September

The transition from New York to New Orleans has been a bit bumpy, but everything seems to be smoothing out as the days and weeks pass by. I packed up my belongings and made the 1,360 mile drive within three days and two nights. I have been spending my free time exploring the city, and I am enjoying it immensely. Everything seems to move a lot slower here, but I am getting used to it!

 

I have signed on to volunteer at the Catholic Charities’ Food Pantry during the first two weeks of October, and I am very much looking forward to it. I will be packaging and delivering food to those in need, and providing help in any other way I can.

 

I have learned a plethora of new information throughout the first month of the pharmacology program. As of now, we have only completed three modules, with the first being a Basic Principles module, the second an Inflammation module, and the third module was Infectious Disease and Cell Biology. I was very interested in learning about the last two modules due to the many experiences I have had at my previous job. When I lived in New York, I worked in a large oncology facility. I started in the laboratory and after completing my undergraduate degree, I began working in the research department. The patients who were treated there were all immunocompromised, so I would see a lot of bacterial infections and complications involving inflammation. After completing these respective modules, I now have a better understanding of what these patients were going through, and hopefully that will allow me to apply this knowledge in the future when working in the medical field. In the years I have spent working in oncology, I have seen countless patients going through the worst days of their lives, and I have always done what I could to help improve their quality of life. Acquiring the knowledge and the skillset to become more proficient in helping these patients is one of the reasons why I joined this program, and I am ready and eager to continue learning everything Tulane has to offer.