September

This is my first post for my masters of pharmacology blog. Wow. September has been a whirlwind of change for me as I adjusted to life in the Deep South from my home of Seattle, WA and began my studies within Tulane's School of Medicine. Moving to a new place can be hard; I faced a different culture, a new climate, and people I've never met when I first moved to New Orleans. It hasn't been a cake-walk. I had to learn how to cope with occasional homesickness while jumping into my studies from the get-go. I had to learn how to get-around the city and how to function independent of my family and friends back home. However, I’ve met some amazing people among my classmates whom have made the adjustment easier. I look forward to the adventures we will take and things we will accomplish together.  

More than five weeks into the program, I'm now accustomed to the academic demands of my classes. We've completed our first block exam on basic principles of pharmacology and mechanisms of inflammation and we're about to take our second block on antimicrobials. It's refreshing to learn material that I have an invested interest in and feel passionately towards. I particularly enjoy the integration of basic science and clinical medicine within the curriculum. The volume of material learned weekly is exhausting but I truly enjoy what I'm learning which has further supported my interest in pursuing a career in pharmacology. So far I’m satisfied with my academic performance but I hope to become more efficient in my studying by focusing more on the learning objectives and cutting out extraneous information. As we’ve been told in class, “don’t get lost in the forest.”

Another part of my curriculum involves experiential learning or volunteering in the community. This year I will be working with Zeus’ Rescues, an animal rescue located in New Orleans. As a volunteer I will be working directly with the animals, walking the dogs, and helping the organization run pet-adoption drives. Being away from home, I miss my dog Toby and thought of how he was rescued from the Human Society. I want to help eradicate pet homelessness and euthanasia of animals within the city while also having the privilege of interacting with the animals. Next weekend I will be working my first pet-adoption drive and am excited to let y’all know how it goes.

That’s all for now but check back in October for my next blog post. Back to studying!

September Volunteer Hours: 0

Fall Semester Hours: 0