Pharming in New Orleans

Aaaaand just like that, another month has flown by. Although it’s technically fall, it’s still 90 degrees almost every day in New Orleans. We did have a nice break from the heat and humidity a couple weeks ago where temperatures at night dipped into the 60s! It was pretty exciting, but unfortunately that fabulous weather didn’t last long. We wrapped up the renal block last week and started on the pulmonary and inflammation block this week. I love that so many topics we learned in previous blocks tie in to what we’re learning now. For example, we learned about beta-2 adrenergic agonists in the CV/ANS block, and those have popped up again in the treatment of asthma in this block! Another aspect of med pharm that I particularly love is learning about contraindications and physiological reasons why a medication cannot be given to a patient. Having just learned about the kidneys, it's fascinating to learn the mechanism behind why NSAIDs can cause renal failure in patients with

I cannot believe it has been three months of living in New Orleans! Although the master’s program started in mid July, I decided to move in a little early to get situated and enjoy some time off in my favorite city before jumping into school. Living in New Orleans is wonderful and the attitude here is very different from New Jersey. The atmosphere, food, weather, and abundance of fun things to do make this city unlike any other place I’ve been. Time has been flying by, and we just wrapped up the second block and started the renal block. In the first block we learned some basic principles of pharmacology, and our last block exam covered the autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular system, as well as antimicrobials, HIV, hypolipidemics and heme. We’ve learned a TON of information and it seemed overwhelming for a while…but once efficient study methods become established, the information becomes much more manageable.  I took two years off between graduating undergrad and st