I have been doing Cytology for the last 1 month. The best thing about this 12 week posting is that the workload is very moderated throughout the day, unlike Histo. In Histo I used to have the entire morning free to file my nails, check my e-mails, arrange the empty biscuit boxes on my shelf (I hoard junk, so what), scrub my desk and go to the dodgy food court opposite my office to get lunch, only to get my trays of slides all at once at 1pm; and thereafter have a panic attack trying to finish seeing the cases and at the same time scramble to read up on things I have never seen before. During times like these I often leave office after 630pm, and sometimes at 8pm (which is late, in case you are wondering).

So anyway, in Cyto I usually leave on the dot. My eyes and brain would have been tired anyway by then, so there is no point staying late trying to squeeze something out of a tired brain.
Recently I have developed a really nice ritual of reaching home, making myself a cup of coffee/juice, sit at my desk (sans laptop), kick back, relax and watch the outside grow dark from my bedroom window. It's so much more relaxing than wasting 1hour of my time on Facebook. I unwind, read something from the Bible/Devotional and feel so wonderfully refreshed. And I even study!
I had some kind of "revelation" the other day. Not some great, astounding mind-blowing revelation but the type where you know it all along but finally 'get it' type of revelation. You know, I have come to realized that studying pathology is not just fun (it's why I entered med school - "to study about diseases" was my cliche answer then, little did I know it will manifest literally in my life later), but it is actually an investment in the future. Investment as in financial, material type of investment. (We are all adults now, we can talk about money, no? It's ok to want to be paid for the work we do, right? As long as we do not become greedy or materialistic. That's my opinion anyway.) Struggle for 5 years (so what if people accuse you of having "no life", it's a temporal phase), pass the exams, get the license to sign-out independently, and then I can relax. Practice anywhere I want. (My final aim is to part-time, like some of my female consultants - 1 week on and 1 week off...that's wishful thinking anyway)
I'm not too sure why but this realization has fueled my determination and motivated me to be more focused. The promise of a better future is really really powerful.

I wish you the same, fellow comrades in training!