot of energy this month on enjoying the moment, exercising, and figuring out my next place to live/ financial aid for medical school. Having said that, I was happy to also be able to finish strong in all of my courses and continue to apply full effort till the end (though this is not to say it wasn't difficult at the very end). One of my favorite things I was able to do this month was the elevator talk for environmental signaling. The environment is a topic I am personally very passionate about, and so it was fun to be able to share some of what I have learned outside the classroom thus-far in life. My topic was the Carbon Conundrum and Money in Politics. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to everyone else's talks as well, which taught me about new and exciting topics. Due to the lessened course load, I was able to spend
Posts
March Service Hours: 6 Spring Semester Service Hours: 19 Cumulative 2018-2019 Service Hours: 47 Greetings, Beginning with Mardi Gras and followed closely by the Shelf exam, March has been an eventful month. It seems like it was yesterday that I made the decision to apply for this Masters program. I was feeling very uneasy about my future at the time, after being turned down for a second time by medical schools I applied to. All I can say is I feel extremely grateful for this experience. I can honestly say this is the most seriously I have taken a school program. Studying for the NBME Shelf was intense. Though it was technically a lot of reviewing, it was the most information that I had ever tried to retain for one test. But now, I feel like I actually have a strong lasting foundation in pharmacology. It is a good feeling. I also feel like my study habits, though still far from where I'd like them to be, have improved substantially since college. I am more certain than ever that
February Service Hours: 3 Spring Semester Service Hours: 13 Cumulative 2018-2019 Service Hours: 41 This block has been a journey for me. I recently found out I was accepted into medical school, and I am feeling extremely grateful for what this program has offered me. It is certainly racing by at this point and I can see graduation just around the corner.The Psych module has been one of my favorites so far as I feel like it is very relevant and also very complicated. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. However, it seems clear that there is so much more for us to learn about these diseases. I have continued volunteering at Children's Hospital, which has turned out to be one of my best decisions. I was unable to volunteer as much as I would like to this month, however, I plan to do a lot more in March. Mardi Gras season is upon us and it is definitely taking some discipline to ramp up studying for the shelf exam with all the festivities a
January Service Hours: 10 Spring Semester Service Hours: 10 Cumulative 2018-2019 Service Hours: 38 After a long and rejuvenating break we are back at it, and I can honestly say I feel ready. Last semester I spent a lot of time trying to find my "flow" with school and life balance. Now I feel like I'm finally getting into a routine and am having an overall smoother experience. The courses we are taking this semester are very interesting. "Environmental Signaling" has especially stood out to me, as I am fascinated by the global connection between societal practices and health implications. I am curious to see how much lead turns up in the soil I measure around River Ridge. The Review Article on Lentiviral Vectors myself and several classmates are working on is starting to take shape, and I am excited to produce something which is hopefully useful to future researchers. As far as volunteering goes, I have continued playing music for kids at Childre
November Service Hours: 13 Cumulative Fall Semester Hours: 28 Greetings, November has turned out to be a very good month. The balance between healthy living habits and healthy study habits has been difficult, but I feel like I am finally finding my groove. I'm excited to realize that I really enjoy learning the majority of the material we cover. It feels like I'm preparing for medical school, and I can see that I'm on the right path. Our class has continued to get closer and it feels like a second family. The teachers continue to be great and to always be there for us. However, I think we were all ready for a break just in time for Thanksgiving. Over the break I had the chance to recharge, hang out with friends and family, and think about what I'm thankful for. I volunteered at the Orlean's Parish Sheriff's Office on Thanksgiving day for the Annual Sheriff's Thanksgiving Dinner. It stuck out to me that not everyone is lucky enough to have a family or
October
October Service Hours: 12 Cumulative Fall Semester Hours: 12 Happy October! Another month gone in the blink of an eye. October has been a very eventful month for me. It has been loaded with coursework, including potentially our most difficult Principles of Pharmacology test so far on ANS Pharmacology and Physiology. Luckily, working hard has been paying off and I have been able to continue to keep up with the material. I started the "Songs for Kids" program this month at Children's hospital, and now am almost done with the supervised volunteering portion so that I can get going on my own. As volunteers in this program, we go around the hospital to different patient rooms who may enjoy some music. Not every patient wants it, but for those that do, the experience has been profound. The best part is goofing around with the kids and trying to make them smile. Sometimes they even opt to sing along, and you can physically feel the energy in the room improving. I was also
September Service Hours: 0 Cumulative Fall Semester Hours: 0 Greetings! A month in to the program and I can tell you it has been flying by. Having been in California for the past year, it came as an initial adjustment to transition back to my native area. But, this program has given me so much to think about and do it has made the transition extremely smooth. I was initially very nervous since I have been out of school for a while, and I am passionate about attending medical school. However, the amazing teachers have not only presented the material content in an applicable and exciting manner, but they have also made it abundantly clear that they are here for us. In fact, this is the first time I've been involved in a program where I truly felt that all of the teachers and the school itself cared about us deeply and would do anything to help us to succeed. It has been eye opening to listen to seminars focusing on the different grounds being broken in medicine and rese