We're done already??

Honestly I can’t believe I’m on this side reflecting on something that I can vividly remember hoping for less than a year ago. More frequently as we get closer to graduation, I find myself (while washing my dishes or trying to go to bed at night) wondering how I have come this far, and in this direction? Moving to New Orleans, LA from Madison, WI was not even a remote possibility in the recent past, and in that point in my life, I didn’t know how I was going to ever fulfill my life-long dream of becoming a doctor. I was at a point where the only thing I could do was take the next step forward, no matter where it led.

To summarize it in one word, this year of classes and community service, of new friends and incredible mentors, of discovering who I am in a city across the country has been incredibly . . . therapeutic. I have loved the curriculum of this program, even when I have dreaded it. I think an M.S. in Pharmacology has prepared me incredibly well for a future as a medical student, because it has forced me to learn how I really learn. Some of my main academic priorities this year (aside from improving my GPA) were to manage my time better, approach class material proactively, and reflect on my decisions in order to improve my future performance. Over the course of this year (and countless exams) I have definitely worked on all of those, and I feel I am a better student now than I ever was in college. I look forward to each lecture and class, because I know that it is yet another challenge from which to learn.

In addition to the curriculum, there is the fact that this program has an amazing set of professors and staff who make each day a little easier. Through both the constant encouragement and the ever-increasing expectations our professors have for us, I think we have all grown in ways we had not anticipated. This is especially true in our electives, where we have had to learn how best to approach new material and understand it in a way that allows us the ability to explain it to our classmates. Through these different electives we have constantly been under the pressure to make connections between material that we have learned earlier, and material that is brand new to us. I leave graduate school knowing that I have the tools and a greater ability to approach scientific material with a higher level of understanding then before. I leave with a confidence in myself and my ability to learn that I had been sorely lacking as I left my undergraduate university.

 

Choosing to come to this program has also opened many doors to becoming involved in a community that thrives off of community service. In the 48 hours I have spent this semester volunteering (and in the ~30 hours last semester), I have sought out ways to become involved in this city through various means. Early last year I started by volunteering through events and opportunities that were presented to us: a Tulane sponsored community service day, Habitat for Humanity. As I became more comfortable with my environment (and my ability to navigate the buses), I started volunteering at KIPP and at CGHC in Algiers. Not only have I been able to explore this city and its different neighborhoods by volunteering, but I have also met so many amazing people who are committed to making a difference. In my interview for City Year New Orleans in March I was asked why I want to stay here, and I had the benefit of my experience volunteering to help provide me with that answer. This city, through the teachers, students, health-care providers, construction workers, non-profit leaders, parents, tourists and locals, has shown me what it means to be committed to service. They truly love New Orleans: that sort of love that encompasses the good and the bad. But they also love it enough to help it change and grow and serve its entire community. Everywhere I volunteer, everywhere I go, people here are passionate about making a positive change in New Orleans and in this world. I could not be more excited to stay here to work with City Year, and to continue to see how this experience will help me fulfill my desire to serve, and guide me in pursuing my goal of medical school.  

With our last exam today, and this as my last official blog post, I leave graduate school just 10 months later with a whole new sense of self. I may have come here at a loss to what I was doing with my life and how I was working towards my dreams, forced to take life one slow step at a time. But I am finishing with the knowledge that that “one-step-at-a-time” approach was exactly what I needed. My future doesn’t look quite as confusing right now. My next steps are a bit clearer: take the MCAT at the end of May, apply to medical schools starting in June, become an official City Year Corps Member in July, and go on from there. Who knows- maybe I’ll even continue to blog about it all.

Volunteering in April

Common Ground Health Clinic – Tuesday, April 2nd  – 3 hours
KIPP Leadership Primary – Thursday, April 4th – 2.5 hours
Habitat for Humanity – Saturday, April 6th – 4 hours
Environmental Pharmacology Soil Collection – Sunday, April 7th – 2 hours
Common Ground Health Clinic – Friday, April 26th – 2 hours

In order to take a break from studying (finishing up the SHELF and gearing up for the MCAT), I loaded up the beginning of my month with volunteering at the places I normally do. At the clinic I helped put together the quarterly newsletter that is sent out to a few thousand people in the city and around the nation, and then worked with Desiree on planning for the “Community Day” event that will take place in early May. Many new providers have joined CGHC and as part of the clinic’s goal to serve the Algiers community, the clinic has decided they would like to do a meet and greet by door-knocking around the neighborhood and inviting everyone to a party of-sorts at the new clinic community garden. It sounds like it should be a fun summer event and a nice way to relax after, what I hear, are bound to be two crazy weeks of Jazz Fest.

I also volunteered at KIPP this month with Jenny. The teachers and staff are starting to wind-down for the year, so one of my tasks was to take inventory of, and put away the student graduation robes! While I’m in the process of getting ready to graduate for the 3rd time, it was more exciting for me to count the number of tiny graduation robes that will be presented to the 1st graders at KIPP. Over the time I have spent volunteering there, I have come to realize not only how much time and effort the teachers put in, but also how much each student strives to achieve. They are each expected to work incredibly hard, and through the constant interventions (and compassion) the teachers provide, they are challenged to grow everyday: academically, emotionally and socially. While kindergarten or 1st grade at KIPP doesn’t look like what I went through, it is truly a testament to the change this school is trying to have on children in this city. Not only are they making an impact on the high drop-out rates, but they are fulfilling the desire most parents have for their children: to provide the best education possible. These kids are getting ready for their first graduation so that they can make it to the next big one- high school, and I have a feeling that most of them will.

Habitat on Saturday was a half day because it was also the day of the 1st Annual Habitat Romp! A Tulane team of Jade, Alex, Srinath, Shuo and myself worked with two other groups (a Christian men’s organization and a small group from Loyola) to work on a house in the process of being built- literally. Some groups nailed in the roof, others put in siding, and we prepared the windows for painting. This pretty much involved caulking all of the windows and using wood glue to fill in any extra holes. It wasn’t necessarily the most glamorous job, but it did take the five of us the full four hours to finish it.

As most of my classmates did, I also participated in the soil collection “volunteer opportunity” for Environmental Pharmacology. I think Dr. Mielke gave us all a great background on the importance of this work, and I know I was definitely excited to get out into the city and take some samples of my own. Geared with the information sheets and plastic cups Dr. Mielke provided us, my classmate Alex and I made a day of it. We first headed over to Cabrini Park in the French Quarter. While it is currently being used as a dog park (which happened to be packed with adorable dogs curious about what we were doing), it is a site that is being considered for a playground. And with its proximity to another KIPP Charter school, it is understandable that the park should be checked for high lead levels. (The results of our collection showed higher than acceptable lead levels at the park- between 200 and 335 ppm in 5 different parts of the park. Acceptable levels are 100 ppm.) We also headed over to another popular area- Louis Armstrong Park on Rampart St. It was a gorgeous Sunday and the park was filled with locals, tourists, children and social groups. Fortunately the lead levels here were lower, and with so much grass, lead getting around isn’t as much of a concern. (Lead levels were between 5-165ppm).

(Pictures to come soon)

Volunteering around NOLA

KIPP Leadership Primary - March 4th, 2013 - 2.5 hours

Common Ground Health Clinic - March 5th, 2013 - 3 hours

Common Ground Health Clinic - March 8th, 2013 - 2 hours

KIPP Leadership Primary - March 11th, 2013 - 2.5 hours

KIPP Leadership Primary - March 18th, 2013 - 2.5 hours

  

Heading into March, I knew I would need some productive study breaks while preparing for the Pharmacology Shelf exam. I figured the best way to do that was to head over to KIPP Leadership Primary and Common Ground Health Clinic to volunteer my time. 

One of the 4 cabinets of
student and staff uniforms.

Paul cutting reward
dollars

As usual my time at KIPP this month revolved around helping the teachers and administrators with any extra tasks they had. On March 4th, this included taking inventory of the student and staff uniforms and cutting "dollars" as rewards for the students. The first task took a surprisingly long time, as I had to count, organize and document all of the shirts and cardigans. On a separate visit I spent my time clearing up a large work space, making teacher gift packages and taking inventory of/organizing the massive bookshelf of knick-knacks and useful teacher supplies. March 18th I ended up volunteering alone and spent time doing multiple little tasks: putting together file organizers, cleaning nap mates and keyboards, reorganizing work-space, etc.

 

All of our reward dollars!

 

Myself, Paul and Sheeva after a morning of volunteering, and
in our "Love" shirts :)

 

Organizing the storage shelves of knick-knacks.

 

Teacher-appreciation packages I put together. I knew learning
how to curl ribbon would come in handy one day!

Just a neat shelf of some of
the mixtures that the
herbalists use on a
daily basis.

I didn't have as much of a chance to volunteer at CGHC, but I did spend some time helping the outreach team earlier in the month. One day a large group of spring-breakers from Michigan were at the clinic helping out with a survey. A local group has been knocking on doors, collecting signatures to have more community-member seats opened on the city council. Because I had my laptop with me, I helped enter the information of all those who had signed the petition while the students went out into the neighborhood to collect more signatures. On my second visit to the clinic, I was lucky enough to attend one of the CGHC Board Meetings. I had the chance to meet the mamy health-care providers and CGHC staff and learn about the different projects that are going on. A few Tulane Public Health students have joined the clinic for their internship experience, and they are starting some exciting projects, such as a Hispanic community worker training to better reach this often under-served community.

 

Nerd Alert

Today was our last block exam of the year (yay!), and it was all about psychopharmacology and toxicology. Now that we are done with the regular material, it is the start of a month of intense review for the 100 question, pharmacology shelf exam. As daunting as this sounds. . . I'm kind of excited to study for this. I love, love, LOVE standardized exams. While most people find them intimidating, or not useful for understanding material, or stressful, I thrive off of that organized, methodical, type of exam. Don't get me wrong- I also enjoyed taking our regular medical pharmacology exams. But there is something about not having to worry about any other material than what is already there, about having time to set a strict study schedule, about organizing notes and material into chunks that are manageable that is just so wonderful about this part of the year. I'm sure like everyone else, I definitely want to use this time to really master all of the material that I was slightly iffy on, and to solidify in my mind all of the other stuff. I kind of feel like House (M.D.)- that is the level to which I want to know this material. This last part may be wholly unrealistic and somewhat naive, but I'm just that excited!

In addition to the studying, I'm also happy that we will have sufficient time to really engage in the material from all of our electives. Although every student has something like 7 presentations this semester, I'm finding them to be a great way to understand pharmacology (and medicine) in a completely different, in-depth way. I also think all of us have improved significantly in our abilities to comprehend scientific literature, do background research, put together Power Points, and present the material in a way that the audience can understand. (Another nerd alert: I also happen to love public speaking. I get super excited about these presentations, even though I'm sure half of the class is not listening to a word I say).

Our other classes are also equally interesting and beneficial. In Endocrine we have been focusing on the role of stress on the body, and we have these web-discussions and posts that allow us guidance in our reading and give us a chance to feed off of each other. Environmental pharmacology has also been really interesting; it is opening up a new way for all of us to think about pharmacology and toxicology, and Drs. MacLachlan and Mielke are doing a great job of helping us start to think about these topics from the physician point of view. Finally Cell Control Mechanisms has also been really useful; although I cringe at the thought of memorizing pathways and specific molecules, the material has been very manageable and is also a great refresher for me as I start to re-study for the MCAT.

I guess my last nerd alert is just that: I'm starting to study (again) for the MCAT. Unfortunately I took it somewhat early, and although my score was good, it will be expired by the time I apply for medical school. However I think there is an upside to re-taking it; this year has been a great review of all of the biology that is included in the MCAT, and I feel I have a better chance of better understanding the other material through sheer experience with it. Again: MCAT= standardized exam = ridiculously excited me. It's looking to be a fun few months :)

"To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind"

KIPP Leadership Primary - February 21st, 2013 - 2 hours 15 minutes
Habitat for Humanity - February 23rd, 2013 - 7 hours

 

The title of this post, a quote from the Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winner Pearl S. Buck, perfectly captures what I think service is all about: what it requires from an individual, and in turn what it can do for that individual. To start off, I think it definitely takes a certain level of excitement and joy in order to wake up earlier than normal to hop on a bus and find one's way to a volunteer site. But somehow it is always worth it. Last Friday Alex and I made our journey to KIPP Leadership Primary to volunteer for the first time. Paul was also there and we joined him in updating the mathematics and reading achievement boards for the 1st grade. Each student in every class takes a national exam to see where he/she falls in terms of their level of achievement compared to other students in the same grade from around the nation. We were previously informed that the students then take periodic tests on similar material to see how they are progressing. Every student has a slip of paper with their initial score printed on it. It was our job to move these students up (or down) on the board based on their new scores. This was the first time this year that the boards have been updated, and all of the teachers and administrators would come peak over our shoulders to see how the students were progressing.

 

After figuring out the logistics of it (keeping track of who did and did not have a score, who did and did not have a slip of paper on the board), it was really exciting to personally move a student up anywhere from 5 to 20 points! It was amazing to see the gains that the majority of the students made, and although I don't know any of them, it brightened my day to know that there are individuals who are committed to helping students get ready for college starting in kindergarten! A few kiddos fell back a few spots, but this is definitely a useful tool for teachers to focus on who may need extra attention in the future.

 

These are achievement boards we updated.
There are 4 classes per grade and around
25 students per class.

I think Ms. Buck also had it right when she said service is best when done with a whole heart; sometimes the tasks one is doing require love and positivity. After finishing up the boards, I was assigned to walk around the school and wipe down all of the nap-mats with bleach wipes. Wiping mats may not be fun under normal circumstances, and my knees sure hurt by the end of it, but a whole heart made it all doable. It was definitely a necessary task, especially during this flu season, and it was nice knowing that the children would have clean mats to nap on in the very near future. Paul was also in the vicinity so we were able to chat during this, and every once-in-awhile, a little student would come ask me what I was doing or just stare from behind a corner. Those are definitely the best moments :) I also had one 1st grader inform me that I was folding the mats incorrectly; she showed me the proper way and came and checked up on me a few minutes later.

 

Along with joy and a whole heart, a free mind is sometimes the most important trait to maintain when volunteering. I think when life becomes stressful (as in you have 3 exams in a month, job applications, and the overlooming stressor of a pharmacology shelf exam), it can become easy to opt out of volunteering or other "unnecessary" tasks. It is easy to say that you have too much on your plate; really all it takes is a bit more organization and a little less stressing to make it all fit. This month has been absurdly hectic, so I definitely went into volunteering with Habitat as an excuse to clear my head. A free mind is necessary both to really relax and engage in the work, but also to commit to doing a good job. 

This is just a picture of the walk to the Habitat
site in the 9th ward.

About 8 of us from the program volunteered this past Saturday at a wheelchair accessible home in the Upper 9th Ward. It was my first experience going to the neighborhood, and it was interesting to see how it isn't all that different from the other ones around the city. Perhaps the biggest difference was the number of abandoned buildings and homes. Anyhoo, it turned out to be just the 8 of us volunteering with some AmeriCorps volunteers (a few we all knew and a few new ones). All of us were assigned to the task of "working on the ramp;" unlike all the other houses we have worked on, this house was specifically for someone in a wheelchair. The main posts had been set for the ramp, but none of the wood planks had been put in, and many of the supports were missing. For me, the day involved everything from digging out space for support beams, to nailing them in; from cutting wood for the planks, to installing those with screws; from taking out a fence, to moving dirt. It was rewarding hopping around and helping out in any way possible. The constant focus on making sure I wasn't either falling in mud or hammering my own hand made it a perfect opportunity to think about something tangible, non-academic and completely out of my norm. I am definitely looking forward to volunteering more in these next two months, both as a study-break and to find some peace. 

On a similar note: I am currently interviewing for a position with the City Year Corps here in New Orleans :) My initial interview consisted of a lot of questions that probed at my motivations to become involved with a year-of-service position, and I think this quote does a good job of capturing why I want this position (or something similar). I think when you can master volunteering with these traits, you can truly open yourself up to new experiences, and to making a positive difference through any means possible. I also have to give a shout-out to this whole "E-portfolio" requirement; I definitely mentioned that it was a way for me to keep sight of my motives and reflect on my work, and it truly is. (So thanks Dr. Clarkson!)

Surveys and Health Fairs: Attempting to understand the needs of the community

Common Ground Health Clinic - January 25, 2013 - 2 hours

Common Ground Health Clinic - January 30, 2013 - 4 hours



 

In the last week I've started volunteering with the Common Ground Health Clinic. On January 25th, I went over to Algiers to help out at the clinic office. CGHC is currently in the process of conducting a community survey to figure out what the needs of the community members are. Questions range from how frequently an individual receives healthcare services (and where) to how and where they buy their groceries. The six page survey will hopefully lead to more events and services (put on by CGHC in collaboration with different New Orleans non-profits) that can better serve patients.

 

Luckily CGHC hosted two volunteer days (on MLK day and on Saturday the 26th) where large groups of volunteers from Tulane and the city came out to conduct the surveys in mass. Therefore on Friday, I was set to putting together some more volunteer packets for the following volunteer day. After finishing with that simple task, Desiree asked me to start translating that same survey into Spanish. I was informed that the group that is most underserved in the community, in terms of healthcare, is the Latino community. This is in part due to the fact that there are limited resources in Spanish and personnel who can communicate effectively in Spanish as well.

 

Translating the survey is definitely the first real writing I have done in Spanish since I graduated from UW-Madison last May. I'm excited to get to use my Spanish more frequently, and I hope to brush up on it so that I can be of more use in that way. The CGHC is restarting their free Latino Health Outreach Project (LHOP), and I would love to work with them. LHOP is a free clinic service that operates out of a trailer in downtown New Orleans on Friday mornings. Most of the patients there are Latino workers who don't have access to services on a regular basis.

 

It was a good first experience working with CGHC. Desiree and I left at the same time, but unfortunately the bus we were anticipating taking broke down. It did, however, provide a great opportunity to walk through Algiers to the river to take the free ferry across. It was a beautiful day and a unique way to get around New Orleans. I definitely found some cute restaurants and shops in Algiers that I want to check out in the near-future!

 

 

 

Xavier Convention
Center

This past Wednesday I also volunteered with CGHC at a Health Fair at Xavier University. Health fairs are a common occurrence in New Orleans which is a very new experience for me. Although students at UW-Madison put on a lot of conferences and symposiums for pre-healthcare students to explore their career interests and learn about healthcare disparities, actual health fairs for the community were non-existent. So I was excited to learn that I would be helping with tabling at this health fair. I arrived around 2pm and things were moving fairly slowly. About 60 organizations were set up with tables: the majority of them are involved in providing resources to the uninsured and underserved in New Orleans. Desiree and Colleen (another CGHC staff member) run outreach at CGHC and so they knew a lot of the people who were there working outreach booths for different organizations. In addition to these organizations, there were two sets of patient booths set up along the walls of the room. Tulane, LSU and other physicians and medical students were running these booths to provide free health screenings and HIV testing.

Tulane Physicians and Med Students

People came and went, but overall it was a fairly slow event. The biggest hit at our table was the new Resource Guide that CGHC has compiled. This guide provides information on every type of resource related to health and wellness that the un/under -insured can utilize in the city. A lot of the other organizations' leaders and healthcare providers stopped by to take a few to put in their offices and waiting rooms.

Colleen (far) and Desiree
at our table

Because there was so much down time, I talked to Desiree and Colleen about the function and success of these various health fairs. I got the sense that community non-profits can do a better job of consolidating these events and advertising for them in a more successful manner. Both of them expressed a little distress at the prevalence of these events, and yet the seemingly vague goal of them. Ideally members of the community should come out to receive information on healthcare resources and to get excited about living in a more healthy manner, but this isn't always achieved.  

Xavier Pharmacy students



I think between the surveys and the health fairs, the surveys provide a greater, more tangible result. On a community level (in Algiers especially) CGHC has a wonderfully positive role because they can do something real for the community members. Although the health fair was a great way to have community organizations meet up and discuss needs/events, it didn't seem to reach its own goal of engaging the community. It was definitely a valuable experience, though, to see who is working for the same goals in this city and to feel the energy in the room.

 

 

 

"So you must have . . . painted today?"

Habitat for Humanity - January 19th, 2013 - 7 hours

Two Saturdays ago Joanie, Michael, Srinath, Alex and I headed out to Mid-City to get back into the volunteering groove with some good ol' Habitat for Humanity. It was nice to see another part of the city, as normally we volunteer in the 7th Ward. When we arrived at the site, there were approximately 10 AmeriCorps and Habitat staff ready to get started for the day. We turned out to be the only volunteers that had signed up, but it was nice because we were all doing work inside of the small house. Patrick (the group leader) and a few other AmeriCorps members recognized us and seemed appreciative of our presence. We were quickly set to work finishing up the painting of the inside of the house. Most of the house had received a first coat of paint, but a lot of the rooms needed a second coat and a few areas even needed a first and second coat. After learning some basic techniques for painting with rollers and brushes, we were left to take control of the paint situation. 

Michael and Joanie contemplating what to get
 while Srinath potobombs.

I obviously didn't pay too
much attention to where I
was putting the paint. . .

I initially started by applying two coats of paint on the baseboards and window frames of the master bedroom. One of the AmeriCorps volunteers- Faith- joined me to finish up the closet. We quickly started talking about where we're both from and how we got to where we are. Faith had some great advice on looking for AmeriCorps positions, and in a way, she helped me put a story to the many AmeriCorps volunteers we meet. I also asked her about what kind of work she is expected to do; it turns out that the position description she applied for is quite different from what she is currently doing. Initially she (and most AmeriCorps volunteers who work with Habitat) was supposed to work as a volunteer supervisor/coordinator on building sites. But because there are peaks and troughs in volunteers signing up throughout the year, mostly she spends her time working on the houses. With MardiGras and the Superbowl occurring in New Orleans over the course of this month, followed by many university and college spring breaks, Habitat expects to see an influx in the number of student groups that come to NOLA to volunteer. I know of people who have been involved in these week-long trips, and they seem to provide potential to get a lot accomplished. Faith did mention, however, that "getting stuff done" is dependent on how much partying the student groups do while in town.
 

There was an incredibly long
line for Parkway Bakery
and Tavern, and for good
reason!

I think talking to Faith helped me realize just how important it is for people to become involved in volunteer activities consistently and for the long-term. I remember when I initially visited my pre-medical advisors in college, they emphasized the importance of long-term volunteer commitments. A lot pre-meds complain about this; it's hard to get into a hospital or clinic for a long-term position, and 1-day opportunities seem like a great way to receive many hours for a small commitment! But I can now definitely see the value of getting involved for the long haul. Even though I only volunteer with Habitat once or twice a month, I've had the opportunity to work with the same people five or six times now. For them, it is easier to determine what sorts of tasks we as individuals or groups can accomplish, because they have supervised us before. For us, it becomes a lot more fun to work with the same individuals over the long-term and to learn more about the intricacies of the organization and the work they are trying to achieve. I think it's a downright shame that more people don't volunteer consistently with Habitat, especially considering the strong presence they have here in the city and the large number of students that live here too. But I can't do anything about that; I can only commit to helping out on a regular basis.

Srinath with their classic hat.

Although painting took all day, I had a great time :) It was nice to chat with my classmates about winter break, plans for MardiGras, and thoughts about next year. We all went to lunch together at Parkway Bakery and Tavern: a Mid City hotspot for Po' Boys. I hadn't had a Po' Boy yet in New Orleans, and I was surprised at how delicious they really are. It was a great way to fuel up for the rest of the day's work and also to check out another neat, local favorite.