Time management

Throughout all of our pracs, time management has been a large part of our practical learning and not always something we are prepared for. On my recent cardio placement I found this was a problem not only on the prac but at home as well. Having completed my rural prac I had only a weekend before I started my next prac for cardio. While I was on this prac I was required to complete a rural report due ten days after finishing, complete my self directed proposal also due on the same day, and prepare for my groups seminar, which was to be presented on the second monday of the cardio prac. As well this I was trying to prepare for PCR sessions, write blogs, soapiers and complete worksheets for prac. I found that having all of these things to do, although they were acheivable if I worked on them a bit each night, really affected my performance on prac. Not only was I not able to study for cardio, I wasnt really getting a chance to relax and destress once I went home. It was also quite discouraging to think that I wasnt able to get the most out of the experience as after all we only have 4/5 weeks of supervision in each speciality before we are out there by ourselves. After speaking to other students I have found that throughout this year many of us have felt overwhelmed by the amount of extra work required of us, and how often its not the actual work that is a problem but the timing of deadlines, organising group meetings and the inability to focus on the placements we are on. These situations are also not something we have much control over as we cannot choose when we are doing each prac, or when it is our time to present either seminars or journal club. I feel that this has had quite a large impact on my prac experience and whilst teaching me important coping strategies and ensuring I communicated well with my supervisors, I still felt dissapointed that I couldnt get mroe out of the prac.