An average week of a fourth year medical student: Thursday

An average week of a fourth year medical student: Thursday


Bit of an annoying day today, just kind of one of those days where nothing goes quite right/ as you planned it.

So to start with today is my designated research day, now my research hasn't been going very well this year at all through no fault of my own (but probably one of those things thats better not to moan too much about on this blog in case my identity is not as anonymous as I would like to think it is).  Well for the unmentioned-moan-reasons a lot of my Thursdays have effectively just been days off this year as I haven't been able to do anything with them, but today I hoped I was actually going to be able to get some of the data I need to get.  I spoke to my supervisor on Friday in person and it looked like I was going to be able to come in today and get some of my data but he needed to talk to some of his colleagues and check this and then let me know what time.  He ask me to email him and remind him, so I did this first thing on Monday....

.....Wednesday morning: Still no reply... *Emailed him again with a polite nagging email*....
.....Wednesday Evening pre sleep: Still no reply :/ great, set my alarm for 9am so I can see if he replies first thing

9am: No reply... Reset alarm for 10am....
10am: No reply, decide he clearly can't do today and turn alarm off going for a lie in.
10.30: He replies saying to come in for 12.30 (yep thats 2 hours notice when the drive to get there is around an hour...) I'm asleep now so don't see this!
11.30: I wake up, see email. Too late! By the time I'm changed and ready thats just toooooo late.

Quite frustrating tbh!

I realise he is a busy clinician and probably get tons of emails, still it is frustrating because he gets funding from the medical school for each student he supervises and if he doesn't have time to offer each of us the help we need (which really isn't that much) then he probably shouldn't take on as many students :/

So the first part of my day (admittedly not morning due to the excessive lie in...) was spent trying to rearrange this, it is now hopefully happening tomorrow.

So then I decide to make today a day of serious essay work, I set up my desk just so, (with a very geeky dualscreen system set up so that I can read journals and have my essay up at the same time, very geeky but also very useful) and start essay.

My nice tidy desk and organised dualscreen system! (and yes that is a coffee cup on the desk...standard)

Do about an hour of good work when I get a text from the president of a committee I'm on asking me to meet someone this afternoon about a talk we are doing later this year.  Well I could hardly say I was busy when I was just sat at home but it was unfortunate timing when I was actually genuinely being productive for once.  The meeting ends up taking two and half hours which with time for getting there and getting ready (out of my essay writing very non professional slob clothes of trackies and a hoody and bedlook hair) was really 3 and a half hours gone from my day.  Not to mention that my concentration was completely shot after the meeting (it was a necessary and productive meeting, just bad timing for me productivity wise!) and I certainly wasn't feeling as productive.

Still finally 6pm: Start doing some work for about another hour, but then I have to go on a pre decided supermarket shop and cook dinner....eat dinner... and before you know its late and I haven't done anywhere near as much essay as I planned :( Fail of a day really, and very boring too, no interesting clinical stuff for you the reader to hear about today I'm afraid! Maybe tomorrow :) (and maybe I will do a decent amount of essay tomorrow too!)

Halfadoc