Beantown

My dorm room at Suffolk...uh huh. I am far removed from these days of plastic mattresses and particle board furniture...

It's a "suite", how do 3 women live in this room together?!

The Mayor of Boston came by for a PR moment

Holocaust Memorial in the middle of downtown Boston

What a beautiful day! These are the spitting fountains in the middle of the city

Mike's Pastry, apparently this is a must do while you are in Boston

Boston Harbor....gorgeous!

The infamous "Duck" boats

Tufts, where I am doing my work this week

My agar plates, did a nasal swab to see if I have S. aureus living in my nose or on my skin...S. aureus is responsible for minor skin irritations all the way to life threatening conditions like pneumonia, meningitis and of course, MRSA. 

I have this awesome opportunity to pilot this curriculum, Infectious Diseases, that was created by researchers at Tufts next year. There are only 4 schools in the country using it right now, I am in Boston this week working with the researchers to help develop the curriculum a bit more, dive deeper into the content, work through some case studies, and work on lab practicums as well as develop some more applicable "bench work" labs for my students next year. There are currently 3 modules from Tufts that I will be using, Infectious Diseases, Neurological Disorders, & Metabolic Disorders...next year, we will add the 4th, Cancer. All incredibly interesting and current. Being here makes me wish that I would have gone with a medical focus for my life rather than education...maybe my next life:) For now, I will enjoy this project and projects like these that enable me to blend medicine and education and prepare the next generation for careers in STEM (hopefully)!