October is one of my favorite times of the year. In Kentuckiana the leaves are a vibrant spectrum, crisp in scent, and fall peacefully everywhere you look. Cornfields are turned into haunted mazes, and pumpkins and mums are on every doorstep. Everyone bundles themselves in flannel, enjoy lattes, and chili cook-offs are in full swing. Here it's totally different (some of which I embrace, and some things from home I add). The weather is pretty nice, although I still need air conditioning! The Crescent City is ecstatic about Halloween; full of decorations and costumes. I decorated the outside of my home and look forward to passing out candy to Trick-or-treaters (I've never did that at home before, living in a rural community).
In pharmacology the past month has kept me busy. We've went over the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), and are currently in the Cardiovascular (CV) module. ANS was long, lasting three weeks; we discussed topics like the physiology behind ion channels, nerves, smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle, the endothelium and ECGs. The ANS regulates many processes in the body through two subsets: the sympathetic system and parasympathetic system. Our heart rate and blood pressure, bronchodilation and bronchoconstriction, and secretions are all effected and kept in a system of check and balances (along with another addition: baroreceptors). Many receptors tie into these pathways and are common drug targets (both agonists and antagonists!). Because of the nature of this system, it flows easily into the CV module. There are many drugs targeting hyperlipidemia, hypertension, heart failure, etc. Because of the variety of clinical indications, the drugs are complex to learn. I am trying new techniques in studying like watching videos with mnemonics for memory help, as well as tapering down my learning objective lists/ notes and making little color-coded study guides.
In our advances class, we give a few presentations. Tomorrow my group is presenting over digoxin, in which I prepared the results in a very prominent study changing the outlook on this drug back in the late 90s.
With all this studying, I haven't had much time for volunteering. As an advisor, I wrapped up some scholarship probation contracts after meeting with young women to build a plan to increase their academic performance. We troubleshoot what was working, was there something going on in the background, and how to start over, fix any issues, and have a good semester. I have also organized paperwork for my role. I am trying to get on a team at a couple health organizations in New Orleans to volunteer and promote health education in the community.
Until next month,
Ms Ashley
Volunteer hours: 6
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| (I was an Elf) |
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