It’s hard to believe, but we’ve come to the last month of
classes in the program. We wrapped up the shelf exam covering med pharm material
for the entire year only a couple weeks ago, and our schedule is beginning to
settle down. It seems like a lot of us have been able to shift some focus to
research, volunteering, and/or preparations for med school applications, which
are quickly approaching. Thus, this month, I have maintained my previous
volunteer commitments with Habitat and Sci High, with the addition of
volunteering on weekends in the emergency department at Ochsner Medical Center.
For Habitat this month, I worked installing windows and
doors on another new house in New Orleans East. After working on several homes
in the area, I have started to recognize some of the other finished homes
they’ve built there and have even worked with several new owners who are
investing “sweat equity” into new projects in the area. I’m always amazed at
the commitment and dedication the community has towards continuing Habitat’s
progress and the impact they’ve been able to achieve. It’s been great work to
be a part of. Likewise, the students at Sci High are mowing through new
subjects at a rapid clip. They have already made their way through studying
trig identities and into matrices and determinants, which has been a learning
experience for all of us. Still, it’s been great to have more time to help them
out as they get into their final weeks of the year as well. And at Ochsner, I
have been working and communicating with the hospital staff at triage while
helping patients upon their arrival and stay in the ER. The work has been great
added clinical experience so far and another way to put some of the concepts
we’ve learned to an applied setting. I’ve been impressed when I recognize the
majority of drugs patients are taking and the clinical profile for their use
(those long study hours are already paying off). I think the work will be a
great way to maintain some of these concepts and valuable experience as the new
application cycle begins.
- Habitat for Humanity: 8 hours
- Sci High: 3 hours
- Ochsner ED: 8 hours
- Total Spring Semester: 36.5 hours
