Syed's Pharmacology Blog

 --  Our first month back has been once again a busy one. Compared to last semester we have more presentations this semester. We still have our graduate medical pharmacology class this semester which is still my favorite class. We focused on reproductive pharmacology and will continue with endocrine pharmacology later this month. Due to our new classes and presentations, our exams are more spaced out this semester giving me a little more time to study.  One of our new classes this semester is Neuropharmacology taught by Dr. Mostany which focuses on research manuscripts relating to nervous system disorders. The most interesting part of this class is how we read papers with proposed mechanism of actions of new drugs. I always enjoyed learning about how drugs can act through different mechanisms to activate receptors and reading about new ones is interesting. The challenging part of this semester is presenting the research papers we find. However, talking in front of others ...

November's Community Service: 6 Hours  Total Hours: 14 Hours  For this month, I volunteered again at Tulane's anatomy lab uptown. We continued dissection on the lower body, but mostly focused on the muscles and tendons in the feet. I made sure to expose and show all the structures that would be included on the exam. As the semester comes to an end, I worked to create practice exams for the students and helped them get prepared for their final. This was beneficial for the students as they got a better idea of what to focus on for the exam. After the Thanksgiving Break, the students will take their final and I will help proctor the exam. This opportunity has been deeply fulfilling as I got to spend time teaching students about anatomy.  With our last block approaching, I am most excited to continue learning about treatments and medications in our medical pharmacology class. Although the renal system was difficult, I enjoyed learning about the different drug targets in the n...

 October's Community Service: 8 Hours  Total Hours: 8 Hours  This month I volunteered at the anatomy lab at Tulane's uptown campus. Every week on Monday I help undergraduate students learn how to identify anatomical structures and teach them how to use proper dissection techniques. As a volunteer, I play an important role in mentoring and guiding students as they dissect different regions of the body. This allows the students to be more comfortable and ensures a safe learning environment. At the beginning of the month, we focused on the upper thigh and worked to expose the femoral arteries and veins. I spent most of my time switching between different groups and made sure each group had correctly reflected and saw the vessels. As the month progressed, we moved further down towards feet and I spent time explaining to the students what types of muscles and vessels they should expect to see. Each week is rewarding as I get to teach and see students become more confident in t...

--  My first month of the pharmacology program has moved by quickly. We already took our third exam last week and it was the most challenging so far. I appreciated how the amount of material before each exam was slightly increased to prepare us for larger content exams. Our graduate medical pharmacology class is my favorite as we learn both about the science of drugs and how they can be used clinically. Overall, I believe I am finally adjusting to this program and able to keep up with the material. The most surprising aspect of this program was the exposure to research. Our seminar class with Dr. Katakam has taught me a significant amount about research. As we meet more of the pharmacology faculty, we also get a chance to learn about their research. I found it quite valuable that our professors are able to teach us about pharmacology while also pushing us to think critically about topics. One example of this was with Dr. Datta and her lectures on antibiotics. Not only did we unders...