Today was my last(ish) occupational health meeting – I got told by the nurse during Freshers’ Week that I was being referred on to discuss the slight stress related dermatitis I get on my hands, but it turned out to be a full health history and review of allergies, dermatology, and the possibly big sticking point of mental health.

The conclusion was pretty much, “well, you seem to understand your health and have plenty of control measures in place, not sure why you got asked to come here”, so all is well there. The last hurdle is to get two MMR jabs, as apparently I’m lacking measles and rubella immunity, but it shouldn’t stop me going out on placement come December. The doctor seemed to think, as I did, that having worked in healthcare for a fair while I should be the best judge of it’s affects on my health, though she did recommend anaesthesia as perfect for a mentalist like me (and suggest that perhaps I shouldn’t head into surgery, with the repetitive scrubbing up).

So just two shots to go. And to convince EEAS that I’m fine too…

Need a way to remember dermatomes and myotomes? Hit play!

I’ve never been so turned on by anatomy in my life. And no, watching Bob Whitaker do something similar in the dissection room doesn’t have the same affect. Not even slightly.

There’s little I can add to the whole David Nutt story – if you’ve been living in a cave for the past week or so, Professor Nutt of Imperial College was last week fired from his position as Chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for commenting on the cannabis classification debate. His argument was that cannabis shouldn’t be a class B drug, given it’s health effects, and that this [like the rest of healthcare in this country - Ed] was instead being used as a political tool rather than to protect and care for people.

The blogs and traditional media are ablaze with this. My favourite being the ever trustworthy and reliable Daily Mail with an Independent-like headline of “Yes, scientists do much good. But a country run by these arrogant gods of certainty would truly be hell on earth” about the evils of running our lives in an evidence based way. Hmmm.

The trouble with a ’scientific’ argument, of course, is that it is not made in the real world, but in a laboratory by an unimaginative academic relying solely on empirical facts [emphasis mine]

Good work. The fair and balanced A N Wilson there, everybody.

Seriously though, I implore you all to sign up to the petition to re-instate Professor Nutt. Lets try and keep at least some of healthcare policy evidence based, shall we?