Pharmacology Mastered!!

NICU baby

     On March 27, my world was blessed with the arrival of my son, Matthew Caswell Herrera. He was born at 0909 weighing 6 lbs and 9 oz. That weekend gave me some more unorthodox clinical experience. The induction process gave me experience with misoprostol and pitocin, as well as bupivicaine and fentanyl (in the epidural). In order to get my mind off the discomforts of labor, I made a checklist of the drugs that we had studied in the program that I have had "clinical experience" with this year. The list consisted of the above mentioned medications as well as all the medications used during my adventure with appendicitis in September, such as pipercillin/tazobactam, morphine, and scopolamine and pylocarpine used in my anesthesia process. 

home and healthy

     After completing the NBME in March, the only courses left were the electives and my volunteer work. My favorite elective was probably the course on cardiobiology. The topics that the course covered ranged from atherosclerosis, to arrhythmias, to effects of diabetes on cardiovascular health, to congenital heart defects. The two topics that I chose to present were concerning the effects of dantrolene on ventricular arrhythmias and the effects of N-acetylcysteine on congenital heart defects in offspring of diabetic mothers. It was particularly gratifying to see the potential new uses of drugs that we had already studied for other purposes. 

contemplating the effects of
N-acerylcysteine on congenital heart defects

     Having completed the masters program, I am now going to move to Hawaii to be with my husband, who is stationed there serving with the Army. Once there, I will be able to consider the career options that are now available to me with the knowledge that I have acquired from this program. Whether I chose pharmacy school or medical school or some other path entirely, I know that I will be well-prepared after having studied pharmacology here at Tulane. Overall, I am truly thrilled to get to continue on my medical and professional journey with my new family. It was a particularly unique blessing to get to go through the entire masters program with my son always cheering me on and studying with me. 

(total community service hours: 36)