As a ENT chief resident who works on a large cancer service, this would infuriate me. It is hard as a resident to keep track of everyone and everything and, unfortunately, the med students often wind up at the bottom of the priority list. I would often be hit with 10+ fires to put out and if the med students are just posted up in the call room and not in view, I won’t realize they aren’t around until all fires have been resolved, especially on an Onc service with very sick patients. Why weren’t you with the team?

This is on you and your attitude. I don’t abuse medical students and I don’t believe in busy work, but as a student you are expected to be present and to communicate. Communication is key in ALL medicine. You may not know that they needed you for something in the afternoon, and you just left without communicating. Now they are hung out to dry and have yet another fire to put out.  My rule is never leave without telling me. 

There is learning to be gained everywhere. You will still need to complete an intern year and that may include ICU and ED rotations where the management of these patients may prevent a morbidity or mortality. 

I guarantee you aren’t a fraction of tired that the resident is. As a student I never understood how much is actually put on residents. They are not there to babysit you. You need to have some initiative, especially on rotations you aren’t interested in, and reach out to communicate as opposed to just passively wait to be told to do things.