The Home Stretch

Service Hours: 

Crescent City Farmers Market (Feb 5th): 3 hours


    Well, we are embarking on the final lap of the Masters of Pharmacology program here at Tulane with our last Medical Pharmacology lecture being presented to us this past week. While there has been a lot of work going into this past year in school, I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone by. I feel like we were just beginning in August, learning the basic of P450 metabolism in the liver and how Aspirin works. 

    Speaking of which, as we have concluded the didactic lectures for Medical Pharmacology, it has become time to begin study for the NMBE Pharmacology Shelf Exam which we will be taking on April 1st, about one month from now. While I have not begun study to take a deep dive into preparing for this test, I have taken a substantial amount of time to organize my study materials and identify key areas of weakness which I need to review for. The challenge of any cumulative exam, especially one dealing with a vast and deep subject like Medical Pharmacology, is getting to caught up in the details. In my studies for the exams during the program, I find that they best way to study is to first oversimplify the topics so that there is a great foundation for what exactly is going on. Only when I have fully grasped the overarching topic from "30 thousand feet", as Dr. Clarkson likes to say, will I begin to fill in the details. This strategy has worked very well for me throughout the past year and I plan to employ it in preparing for the shelf exam. 

    I know I might be starting to sound like a broken record, but I would be remiss if I did not mention again the study tool that has propelled me towards good grades in this program. Anki, the spaced repetition flash card application, is something I have been using this entire year with great success. I believe it's use is going to pay dividends on the upcoming shelf exam as I have continued doing the cards well after the exam they were used for has been completed. While I most certainly will need to review the material, the information has a foundation built, as I discussed previously, and I am well on my way to filling in all the details through this study method that can give allow me a chance to do well on the Shelf exam.

    Finally, I performed 3 hours of service at the Crescent city farmers market. When I worked at the market, it was early February and the cold front was hitting the state of Louisiana. The market I was working at was on the lakefront and winds whipped through the air chilling me to my bones! My job was to help count the number of people entering the premises to shop as well as directing the pick up of orders that had been placed online. There were quite a few online orders due to the inclement weather which helped to keep me moving and warm. During the short periods stagnation, a policeman was kind enough to allow me to shelter inside his warm patrol car. My first experience inside a cop car was luckily a good one!

    My plans moving forward for volunteering center around finding something in more clinical environment. I have submitted a volunteering application to University Medical Center and I look forward to possibly helping out there, especially after the shelf exam is over. Until then, I will be studying and continuing to prepare. I just wish I could slow down time!

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