April

Community Service Hours:
April Sci High: 4
Total Semester 16 Hours

This will be my final blog post as the program has ended today.
Overall I am extremely happy with the Masters of Pharmacology program, it was an excellent experience. It allowed me to learn more about the complicated subject of pharmacology and to prove to medical schools that I am up to the academic challenges of medical training.
This summer I will be moving back to Texas to start my training at the University of Texas Rio Grand Valley School of Medicine. I am excited to start learning more and be able to hit the ground running with my background in pharmacology. It should be an exciting few years. 
Some final thoughts about SciHigh, I have heard through the grapevine that next year the tutoring program at SciHigh will become a little more structured and formalized. This seems like an excellent idea to me. It took several months of volunteering there to really get into the swing of both scheduling with the teacher and the procedures of things. Having a little more guidance and structure will only help next years class get into the swing of things that much quicker.

March

Earlier this month, we had a mock-NBME exam. This lengthy exam covers all the material we have learned in the Masters program thus far. It was also a practice run on the NBME exam that medical students take at the end of their second year. I thought I would just add my thoughts on our mock-NBME exam.

Overall, it was not nearly as arduous as I had worried it would be. Perhaps that was due to the preparation from our classes or my own studies using a study book, but the exam was easier than expected. I am very glad I had the opportunity to take what was essentially a practice exam. Now when I take the real thing in two years, it will not be nearly as daunting. It also showed me more of the types of questions and the type of information that the NBME is looking for, both of which will help me study for the real thing.

Now that the mock-NBME is completed, our classes do not meet as often, but this means I have had more time to tutor at SciHigh this month. I am still working with the same student. She is getting closer to catching up with the class after her transfer after winter break. Since I also have transferred to a different school in the middle of a school year, I know how hard it can be to be behind in every class and how much work it takes to catch up. I admire her dedication to working hard and to not let the amount of work to complete weigh her down. Soon I hope she will be fully back on track and on her way to completing her goal of getting straight A’s. 

Community Service Hours:

 SciHigh: 6 hours

Total: 14 hours

February

Whew! Today wraps up the Mardi Gras season and last week wrapped up the last of our block exams before the mock NBME exam in two weeks. I am a little nervous but overall very excited for the opportunity to showcase all that I have learned over the last year. I have taken the last few days off to enjoy Mardi Gras, for what may be the last time for many years. I am not sure if I will be able come down to for “the season” next year.

I am still tutoring at SciHigh, I have a student that recently transferred to SciHigh. She has all the intelligence and diligence needed to succeed, but her last school appears to have been lacking in the math department. We have been working together this month to catch her up with the rest of the class, but the week off for Mardi Gras has placed that project on hold. Soon I am sure she will be back on track, she has a passion for school and for learning that I do not remember having at her age, so I have full confidence she will soon be an honors student.

This will be my last blog post before our cumulative NBME exam. I am planning on increasing the hours per week I volunteer at SciHigh once it is finished.

Community Service Hours:

SciHigh: 4 hours

Semester Total: 8 hours

January

Another year and another semester has arrived! Already one block down, we are quickly approaching cumulative NBME exam in mid-March. It will encompass all of the material we have learned thus far in our Medical Pharmacology class, and I am both excited and a little nervous. Although there is a lot of material, I feel well prepared by my classes and studies. It will be an excellent opportunity to prove how much I have learned this year.

    This semester I have been able to start tutoring at SciHigh again, although Mr. Harris has us working with a different class. Tayla is my newest pupil,  transfer student who needs some help getting caught up with the rest of the class. Luckily she is enthusiastic and is making excellent progress. Unfortunately so far I have only been able to go for the first period of the day, starting at 7:45, which is a great time for me, but not as great for the high school students. I have had to work a little extra in order to keep Tayla both awake and engaged in Algebra II instead of her complaining about it being too early in the morning. Hopefully in the upcoming weeks I can convince Tayla that first thing in the morning is the best time to learn algebra, because then you can spend the rest of the day letting the material sink in.

    I don’t know if she will believe this philosophy but I can hope. 

Community Service Hours:

SciHigh: 4 Hours

November

November all wrapped up. The first semester of the program wrapping up as well. We have one final block exam in 2016; the GI Block. Which means that November had the pulmonary and renal block exams. The more drugs I memorize, the easier I seem to find it to memorize these drugs. Although more likely I have just found better study strategies for processing the vast amount of information in our classes.

I continue to tutor at SciHigh, things have finally settled into a good routine there. Chad and I now usually work 1-on-1 with the same few students to ensure that they are able to keep up with the rest of the class. This system has worked very well in providing the attention that these students need while making sure Mr. Harris is able to keep the rest of the class on track as well. It is a great feeling to see my students continue to improve their math and study skills. I am absolutely planning on continuing my tutoring next semester when the students return from break.

Although I am looking forward to the winter break coming up in a few weeks, I think I will miss coming to class everyday. I guess that is one of the advantages of having such a small class size, we have formed a tight-knit community among our program. I am not quite sure what I will do with all my free time over break, but it will be nice to take a breather and relax with family over the holiday.

SciHigh: 9 hours in November

SciHigh: 8 hours in December

Total Hours: 32.5 hour

October

October come and gone and New Orleans still hot and humid as ever. This month we finished the Cardiovascular and Autonomic Nervous System block and tomorrow will be tested on the Renal block. This month also marks the first time we attended a session at the Tulane University Sim Center, which utilizes state of the art patient “dummies”, for lack of a better word. These patient stand-ins are able to simulate breathing, have pulses, and respond to the mock medications administered; all while an instructor provides verbal feedback from the point-of-view of the patient. The whole experience felt like we were really caring for a patient and helped to solidify the mechanisms and effects of cardiovascular drugs that we had been learning about.

I am still tutoring algebra at SciHigh on a weekly basis. Now that the students I help are getting used to my teaching style, we are able to make real progress in helping the students catch up to the rest of the class or to master the topics of the week. I had the distinct pleasure of being a judge at SciHigh’s annual science fair last week. While I did not specifically help any of the students with their science projects, I still enjoyed getting to see the fruits of my student’s labors.

Finally a little bit about life in general. Since it is Halloween today, I am looking forward to handing out candy with my wife tonight. We are lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where the kids still trick or treat. It should make a nice, relaxing study break before our test tomorrow.

SciHigh: 12 hours

Total Fall Semester Hours: 15.5 hours

September

Another month of the program down and a successfully completed neoplasia/heme block. Now we are moving into the autonomic nervous system and cardiovascular block and I have begun volunteering as a tutor at New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School, or SciHigh. At SciHigh, I am volunteering as a tutor for a Algebra II/III class. One of the main ways I feel as though I can help at SciHigh is with answering questions the students may have. With myself and the teacher, we are able to answer twice as many questions as when the teacher is by himself, and therefore work to keep more students engaged with the material. I also try to share my love of math with the students. Math has always been one of my favorite subjects and I hope that my enthusiasm for it can encourage any student who is struggling to understand the material.

    I am looking forward to the next few blocks because they will be some complicated and interesting material. The content is challenging, but interesting because it is integrating material from the first blocks. It also covers material that I have not yet had the opportunity to study in my college career.

I am very much looking forward to learning new material in the master’s program and hopefully help some high school students learn more about mathematics in the following month.

-SciHigh: 3.5 hours

-Total Fall Semester Hours: 3.5 hours