April - The End

It's incredible to think back to this point last year when I was just receiving my letter of acceptance for Tulane's master's program in pharmacology. At that point I never could have predicted what the year had in store for me. I'm really pleased by the way everything has turned out though. This program was a positive experience and I learned so much. Perhaps more importantly though, I proved to myself (and hopefully to some medical schools in the near future) that I have what it takes to succeed in a challenging academic medical environment. Considering how I stacked up against my classmates, I feel more confident in my ability to perform and compete in the potentially unforgiving medical school environment. In addition to all I learned about more drugs than I care to name and what I have learned about myself, I gained some practical experience as well by participating in lab research and volunteering in a hospital. Though I had some limited exposure to research previously, working in an academic research lab this semester has added to my understanding of research processes and to the collection of experiences that shape my personal development.

With my success in this program and a master's degree to my name, if I can put together a strong application and perform well on the MCAT, I believe I will have a good chance of being accepted to medical school. In the mean time, I also need to find a job that will provide me with some useful  medical experience. Lots of things to juggle, but at the same time I can look back on this year and appreciate that I am one step closer to achieving my goal of becoming a physician.  

Volunteer Hours:

Ochsner - 12 hours

Soil Collection Project - 2 hours

Total - 14 hours

Semester Total - 36 hours

March

            This month was probably our busiest yet all year. In addition to the NBME shelf exam and our second exam for cell control, I participated in the Tough Mudder obstacle course in Florida and put in a lot of hours in Dr. Mostany’s lab working on image analysis.

            Studying for the exam was intense and I felt like trying to get through an entire year’s worth of material was challenging. In the end, I think I was well prepared though and the exam was not as tough as most of us expected.

            After finishing our 2^nd cell control exam, we only have one exam left for the rest of the year. It’s hard to believe we’re almost done with these classes but it’s been a great experience all along.

            My work in the lab has been busy the last week because I was squeezing in a month’s worth of work into about 10 days  (studying for the shelf consumed most of my time the first few weeks of the month). Image analysis certainly is not the most enjoyable or entertaining work, but I feel much more skilled when it comes the process now. Additionally, it gives me a greater appreciation and respect for all the work that goes into data analysis portion of research and publishing journal articles.  Despite being busy with image analysis, fortunately, I was able to experience some more exciting stuff in the lab also. After observing a mouse perfusion procedure, I was able to perform one myself and assist with another. After the mouse brains were fixed in paraformaldehyde for a couple days, I was also given the chance to help with slicing the brains to be used for analysis. As I learned, the perfusion procedure is a bit gruesome, and I can certainly understand why most of the other lab members don’t enjoy doing it. All in all, it was awesome taking part in some more hands on work in the lab and surely will be useful experience for the future, especially if I continue working in Dr. Mostany’s lab beyond the end of the school year.

Our Tough Mudder team, muddy but in high spirits mid-race.

Volunteer Hours: 

Ochsner - 7 hours

February

This month was a busy one and passed quickly (only 28 days, I know) despite a week off for spring break and Mardi Gras. February drawing to a close made me realize how close we are already to finishing the academic year. Our last block exams for Med Pharm and Principles are this coming week and after that our only major commitment is the NBME shelf exam.

            I again volunteered at Ochsner in the emergency department this month. There wasn’t anything too unusual to observe but, one patient who came in had some issues that were relevant to topics we had recently learned about in class. A middle-aged woman who was in remission from breast cancer came to the ER in a lot of GI distress and had complained of weeks of diarrhea. She said she was having trouble thinking and answering the doctor’s questions because of the level of her pain. Since she was already scheduled to see her gastroenterologist in the coming days, the doctor ended up just giving her some medication for pain and eventually discharging her. She was concerned about having to drive and being sedated, which was something we covered in our opioids lectures, but unfortunately I didn’t catch what drug the doctor ended up giving her.

            In terms of classes, things have been going well and I’m looking forward to finishing up Med Pharm and Principles. After that and the shelf exam, I’ll have more time to focus on preparing to take the MCAT again and readying applications for med school.

Hours: Ochsner - 8 hrs

January

This month has been hectic so far but things are going well. The endocrinology block was pretty straightforward, and learning some of the complexities about diabetes and the treatment of it was really interesting. We have now moved onto neurology which has been good so far. Some of the material I have a bit of familiarity with so it's refreshing to learn it again. In spite of that, this block is really busy. In addition to starting lab work, the schedule was already quite crowded and our exam for Principles this block counts for a significant portion of the grade. Mardi Gras/spring break is the light at the end of the tunnel though, and I'm excited to experience it for the first time. Since our exams are right before it starts, I think it may be a bit more rewarding. Either way everyone is looking forward to it.

Volunteering so far has been more of the same thing at Ochsner. Generally not too exciting but I'm still able to see some cool stuff. For the first time since I have started there I was able to witness a procedure, albeit a pretty gross one. A young man with an infected fingernail came in and it needed to be removed. Luckily, the doctor let myself and another student observe. He also gave us a lot of detail about the process and what we was doing while he performed it. Not the most pleasant procedure to observe but nonetheless it was very cool to have the chance to see it.

Hours:
Ochsner - 7 hours