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OCTOBER CHECK-IN

Monthly community service hours completed: 4 Cumulative semester service hours completed: 4      The month of October has been an intense but rewarding academic adventure. I found it especially engaging to learn about cardiovascular and ANS drugs, given how much experience I had with them from my time on the ambulance. Unfortunately, around 90% of the patients I transported were over the age of 60 and had a history of heart problems. Among these patients, metoprolol and atorvastatin appeared on nearly every medication list.      I often find myself reflecting on my time in EMS and the interactions I had with those patients, if I had the knowledge I’ve gained just this month, perhaps my treatments or transports would have been different. I now know that metoprolol is a beta blocker and atorvastatin is a hypolipidemic, but I can’t help but laugh when I think back on all the embarrassing reports I gave attending physicians in the emergency department and I d...
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SEPTEMBER CHECK-IN

Monthly community service hours completed: 0 Cumulative semester service hours completed: 0     September has been a month of transition as I settle into the rhythm of graduate school and life in New Orleans.  After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2022, I decided to spend a few years working and serving my home community as an EMT on an ambulance. I was grateful for the experience I had accumulated, but I knew it was time to pursue my goal of becoming a doctor. Now, after returning from my school hiatus, re-entering the academic mindset has proven to take some time. Compared to the fast-paced and spontaneous environment in EMS, graduate school demands a methodical, well-planned, and organized sense of discipline and focus. Last week, we completed our module on infectious diseases, and I enjoyed learning in-depth about the microorganisms that I encountered frequently in the field.  My experience helped to digest the information: I recognised...
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