April 2019

Hey Y'all, 

It comes to no surprise that I finished my volunteer hours with Habitat for Humanity. I finally learned how to install vinyl wood flooring and use an electric saw! Two skills that I was eager to learn. I always enjoy my volunteer experience with Habitat! the crew members are always more than generous and the volunteers are nothing less that amazing! This month I have worked on nearly finished houses and ones that were just starting off and I have found a new appreciate for construction because its hard work! I

My program has come to an end and I’ll be graduating in a couple of weeks! I cannot believe the program is over, but it is and it saddens me to admit. I have learned so much about myself, study skills, and the true meaning of friendship in the process. The friends that I’ve made are bonds that will last a life time and information that ill definitely need in the future! 

Best, 

Miriam 

April Hours: 21 

Total Hours: 27

March 2019

Hey Ya'll! 

Welcome back to my blog! This was a very busy month for me.  There was Mardi Gras, the NBME customized shelf exam as well as personal events.  Also, I directed most of my time towards preparing for the shelf exam so I did not volunteer this month. However, I learned a lot in our classes. 

In endocrine pharmacology we’ve been reading about chronic stress on increasing one’s risk of developing different diseases. The book that we’re reading interest me because it discusses the phycological effects on developing different diseases. One of the topics that we read about was the relationship between chronic stress and pain. To my surprise, chronic stress doesn’t not affect one perception of pain. This subject changed my perception on how to treat chronic pain because pain can be physical and emotional, so maybe more psychological treatment should be taken into consideration when treating such problems.

Besides the NBME shelf exam, my classmates and I took our last exams for Principle and Medical Pharmacology in February. The program is coming to an end, and I have definitely made tremendous improvements. However, it is a bitter sweet moment because it ended so quickly and there are still parts of myself that I want to perfect to become a better student.

Hours this month: 0
Total hours: 6

February 2019

This was a very eventful month. I didn’t get a chance to volunteer, but I really enjoyed the topics that we covered.I specifically enjoyed our conversation about the opioid crisis in America. Although opioids are beneficial in  treating people with severe pain, many are highly addictive and many people have died from overdosing on opioids. Thus proper use  is essential to overcoming this epidemic along with prescribing different drugs. We also discussed other possible options for chronic pain management.  Our group presented on one possible therapeutic canabidiol drug that has been shown to have anxiolytics as well as analgesia properties by targeting serotonin and other receptors.

We just took an exam on psychiatric pharmacology. I found this block very interesting because a lot is unknown about psychotic disorders in terms of the pathology of biipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression. In celebration of finishing the exam, I went to the muse parade on St. Charles and caught a shoe!

Hours this months: 0
Total hours: 6

Until next time,

Miriam :)

January 2019

Hello Everyone, 

Happy New year! I can’t believe that the month is over! I know it has been a while since my last post, but I was on winter break enjoying time back home with my family. My time during the break was relaxing, but I still managed to volunteer. I had the opportunity to I volunteer at a toy drive hosted by Chi gives back, inc and Bright Star Outreach. The drive provided toys to families apart of the Chicago Housing Authority’s Housing Choice Voucher program. I chose to volunteer with them because I wanted to be a part of making a child’s Christmas.  My fondest memories as a child were during Christmas, and I wanted to help give children who are less fortunate to feel the same the joy, excitement and anticipation that came with opening presents on Christmas day. The toy drive was a success. More people than I imagined came to pick out toys, and the smiles on the parents’ and children’s faces during the drive made me feel grateful.

And now the spring semester is officially in full effect, and I’m excited to begin the new semester! I quickly got acclimated to attending classes again. We dove into learning about the endocrine and reproductive system, and now we are learning about Neurology pharmacology. 

Until next time, 

Miriam 

Total Hours in December: 6 

Total hours in January: 0 

Total hours: 6 

November 2018

Hello Again, 

       This month I decided to volunteer with different sectors of Habitat for Humanity to truly understand how this organization operates. One side of the non-for-profit,  builds homes for low income New Orleans residents, while the Restore resells donated furniture and appliances to help fund the houses being built. I truly enjoy working in the construction site because I learn important skills in building homes as well as interact with other volunteers and the amazing staff. This month, I worked same house and its exciting seeing in transform.  The base of the house is completed and we were working on building the house's frame.  I was able to truly cherish the work that we do at the construction sites while volunteering at their restore. I help customers shopping in the store as well as put out new products and organized the store. Though the work was less demanding, the store funds a portion of homes that are being built. In fact, in the store’s most successful year, they raised enough money to build six homes! I also met Ms.Deidradias (pictured above) who just  chose her lot where her house will be built in the near future!  and she was ecstatic about being a homeowner. My conversations with her reminded me why I decided to volunteer with this organization.  Being able to see Habitat for Humanity impact in turing New Orleans residents into home owners in such a tremulous time is why I volunteer with them and plan to continue volunteering with them.  

Total hours this month: 11
Total hours this semester : 27 

October 2018

Wow!

October has been a busy month! I started volunteering with Habitat For Humanity and I absolutely love it! I’ve worked on two houses since working with Habitat For Humanity and each time was a different experience. The first house that I worked on was almost done, so we focused on putting the finishing touches on the house such as painting, siding, ect. The group that I was a part of installed F- channel along the roof of the house. Before doing so, I had no idea what F-channel were nor their purpose. Apparently, they are important in allowing the house to “breath”. I spent most of time working on laters, and yes, I felt like a certified contractor!  The second house that I worked on had just begun its building process, so I spent my time building the foundation of the house, which was very challenging. We didn’t have power tools so we worked on blocking and securing the house’s foundation with hammers. I worked muscles in my hands that I never used before, however, I truly enjoyed the time that I spent working with the staff and other volunteers. Furthermore, learning about the people that will be moving into the houses that we were building made my work that much more rewarding. 

Until next time, 

Miriam 

October 2018 hours: 16

Total Hours: 16

September 2018

Hey y'all, 

I am from Chicago, but I’ve been living in New Orleans for about three years now. Moving from Chicago to New Orleans was a big adjustment for me, but I’ve learned to truly love this city. Because I have built long lasting bonds with people from my previous university, my transition into this program was pretty smooth

I have acquired so much knowledge since staring this program! So far, we’ve studied basic pharmacology principles, inflammation, the mechanism of developing an allergic reaction and drugs that can be used during such a case, and lastly, reactive oxidative stress in the body. In basic principles we studied how to analyze drugs’ potency In vivo and Invitro, how drugs are metabolized by CYP450 enzymes that are mostly present in the liver and how they are excreted. A drugs molecule structure can be manipulated to increase or decrease its bio availability in the body. Furthermore, a drug’s half-life is very important to administer proper dosing to a patient.  We also learned about basic research techniques in terms of how to design and analyze scientific research experiments. 

We went on to study inflammation in the body and drugs that can be used to combat this issue in patients. We studied three eicosanoid pathways: Cyt P450, COX, and LOX pathway. The COX pathway was the main focus for antipyretic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs to inhibit this pathway. We went on to examine corticosteroid drugs and ended the module with anti-histamine drugs that can alleviative allergy symptoms and oxidative stress in the body. This program is pushing my limits academically, but I appreciate it because my substantial growth thus far!

I have not gotten time to volunteer because I have been adjusting to the program, but I have registered to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.  I chose this organization because home prices and rent has gotten very expensive in New Orleans and many longtime residents are struggling to find a place to live. I figured that I can help diminish this burden by building houses. Hopefully I’ll have a good experience while doing so, and I’ll keep you guys posted on the next blog entry. 

Cheers, 

Miriam

September Service Hours: 0
Fall Service Hours: 0