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February - Beads and Benzos







February as been a bit of blur, and not just because of Mardi Gras. It is time to begin getting serious in preparation for our modified "shelf" exam, which for all you kids at home is like a final exam mixed with standardized testing. It's a huge percentage of our grades and covers all of the major material that we have went over for the year. To say the least, we are feeling some stress about that as well as the MCAT. I think the majority of my class is also taking the MCAT in April, so back to back intensive studying, as well as working on major projects for some of my electives like Neuropharmacology and Endocrine Pharmacology is right around the corner.

We began looking deeper into psychiatric drugs in a few of our courses this semester, a big class of those drugs being benzodiazepines (or "Benzos" as the title indicates).  Benzodiazepines are drugs commonly used in the treatment of anxiety. They work with the GABAergic system, which in anxious patients the GABA system is down regulated in the frontal cortex. Some common Benzos are chlordiazepoxide and diazepam, which bind to receptors with alpha and gamma subunits, enhancing the effect on the chloride ion current of the GABA. They exhibit a dose-response relationship, so they are harder to overdose on when compared to barbiturates, commonly used for sedatives (can also be used for anxiolysis). We also learned about antidepressants, antipsychotics, and CNS stimulants.

For volunteering, February has been a slower month. January is when I get a lot of action done with my chapter at U of L being an academic advisor for my fraternity. That is mainly time-dependent, because with my girls I want to establish a good foundation for their semester when setting probation terms. During this month, I've wrapped up some contracts, and more so working with the Cancer Association of Greater New Orleans. We are setting up some meetings to discuss the big Tour des Lis bike race for cancer care opportunities. I have been working on a cancer resource profile as well.

1st Mardi Gras parade!



My friends came to visit! This is at Court of Two Sisters








February volunteer hours: 1.5
Semester: 7.5

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