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APRIL CHECK-IN

Monthly community service hours completed: 19 Cumulative semester service hours completed: 24 As a very busy month of April comes to an end, this final blog post marks the conclusion of my studies, and I’m proud to have earned a Master of Science in Pharmacology. With a lighter coursework load this month, I made it a priority to complete all of my community service hours so I can fully focus on MCAT studying in May. Volunteering at The Green Project made up about 13 hours of my service, and I had a great experience with them. During one of my shifts, I met a customer who shared a story that really helped me understand the importance of the work they do. He told me that since Hurricane Katrina, he has been living in his home without electricity or internet. Because The Green Project provides secondhand building materials at a discounted rate, they were able to supply him with what he needed to finally restore power in his home, 20 years later. That conversation had a profound impact on ...
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MARCH CHECK-IN

Monthly community service hours completed: 4 Cumulative semester service hours completed: 5 March has been the most demanding month of my Master’s program at Tulane so far. After completing five exams and five presentations, I’m finally able to take a step back, recharge a bit, and shift my focus toward community service hours and MCAT preparation in April. Despite the busy schedule, I managed to fit in a volunteer shift at The Green Project with my friend Kavin, and it quickly became clear how valuable their work is to the community. During our time there, we rotated through several departments, primarily organizing the wide and eclectic mix of items on the shelves and removing products that were out of place. Because everything is secondhand, I found it surprisingly challenging to categorize items. Each one felt unique, with no obvious “correct” location. For example, figuring out where a welding mask belonged wasn’t always straightforward when there wasn’t a clearly designated spot ...
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FEBRUARY CHECK-IN

Monthly community service hours completed: 1 Cumulative semester service hours completed: 1 This month, my community service experience and classroom learning connected in a way that truly embodies the spirit of New Orleans, especially during the Mardi Gras season. I had the pleasure of attending an orientation event for The Green Project, a nonprofit organization that functions like a thrift-store version of Home Depot. They collect donations from across the city, such as paint, doors, lumber, screws, etc., and resell them at a highly discounted price. This service they provide is essential for the community, as it supplies materials that are much needed in the harsh New Orleans environment and are otherwise inaccessible due to the high prices of traditional home-improvement stores. Due to a very busy February, I was only able to attend the orientation for volunteers, but they hold biweekly shifts, and I plan on participating more this upcoming March. This sense of collective support ...
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JANUARY CHECK-IN

Monthly community service hours completed: 0 Cumulative semester service hours completed: 0 After a hard-earned and much-needed winter break, starting off the spring semester took some adjustment. However, jumping straight into the reproductive module was nice since I'm quite interested in the field of endocrinology. When I was in undergrad, I took a molecular biology course focused on endocrinology lab techniques, and after making it through most of the endocrine module this month, a lot of the pieces started to fit together. In that class, we learned how to use immunoassays, radiolabeled ligands, and concentration curves to deduce mechanisms and faults with endocrine pathways. But in Medical Pharmacology, the clinical presentations and treatments provided me with the tools that connected the puzzle pieces, and cultivated a genuine interest in becoming an endocrinologist. It was especially rewarding to see how tightly endocrinology and reproduction are intertwined. The reproductiv...
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NOVEMBER CHECK-IN

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Monthly community service hours completed: 8 Cumulative semester service hours completed: 12      In November, I had the chance to volunteer at two new events that were both rewarding and enjoyable. First, I joined the Tulane Brain Institute at the American Heart Association Heart Walk, where we hosted a community outreach booth, organized by professor Solch-Ottaiano. A few classmates and I were able to teach visitors about brain anatomy and stroke awareness. Many participants had personal or family histories of cardiovascular disease, and after completing our modules on the cardiovascular and nervous systems, it was meaningful to finally put that knowledge to use. For the children, we made pipe-cleaner neurons and brain hats, which were surprisingly engaging and sparked genuine excitement about learning how the body works. Seeing how much the community valued this outreach made me excited to continue volunteering with the organization next semester.      I...
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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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