In pharmacy, we're used to going to lecture and then going home to study the material, and then taking a test on the material. However, the past few weeks have been a complete change for us because we keep getting papers and projects! The good thing about projects is that you can take a lot of time to prepare the final product. Unfortunately, they can also be time consuming and I don't feel that I have a whole lot of time to study the material for my classes anymore!

Project #1: Diabetes

Before spring break we had to "be a diabetes patient" for five days. We didn't have to inject ourselves with insulin, of course, but we had to monitor our blood glucose four times a day, test or urine ketone levels once, and keep a food log of everything we ate. Over spring break we had to write a reflection paper about the experience and calculate our total intake of calories from fat, carbohydrates, and protein from the foods that we had eaten. The whole package was pretty thick once I turned it in!

Project #2: Nutrition

During spring break we had to record everything we ate and did for one day. After spring break, we had to put together a project that included a paper on our intake of macromolecules and vitamins, as well as how much energy we are expending in comparison to our food intake. For the next four weeks we're preparing an "action plan" where we've set two goals for ourselves relating to nutrition and exercise, and we have to record how well we're doing at meeting those goals and what sort of challenges we're having while trying to meet the goals. That project was due today.

Paper: Leadership

Today I was assigned a paper where I have to assess my leadership style and how I can make improvements. Honestly, I have NO idea what I'm going to write about yet. I need some inspiration to hit me sometime soon.

Blood Pressure Assessment

A year ago, we took a class that required us to learn how to take blood pressure. We got to practice a bit last semester, and we've continued to practice in one of our labs this semester. This week, we're been tested on how accurate we can measure blood pressure and how well he can counsel a patient on their results. The tricky part? We're not testing each other, like we usually do in class; we're using real patients, and most of them have hypertension! A lot of our patients are older, so they're a lot harder to measure. I had used my parents for practice a while ago, but they have normal blood pressure, and it wasn't too much different than taking the blood pressure of one of my classmates. It was a whole new experience for me! You fail the assessment if your blood pressure reading is +/-2mmHg from what the proctor measures, so it's a stressful experience, but thankfully I passed on the first try!

It's been crazy in my life lately, and the end of the school year is slowly creeping up on us. It's scary to think that we only have a few weeks left, but I'm really excited to have a break from all this work! The weather here is gorgeous right now. My mom has been telling me that it has been snowing at home, so I'm really happy to be here so I can wear my capri pants and skirts everyday!

Until later,

Ashlen