Chronicles of Nadia

Well, I have to say this has been a crazy month. I think everyone can agree with that. Lots of changes have occurred and lots of adjustments have been made over these past few weeks. All of our classes have been changed to online, our national board medical exam (NBME) was cancelled, and MCATs are postponed. Although being in the midst of a pandemic has been a struggle, I am grateful for being healthy during this time. I decided to leave New Orleans and am currently living with my older sister in Nashville, Tennessee. I am hoping to return soon once everything settles down (fingers crossed). Although I do miss going to class every day and being surrounded by my friends, the transition to online classes has not been too bad. All of our professors have been extremely supportive and helpful during these changes which I am very appreciative of.   Studying from home has been a challenge, but I still managed to do well on our first online exam that we took a few days ago. We only h...

February service hours: 18 Total service hours: 18 Hey Everyone! February is now coming to an end but it was the most eventful month yet. I just experienced my first Mardi Gras in New Orleans and had so much fun. All the parades and music was definitely worth seeing. On another note, I completed a lot of volunteer hours this month. First, I got to be a medical volunteer at the rock n roll marathon which was super fun! Although waking up at 5am was not all so pleasant, it was worth it. We got to interact with the physicians on site, along with current medical students at Tulane and LSU.   At the medical tent we helped triage, scribe for the physicians, and assist in patient treatment. Next, I volunteered as a judge for the junior science fair. This was also such a fun opportunity. I loved seeing how passionate all the junior high kids were about science and was impressed of their knowledge. I thought being a judge would be easy, but I honestly wanted to give everyo...

Happy New Year Everyone! We have started our spring semester with full force and now January is almost over! This semester we are taking neuropharmacology, environmental signaling, endocrine pharmacology, and cellular control mechanism on top of medical pharmacology and advances. We have learned a lot of interesting topics so far. We have just finished our endocine/reproductive block that included topics on hypo/hyperthyroidism, diabetes, insulin resistance, and contraceptives. Now we have moved on to our neuro block in which we are learning about opioids, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, anti-seizure meds, and anesthetics. Other than class, I have just been studying for my MCAT whenever I can. I am learning how to balance studying for class, MCAT, and our board exam coming up so my hands are pretty full right now.   I am excited because we are now going into February which means Mardi Gras season is here! This will be my first time experiencing Mardi Gras so I am pretty excited to ...

Total Volunteer Hours: 14.25 Happy Holidays! We are now on our last module of the semester which is GI/Neoplasm. The semester has really flown by and we are about to take the exam tomorrow! We have gone over drugs for cancer therapy, peptic ulcers, IBD/IBS, and herbal supplements.  On a fun note, it's a very festive time of the year and we've had plenty of events to attend this December (work hard, play hard).   I have continued to volunteer at Goldring's Center for Culinary Medicine. I joined a community based class this time in which they made variety of meals. This session focused on recipes that were low sodium. The chef gave good pointers on different spices you can use in place of adding salt. I was able to sit down with the chef and dietitian and discuss dietary changes that could be beneficial to patients with hypertension. I've had so much volunteering at Goldring and look forward to continue through next semester. 

Hey Y'all! November has now come to an end and the new year is creeping up quickly. I cannot believe our first semester is almost coming to an end. This month we learned a great deal of information in our Pulmonary/Renal module that I enjoyed. We did another team base learning exercise in which we were guided through a hypertensive case study. In addition to learning about hypertension, we were educated on drugs that treat UTIs, BPH/ED, TB, Leprosy, Pneumonia, and Asthma. We did get a Thanksgiving break, which was much needed, but now I am ready to jump into our GI/Neoplasia module and start studying to retake my MCAT! I am confident that my score will improve this time around because of all the information we have covered in this program. Additionally, there is plenty of time to study for both pharm courses and the MCAT, I will just need to tweak my study schedule a bit. I also continued volunteering with Goldring Center of Culinary Medicine. This time I was able to help th...

It is now officially the end of October (Happy Halloween!) I am honestly shocked of how fast time is going, but everything has been good so far! Lately I have been volunteering at the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine with some pharm friends and medical students from Tulane. The Goldring Center is a group of chefs that have come together to help teach the community different cooking techniques as well as nutrition and tips on healthier eating. As a volunteer, I get to help prep for the class, assist the families during the cooking session, and cleanup after the class is complete. Not only is it inspiring to see the parents willing to learn different ways to improve eating habits for the family, but it’s also amazing to see the kids so engaged and excited for it as well. I look forward to continuing volunteering at the Goldring Center and take in tips that I could later share with my friends, family, and hopefully future patients, small lifestyle changes that could improve their...

It is crazy how a month has already flown by since moving to New Orleans and starting the Pharmacology Masters program. Being a Texas native, I was nervous about moving out of state and away from my family, friends, and dogs (that I am missing so much). Fortunately, I quickly made friends with my classmates which made the transition easier. We were able to immerse into the culture of New Orleans by trying new foods, restaurants, art, parks and live music. Being out of school for about 2 years, I must admit I was nervous about the transition of my work life back to school life. Fortuna tely to my surprise, the transition went smoothly. Within the first month we have already completed our first 2 modules. First was the basic principles and inflammation module and second was the infectious disease module. Within the first module we learned about the basics of pharmacology in addition to drugs including NSAIDs, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Immunosuppressants, and corticosteroids. The infect...