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March Blog Post

 Total Volunteer Hours for the Semester = 6.5 hours

Completed this month= 0 hours 

Over the past month, I have neglected my normal monthly volunteer opportunities in order to place a more dedicated focus on my studies since the NBME is quickly approaching. I have found that group studying has been a rather effective method of reviewing the vast amount of topics that we have covered over the last two semesters in Medical Pharmacology. Below is a picture of me and one of the people in my study group as we prep for the NBME.  I wish that I had been able to dedicate more time to studying for the NBME, but due to a list of mental health issues, I found it extremely difficult to effectively study for it. It is interesting though while we were learning about the drugs for antidepressants I was actually experiencing many of the different side effects of escitalopram as I am apparently extremely sensitive to that particular drug and gained a deeper understanding of how it feels to be on those drugs. Although it is probably not the best way to go about it I have found it extremely helpful to draw on my own experiences with various medications such as atenolol, trazodone, diphenhydramine, nitrofurantoin, and others. I use these experiences and relate them back to the functionality of the drug and how it made me feel and what it was actually doing to my body and through this have been able to reason my way through many exam questions. Although, I can’t say that I am satisfied with my performance on the recent modules because I know given normal circumstances I am capable of more, however, given the circumstances and things that were going on with me mentally I am satisfied with the level of work I was able to produce. So it is not necessarily my study habits that I have worked diligently throughout the semester to improve, but my mental health.


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