Our first-year students have hit their stride as they complete the last months of anatomy lab while also volunteering in the student-run community clinics and completing other extra-curricular activities. The last module of Anatomy – the head and neck – is an intricate study of the human form which has inspired awe and wonder for centuries. By this point, first-year students have developed a deep appreciation and respect for the role of their donor as a profound educator. In April, after completion of their anatomical dissections, our T1 students will hold a memorial service for their anatomical donors. Candles will be lit, poems and essays read, spiritual verses recited – representing the many ways in which students formally reflect upon the selfless gift which has been provided to them by a fellow human being. At this point, students do learn a bit about their anonymous teachers: their ages and perhaps their occupations and causes of death. This information, folded into memories of anatomical dissection, will inspire a sense of gratitude lasting throughout a physician’s lifetime.
During Spring of their first year, our students are also actively engaged in many volunteer activities that benefit the New Orleans community. Service in our many “student-run” clinics provide them with the chance to interview and examine patients under the supervision of a senior student and attending physician. Many opt to attend training sessions which then allow them to administer vaccines and provide tuberculosis skin tests to the neediest in our community. Through this volunteerism, students develop confidence and a deepened commitment to the Tulane mission of community service.
After a brief break, students resume their classes in Phase 1.5 at the end of March. Armed with their knowledge of Anatomy, Embryology, Physiology, Biochemistry, Histology and Genetics, our rising T2 are introduced to human illness through the study of Pharmacology, Immunology, Mechanisms of Disease, and Clinical Diagnosis. They enjoy their last “summer break” of medical school between May and August; students return as T2s the first week of August anticipating the continued study of diseases and aspiring to further hone their patient interview and exam skills at the hospitals.
