Posts

Last Blog Post

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 Total Spring Hours: 12 April hours: 3.5 Writing my last blog post feels bittersweet. I can honestly say that enrolling in this program was one of my best decisions. I have learned so much these past few months and it makes me sad that it has come to an end. This semester especially I felt like I was being pushed out of my comfort zone with all of the presentations we were assigned which was good for me. I still suck at presenting but practice makes improvement and I am grateful for that. A week after graduation I take the MCAT so once I get that out of the way I feel like I will be a lot less stressed but I feel very behind on my preparation so we will see.  I was super busy this month so for community service I volunteered online through volunteer match in which I was able to help teach kids at the Northlake Behavioral Health System how to read. I really enjoyed this activity because even though I didn’t have much time to much volunteering I still felt helpful and it was time efficie
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March Blog Post

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March hours: 6 Total spring semester hours: 7.5  This month I volunteered at the humane society and the Broadmoor food pantry. This was my first time at the food pantry but I’m signed up to go back next week. We were able to supply about 35 families with food which was a great feeling. One of the people receiving a box of food kept talking about how grateful he was and I couldn't help but smile. At the end of the day as we were cleaning up and getting ready to leave, the volunteer coordinator had brought her mom and her mom started screaming. She had found 3 dead mice on a sticky trap in the pantry which was really gross but her reaction was priceless. Unfortunately, she found another 3 dead mice on another sticky trap but at least we didn't have to see any alive. At the humane society, I really love spending time with the animals but it is so sad to have to leave them but even worse to go back a few months later and see that the ones I have spent time with and bonded with are
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February Blog Post

 February hours: 0  Total hours: 1.5/12 This month I definitely enjoyed the anesthesia lectures the most. My dad is a nurse anesthetist and his best friend is an anesthesiologist at Children's Hospital and they both are role models in my life and I am really interested in that field of medicine. Most of the shadowing hours I have done are also in that area so it is cool to look back on those shadowing experiences and understand the pharmacology behind it. I really enjoyed the CNS simulation as well. I think it helps so much with and gives insight to the application of what we are learning but in a clinical setting.  I was not able to get any volunteer hours this month but I have a few opportunities planned for next month. School work and MCAT studying has been taking up all of my time. On another note, Mardi Gras was really fun and my undergrad friends flew in from out of town to come for the weekend. I am so exhausted and sore from walking so much but I loved the parades and the f
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January blog post

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 January hours: 1.5 Total spring hours: 1.5 This month was a hard adjustment with being put on zoom again for an extended amount of time. I am so excited to go back to in person classes and see all of my classmates again. Being stuck in Mandeville with my parents has been quite a time but words can't express how ready I am to be back. The second week back two of my classmates and I picked up and went to the beach so we wouldn't be stuck at home any longer. It was a nice getaway but getting back into school mode was difficult for me. Especially with studying for the MCAT its hard to split up my time but its manageable.  This month I volunteered at the animal shelter, I had to do the training and orientation which was emotional. I have a huge soft spot for homeless dogs especially pitbulls, which occupied 70% of the shelter, so I had a hard time leaving there.  Most of my dogs have been rescues so I felt like that was a good volunteer opportunity for me but it was heartbreaking.
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December blog post

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December: 2 hours Cumulative: 12 hours I can’t believe we are already half way through the program. I’ve really enjoyed this program so far it’s bittersweet knowing we only have a few months left. It’s weird to think about how we all became friends so fast and will be parting ways relatively soon.  We just learned about GI and cancer pharmacology which was really interesting. I worked at an endoscopy center for 2 years and so I was relatively familiar with some of the things we learned about like NSAIDs and H.Pylori in relation to stomach ulcers. About 6 months ago one of my good friends found out her dad has stage 4 liver cancer and as we were learning about cancer therapy my friend was giving me updates on what the doctors were saying about him and treatment. It was such a coincidence with the timing but it was somewhat comforting knowing what was going on in a medical sense.  This month for community service Alex and I helped raise money for Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge by ru
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November blog post

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November hours: 5 Fall cumulative hours: 10  Earlier this month my friend and classmate, Uma, was kind enough to teach our class how to create these little cards that we made for children in foster homes. Another great classmate, Crystal, was able to get the cards delivered to the children in time for Thanksgiving. The cards were so much fun to make and my classmates and I had so much fun putting them together. We plan on getting together and making them again before Christmas and giving them to another set of kids. In elementary school and middle school my class would always decorate cards for other kids in foster homes or for the old folks homes so it was sweet to be old enough to understand what we were doing then and then taking the time now to do that again. It was a really a fun time and a nice break for our brains and a good bonding experience. In our most recent module we learned about the renal and the pulmonary system and pharmacology. I have always had a hard time following
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October blog post

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 Semester hours completed: 5/12 Earlier this month, a few classmates and I found out about the opportunity to go help the Red Cross in Baton Rouge put together care packages and prepare disaster shelter kits for people impacted by hurricane Ida. This opportunity had a bit of a deeper meaning for me as I can remember my family talking about all the great things the Red Cross was able to do for our family. I've always enjoyed doing community service projects but this one definitely hit a little closer to home. It was a good feeling to be able to give back to the same foundation that was so giving when my family needed help. I'm looking forward to doing more community service in the future and seeing how our class can positively impact our community one small step at a time.  As for the rest of October, I have really enjoyed the material in the ANS & CV system module but I'm really excited to learn about the cardiovascular system. The very first surgery I ever shadowed was
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