Tulane Pharmacology 2018-2019: Not about food, but kind of is

I've done a lot of things this month. Here's the quick run down. Since you've last read (hopefully), I've taken two more exams, volunteered, and eaten a lot of food. I've utilized flashcards a lot more than I have as an undergraduate and I am officially in full fledged study mode, which I've weirdly missed. With some more unfortunate updates, I've had the misfortune of the heavy, spontaneous rain that sometimes happens here. This might not seem like a big number, but I strategically plan these things out every night and morning since I walk to school and I've done well. I suspect this number to be higher, but so far I'm winning the battle and updates on the war, me versus rain, will follow in the upcoming months.

So here is the long story.
Since you've last read, I've taken two block exams. Cell Biology and Physiology/ANS. While I missed a few questions here and there, I really enjoyed these exams. Let me tell you why. When I was an undergraduate student, I took cell biology and on my third exam I was presented with the following question: Draw and describe a polysome. If you're preparing for your MCAT or closing out on your last year of course work, hopefully you know what this is. What it boils down to is a group of ribosomes moving down a strand of mRNA. What does that look like? To me, it was a string with circles. (Neither my bachelors nor soon-to-be-masters is in Visual Art). I looked down at my drawing, realized how stupid it looked, and erased it. I obviously got the question wrong. When I spoke to my professor about it, he asked me why I erased my original answer (you could still see the drawing on the paper). I told him, "I thought a string and some lines looked so stupid that I erased it". My professor looked me straight in the eye and told me that’s the worst reasoning he's heard in his 30+ years of teaching. Sometimes even the most complex concepts can be communicated in the most simple ways.

So why do I tell you this story? Sometimes the most complicated things can be boiled down to simple ideas. To me, all things can be learned like this, but cell biology and physiology hold a special place in my heart after this experience. Both of the tests covered a lot of material, but they all boiled down to a simple basis one way or another. Understanding parts to better understand more complicated systems is the best way to approach something that seems overwhelming. That's all I did for these exams and I enjoyed most of my time doing it. I spent some time teaching, studying, and learning with others and I think that made it so much enjoyable. We're now in renal block and I look forward to writing about that too. Something about the little details...

I know I just finished a long story, but no worries, I have another one. This one imparts the value of my volunteer experience. If you know me, you know I have an unconditional love for food. Food is a window into the soul, culture, and person. If anything can bring us all together, it's food. There is no way around the statement that food is powerful. It's always important to remember that the thing we normally eat everyday is not always available and sometimes a little can go a long way. Each kind of food has a time and place, but healthy eating should always have a special place in your heart (there’s a joke buried in there somewhere). I came to Tulane to learn something new and continue my own path to becoming a physician leader. If you're interested in medicine, you have to inherently be interested in food. Not just any food, but healthy food. I could write much more than a blog post on this topic, but I firmly believe healthy lifestyles begin with education and a willingness to put in the work. Growing up, I saw my people in my community get type 2 diabetes, including my mother. What came next? Hypertension. One after one, I'd see people get worse until I finally asked my own mother why she and others around refused to adapt to a healthier lifestyle for the sake of their health? Her explanation? It's hard.

After shadowing in a multidisciplinary clinic called the PATH clinic back at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, this was further driven home. The PATH clinic is a clinic that serves those without insurance that are struggling with diabetes. It's multidisciplinary because while IM residents see most patients, those same patients are seen by nutritionists, dietitians, social works, and psychiatrists. A lot of their responses in relation to food is that eating healthy was too much time, too much money, and too complicated. What we learn from this is that in this situation, medicine is not so straightforward. The large majority of people in the clinic varied in socioeconomic status, but for the the most part represented the lower end. There was so much going on in their lives. Travel issues, disease, family, bills. So much so that sometimes they'd forget one of the most basic things that a part of a routine doctors visit like medication or their notes. In this case, it's easy to see where the priority of food and the idea that healthy eating is both inconvenient and expensive becomes ever apparent. It's no one's fault, but we can make a change. It's funny how the same things that keeps us going and living can be the same thing that kills us.

So where have I volunteered this month? I have volunteered for the Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine and an event for the Crescent City Farmer's Market. I've mentioned Goldring in my previous post, but seeing it really embodies everything I've written above. What you have is a wide variety of people coming together and learning how to cook a healthy meal in less than an hour (that hour isn't all cooking). You learn cooking skills and versatility. Most importantly, I think you learn that healthy eating comes in so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. Learning that and then learning how to do that is such a big step. At the end of each Goldring class, a chef sits all participants down and you learn about nutrition and you realize the affordability. You get to eat your own work and everyone comes together which is what I've stated as the most beautiful part of food. It's the skills and knowledge that the community takes away from the work that Goldring does that is the small step towards a bigger change. I also got the chance to volunteer for a fundraiser event for the Crescent City Farmer's Market. I spent my time setting up and making sure everything was nice and tidy for their BBQ event. I have always been an advocate for local farmers because wherever you buy from starts with the hard work of a farmer. Farm to table is truly a great experience and it allows the public to have access to the freshest, local produce (and it's usually pretty cheap). Isn't that something we can all get behind?

As a final update, looks like I'm stepping back into the research world. This one you'll just have to wait for, it's a bit difficult to write about it right now.

So is New Orleans all about food? Of course not. There is so much culture. There is so much education. There is so much community. That is why I came here and that is what I will direct my focus too here in the coming months. Food, however, is definitely a big plus in more than one way.

Until next time! Questions? Email me! Clearly I'm an open book.