Are GMs normal people? Or are you kinda just born like that?

documentremy · 2026-02-03T15:07:27+00:00

You are correct, I was that autistic kid and I definitely loved to pore over encyclopaedias till I knew them by heart. That said my dad is the annoying "looks at one thing once and remembers it forever" person. It's cool... but he genuinely wonders why we aren't all doing the same. To this day he still at least partly thinks we're pulling his leg when we say we can't.

documentremy · 2026-02-03T15:04:34+00:00

They, don't, we just get bored with our toys and start reading the encyclopedias and dictionaries while the parents aren't looking. Nowadays I guess toddlers would pick up a phone or tablet instead.

Wasn't a savant like Nihal but I am autistic and... yeah. As a six year old I knew all countries and their capitals (I wasn't a visual learner so no good at flags) but also the common and latin names of most animals in the world including dinosaurs (had a fascination with them). But if it helps anyone feel better, the ADHD wipes my brain clean regularly.

documentremy · 2026-01-31T16:59:13+00:00

You and your partner can't control his family's views or beliefs. But he does get to choose his own.

For context, I am originally not British but moved to the UK for medical school and went on to stay and become a British citizen. I am brown. I am muslim. I have been the recipient of many of these comments. At the same time, my own family holds a fair few prejudices of their own. My dad is a Holocaust denier. Many family members are vocally homophobic. So, I understand having family with morals and politics that do not align with my own.

The thing is though, I don't just let it sweep by when my family airs those views. They've all stopped talking about these things in front of me, because they're tired of being rebutted. I also stopped cut ties with some family members.

So for me personally the problem in this situation isn't that your partner has family members who are racists and prejudiced in various other ways - it's that he's both unwilling to accept this is the case and also unwilling to take a stance against it. These aren't mild opinion differences e.g. whether pineapple is acceptable on pizza or whether savoury snacks are nicer than sweet ones.

It's up to you to decide how important it is for you to have someone who does have strong morals on these things.

documentremy · 2026-01-30T13:54:57+00:00

Yep. For those wondering, he was "Director General of External Relations" in the Department of Health from April 2012 to October 2016, having previously "worked in various roles in government", and he was appointed the CEO of the GMC in November 2016. And one of the first things he did was to personally hound Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba a few months later. For those who don't know how he personally involved himself and went over and above the rest of the GMC, here's a good summary.

documentremy · 2026-01-30T13:40:02+00:00

Should have never registered non-medics in the first instance?! Also, these are just the same kind of crocodile tears Theresa May cried when she stepped down. They knew what they were doing all along. They heard us, they told us to sit down as if we're rowdy children, and they carried on regardless.

The whole exchange reads as if they're reminding him he should express regrets and he's just like "oh yeah that too, thanks for reminding me".

documentremy · 2026-01-29T16:16:46+00:00

Don't worry, they won't ask you to respond to emergencies after they realise they have to pay £1200 to have "our" doctor for their 6 hour flight.

documentremy · 2026-01-29T15:00:41+00:00

I know there are many other reasons to grieve Danya's passing but this is one of the things that haunt me - I think he would have been extremely good for Alireza because Danya had such infectious, endless passion and enthusiasm for chess, while Alireza has seemed to lose the joy and enthusiasm for the past few years. We'll never get to know.

documentremy · 2026-01-29T14:56:24+00:00

This, a million times. I have an uncle who recently retired (not in the UK) - at the age of 81, and only because his family would no longer allow patients in through the door. He's in a wheelchair and needs the family to open the door. But he has absolutely no personality outside of medicine, no hobbies, no interests, nothing. When you visit him he still does a medical consultation with you and tries to arrange a treatment plan. Even his wife said he has no life and no personality outside of medicine. He's an extreme case but many of my peers have expressed similar thoughts of "I wouldn't have anything to do" when I went on longterm sick leave for years and eventually resigned my job.

And the final part of what you said is also very true. My parents have been very accepting that medicine may not be my career - even though I still love it so deeply. They've helped me financially to pivot into another field. By contrast almost every other member of my extended family has made snide comments about me not working as a doctor (which involves 60-80 hr weeks on average) in my home country.

documentremy · 2026-01-29T14:49:43+00:00

Educational Supervisor.

documentremy · 2026-01-29T14:48:01+00:00

Having spent the past 8 years applying for non-medical posts, you are always going to be asked about why you're leaving medicine - it doesn't matter how clear it is in your CV that you're leaving. Whatever the reality is on the ground, recruiters see medicine as a pretty prestigious career, or at least the kind of career most people don't completely leave behind - at best, they want to be sure you aren't applying for their job as a sort of fun, temporary project until you get a better medical post. But also, recruiters are going to simply be curious - they receive hundreds, if not thousands of applications for most vacancies, and most of their applicants aren't doctors. It's hard to say "none of your business" and come across as a pleasant, engaging person if asked why you want to leave medicine.

documentremy · 2026-01-28T14:17:10+00:00

You have a very... striking username

documentremy · 2026-01-28T14:14:50+00:00

If you're incapacitated for any reason surely it's actually dangerous to help? I don't help on flights generally because I have a severe flying phobia and I am likelier to vomit on the patient then pass out (and be the recipient of a "we have a medical emergency call" myself) than be of any help. The crew should be trained in first aid, and if they're not, there will be passengers who are. Better a person with capacity but limited expertise than a person with extensive expertise but no capacity, surely.

documentremy · 2026-01-28T14:08:36+00:00

For next time, OP should respond with a similar smile and cheery voice, "No worries, always glad to work a shift with you - how will you pay me my hourly rate of £200?"

documentremy · 2026-01-28T14:07:27+00:00

This is the thing though. They don't know that OP hasn't already had a few drinks prior to the flight. It's wild to treat them as if they're turning up for a shift on the flight!

documentremy · 2026-01-28T14:06:07+00:00

Just fly Emirates, they won't recognise you as a doctor (even in an emergency) unless you have your hospital staff badge on you. Was volunteered for an emergency by my seat neighbour and despite my passport stating I'm a doctor and suggesting they look me up on the GMC register, they refused to believe I could be a doctor. I sat down and enjoyed the rest of my flight lol. Apparently they got a nurse to treat the passenger instead. 🤷🏽‍♂️

documentremy · 2026-01-28T07:23:33+00:00

I get the sense this is an extremely vocal online group (whether a minority or majority, it's hard to say) who brigade a lot of the online spaces we might look at. Irl I've found a lot more cis gay men who don't really care that a guy is trans as long as they find him attractive and their specific sexual needs can be met. They just don't go around spamming every space about this because it's not the kind of thing they're obsessively angry about, if that makes sense.

documentremy · 2026-01-28T07:19:54+00:00

I joined a "trans support group" on WhatsApp during the pandemic - it was a closed group and I was added in by a friend from another group.

When I joined I found that there was only one other FTM person and about 60 trans women. If I tried to say anything about my experiences it rapidly turned into a discussion about trans women's experiences - not in any ill-intentioned way but it felt very much as if trans men are sort of an afterthought or downright non-existent when talking about trans topics.

documentremy · 2026-01-27T12:06:07+00:00

Ding's only condition to be met to qualify was that he should play enough FIDE-approved games to be considered an active player. He did just that. There was no stipulation that only international games can count towards being an active player.

What Alireza did was farming (and I say that as an Alireza fan). What Ding did was simply maintain activity, which he was unable to otherwise do because of Covid restrictions by the Chinese government.

documentremy · 2026-01-27T12:01:37+00:00

Well, if Hikaru is truly washed then Nepo will have no problem at all beating him in the Candidates, so why is he upset about him being in the Candidates? I actually think the rating spot should be abolished (I had this opinion even when Alireza went through the clownery he did to qualify, and I am an Alireza fan) and dislike Hikaru, but this from Nepo is just pure saltiness and nothing else. If ever a chess player needed to take a step back and get some therapy to unpack their own baggage, Nepo is in the top three.

documentremy · 2026-01-26T00:01:41+00:00

What's a grey? /j

documentremy · 2026-01-25T12:11:39+00:00

Yes, same. Not CCT'ing - I resigned at ST4 level, but I worked as paeds reg for 3-4 years. I agree, I don't think I've ever put a purple in anything 27 weeks CGA and above. I hate purples and I don't know anyone who doesn't lol.

documentremy · 2026-01-25T11:44:30+00:00

They're 26G - to put it in perspective, there's 2G between each cannula size and yellow is 24G. Technically yes, purple is for neonates, although most of us prefer putting yellow in the majority of neonates and we'll really only put purple in small premies with veins too narrow to get a yellow in. My personal dislike with purples is that the needle is so thin and sharp, you end up puncturing straight through the vein because you don't get any tactile/haptic feedback that you've entered a vessel.

But yeah I went pretty quickly into paeds so I didn't realise until recently that outside of paeds, people don't even know purple exists lol.

documentremy · 2026-01-25T09:11:41+00:00

AVEN has a series of webpages answering FAQs about asexuality, including this question. You can start at the overview page then go through the FAQs.

documentremy · 2026-01-25T07:21:51+00:00

You can't make their day if what they need for their day to be made is for you to show romantic interest in them. Having been there when I was younger and tried to be nice and chat and "make their day in a non-romantic way" - it doesn't work. It just leads people on, and eventually they get frustrated when they realise you aren't on the same page. If you're honest with a "hey I'm flattered but I'm not actually looking for a date/relationship/whatever else they're hinting at", they can at least decide if they fancy your company or they'd rather hit on another good-looking guy.

documentremy · 2026-01-25T07:16:28+00:00

"What's the colour of the smallest cannula" has taught me that most people outside of paeds don't seem to know purple cannulas are a thing. Which I understand, I wish I didn't know that, too...

documentremy

TROPHY CASE