A Month of Hard Work

 Service Hours: 

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

The month of March has been quite a whirlwind even though I thought it was going finally provide a chance for a break. My March has been consumed with studying for our second Cellular Control Mechanisms exam and the Shelf NBME Pharmacology exam, which we take tomorrow. I cannot believe that it is already time to take the Shelf, something I vividly remember being intimidated by at the start of the Master’s Program way back in August. Thinking about beginning this program and now being 24 hours before the final exam has caused me to reflect on all the things I learned over the course of this year. I can honestly say I have never learned as much material as I have in this program, nor have I ever felt as confident in my study habits. I truly believe that while I still have more to learn, the foundation to become a successful medical student has been laid by this program, both through knowledge I have gained about pharmacology and the knowledge I have gained about myself. Here are some things that stick out to me.

For starters, the key to being successful in any challenging curriculum is to start studying early. Nowhere else is this more true than in this master’s program. Pharmacology is a subject that progressively builds upon itself through various anatomical, biochemical and finally pharmacological concepts and trying to learn one of the latter without understanding one of the former is virtually impossible. Studying often and studying early is a key to doing well. I found, and I am sure many others will to, that if you take an hour or two every day for studying, you 1. Do better on exams and 2. Actually spend less time in the long run studying. For me, this is accomplished through the Anki flashcard application which schedules my cards based on how well I understand the concept. While I am an Anki believer, this “early and often” method works with any study mechanism that one chooses.

Next, I find that studying with friends, in groups of 3 or 4 (but no more!) is extremely beneficial. As Dr. Clarkson told us, “You don’t really understand something until you can explain to your grandmother.” Well, you will really understand something if you can explain it in detail to another student of pharmacology. And the best part is that your peers can help you find the missing details you have omitted. Finding the holes in your understanding is what group studying is all about. Often, I find that groups of students can distil out the ‘jargon’ that is sometimes used in lectures and make complex concepts more simple. If you are struggling to understand how isoproterenol causes epi reversal, teaming up with a group of friends over Zoom will help you learn more than just about anything else. And you make great friends in the process too!

My final point is more specific to this program and especially pertinent now that the Shelf Exam is upon us. My saving grace when preparing for this exam is that I kept studying the material even after the exam that covered it had already passed. Lightly brushing up on old concepts every few days can save you a boatload of time in the long run when studying for the shelf exam, which encompasses absolutely everything we have covered this year (that is a lot of material). For me, that ‘brushing up’ looked like continuing to do Anki cards long after the exam they were on had been covered. I feel like I have been reviewing some of the material so long that it may be with me for a while, which will be a god send one day in medical school.

March was supposed to be the month in which I acquired more service hours. However, with surprise family visits, medical school interviews, exams and Shelf preparation, I felt my time would be better served focusing on school and leaving the community service to April. I am very excited to start. As I mentioned, I have been working to gain access to community service in a more clinical setting and I have found that through the NOLA Ready volunteer corps, where I was graciously directed by the University Medical Center. I have completed the required training modules and look forward to assisting with vaccine rollout in April.

Finally, I also received an interview invitation from LSU-New Orleans (my top choice) this past week and I am very excited and nervous for that interview. It is on April 19^th and I look forward to updating this page on how it went.