Final Post

Final Hours for Spring Semester: 97 hours at Touro Infirmary and 5 hours at ASGNO.

So the program is now unofficially complete, in some ways it feels like it flew by, yet others I can definitely tell a year has passed. I think the 'slow' feeling is mainly from the last couple weeks of the program where it just felt like everything transitioned from a pretty steady, relatively fast pace to a near halt and dragging out while waiting for the final exam. On the positive side, I think the program has definitely prepared me to become a better doctor and allowed me to gain a brief glimpse of what medical school will be like. There is no doubt in my mind that I can handle the rigors of medical school and be a successful medical school student which is not something I could say at the beginning of this program.

Aside from the academic side of the program, I have also had the opportunity to meet many new people and build relationships with people I never would have met otherwise. I came into this program with the specific goal of improving my GPA/med school application and not particularly concerned with meeting new people and friends. That said, somehow the program seemed to bring many people in the class together and I hope I will be able to keep in touch with many of these people for the rest of my life.

Winding Down

This month I continued to volunteer at Touro ED and at the monthly Family Game Night for ASGNO. There were not as many volunteers this time at the Family Game Night, but luckily I brought one of my classmates from the program along. Overall, it was a much different experience than the first event that was held in February. Several new kids showed up and for the most part they seemed to be less affected by ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) than the kids that came the first night. This was evident through their ability to maintain focus through many of the games we played while also demonstrating some interesting behavior for their age. For example, when playing the game Apples to Apples, one player put down the card: chickenpox, corresponding to the category: fun. A short and animated conversation ensued in which one of the kids repeated the words of the newest commercial for the Shingles vaccine word for word. 

Another big event for this month was the NBME shelf exam. All in all, I felt relatively well prepared for the exam, taking into account that it is designed to test second year medical student's knowledge of basic pharmacology. It is hard to believe that the program is almost over, but I am excited to move one step closer to my ultimate goal of entering medical school. One thing I am not as excited about is studying for the new MCAT 2015, which I have planned to take on June 20th, but more on that next time...

Family Game Night

This month I expanded my volunteering to include some of my past experiences. On February 6, the Autism Society of Greater New Orleans (ASGNO) had their first ever Family Game Night. These events bring families from across New Orleans together and provide a place for them to meet and interact with other families with children who have autism. On this day only about 6 children with autism attended; however, the organizers hope to have more families in attendance next month when the event is not competing with Mardi Gras parades. Luckily, about 6 volunteers also attended, which allowed each of us to interact one-on-one with the children. I spent most of the night with a young man named Shawn who was fascinated with rappers. His favorite rapper is Wiz Khalifa and he was prone to randomly yelling out one of the artist's famous tag lines sporadically throughout the night. Although it was initially challenging to engage him, we eventually played Bingo and Sorry before eating the pizza ASGNO had ordered for the occasion. Overall, it was a very positive first volunteering experience with ASGNO and I am excited to continue meeting and working with more of the children next month. I also continued to volunteer at Touro ED this month, but had a lot fewer hours due to Mardi Gras parades and festivities.

February: 11 hours (Touro ED), 3 hours (ASGNO)

Total for semester: 41.5 hours (Touro) and 3 hours (ASGNO)

New Year, New Semester

      The spring semester began on January 5, 2015, a week before the start of the undergraduate classes. The bare and quiet campus was reminiscent of last summer when I first started at Tulane University. It is hard to believe that I have completed over half the program. That said, I am excited for the upcoming semester and its various electives. One class I am particularly looking forward to is Environmental Pharmacology which will focus on the role environmental factors play on human health. This is a field that has historically been under-researched and under-funded; however, it is also a topic on which with the next generation of physicians will need to be knowledgable.
     Another upcoming change for this semester is that I have added some volunteer hours to my work in the Emergency Department at Touro Infirmary. In addition to my Friday shift, I have added a shift on Saturday, which appears to have a more relaxed atmosphere and slower pace. I am also looking to add some volunteer work by volunteering with the Autism Society of Greater New Orleans. Working with individuals who have autism has been a previous interest of mine and I am thrilled to continue expanding my skills and experience in this area. My first volunteer experience with ASGNO will be at their first Family Game Night on February 6, more information to come on that next month...

Semester Review

Overall, I have been pleasantly surprised by my first semester of the Masters of Science in Pharmacology program. Although, the coursework demands a certain amount of time and attention, once I learned how to properly study for the exams I found that I had an adequate amount of time to explore New Orleans and participate in multiple volunteer opportunities. I finished the semester with a total of 49 hours, most of which have been completed in the Touro Emergency Department. I plan on continuing to volunteer here for the remainder of the month of December and potentially pick-up additional shifts next semester in order to further expand my clinical experience.

Continuing ED-ucation

Throughout the month of November I continued to volunteer in the Emergency Department (ED) at Touro Infirmary. Last week I had the opportunity to see my first code. I was working in one of the back rooms of the ED when the code began, but I quickly finished what I was doing and hurried to the code room to observe. Through the duration of the code I was struck by the precision and the relaxed nature of all the nurses and doctor. There were 4 nurses working in concert on the patient, while another was recording the events and times and another was gathering equipment and bringing it to the room. First, the team gave chest compressions while using a BVM to push air into the patient's lungs. Finally, the patient began breathing again and a heartbeat was observed. Unfortunately, the patient slipped into ventricular tachycardia and I saw the characteristic sawtooth EKG pattern. Watching from just outside the code room I was nervous when the first attempts at cardioversion were unsuccessful. However, the doctor calmly ordered additional shocks at higher power and asked the nurses to prepare an injection of amiodarone. After 4 shocks and what seemed like an eternity the patient was breathing and had a pulse, even though the EKG still indicated irregular electrical activity. I continued to watch as the code room was quickly converted into a makeshift operating room and a central line was introduced. Finally, 3 hours later the patient seemed to be stabilizing somewhat and doing much better. This was by far the most intense and interesting experience I have had in the Touro ED thus far and I plan on continuing to volunteer and observe in the final weeks of the semester.

November hours: 10.5 (Touro ED)
Total hours: 43 hours

Getting Connect-ED

     To expand my community outreach and improve my clinical skills, I began volunteering in the Emergency Department (ED) of Touro Infirmary in October. This month I have completed 16.5 hours which has allowed me to fulfill my volunteer requirements for this semester while further developing my clinical skills. One aspect that I particularly enjoy about this opportunity is that it allows me a chance to directly observe many of the concepts presented in class. For instance, on October 17, 2014 a man came into the ED with ventricular tachycardia and I was able to watch as the doctors utilized cardioversion to restore the man's heartbeat to a normal rhythm. Although I had just learned about cardioversion in the CV block, actually seeing the process take place with my own two eyes was an experience that I will not soon forget.            

     Although I miss many of the most interesting cases in the ED due to only volunteering a few hours a week, the nurses in the ED are constantly sharing information and discussing cases with each other as well as the doctors. Hearing these conversations allows me to gradually become more familiar with the language of the ED while continuing to form more connections between the ED and the Pharmacology program. One conversation I heard about recently involved a man coming to the ED with priapism that presented after he had injected himself with something. The nurses were talking about how much pain the man seemed to be in, but I did not catch what the name of the substance the man injected himself with. From class I knew that this directly injected erectile dysfunction medication was most likely a PG analog like Alprostadil or something comparable which I found to interesting. In the coming month I hope to continue drawing similar connections and expanding my knowledge of the Emergency Department at Touro.

A picture of the main entrance to Touro Infirmary on Prystania Street.

October hours: 13.5 (Touro ED)
Total hours: 32.5