For various reasons - broken glasses, a subdermal implant, minor investigations of an ongoing issue - I’ve been thinking about these things a lot lately. I’ve had some wonderful doctors - over the years and more recently. I’ve also met one or two doctors, and a few technicians of various shades, who could have done with just a little more work on the bedside manner. “Advice I’d love to give my doctor” was a topic of conversation today - so for any doctors listening, here are my three medical truths

• Your patient can live quite happily without 3D vision, until they learn that 3D vision works on the whole world, not just on IMAX movies and Magic Eye books. Break this to them gently
• When referring to a piece of equipment central to the procedure you’re about to perform (surgical or otherwise!), it’s best not to call it a “complicated widget” in the hearing of the patient. Bonus points for not pointing out that “there’s just a knack to it” while the patient’s listening
• If your patient knows that their fear of needles is completely irrational, and that it’s really not going to hurt that much, telling them that they’ll “just feel a little pinch now, it really won’t hurt” is unlikely to stop them from going very pale and clammy on you

Having been invited to a couple of these in far-off lands (ok, maybe not that far…), I was delighted when an invite to an Irish Geek Girl Dinner landed in my inbox.

It’s definitely not invite-only, so if any of you ladies are interested in joining some self-identified Geek Girls for dinner on 27th February, head over to the Irish Geek Girl Dinner website to register!

Guys, you’re welcome too, but the official policy is that you should be invited by a woman who’s planning on attending - the idea being that the attendance is kept to people who want to be there because they’re actually interested in the organization. If you’re genuinely interested, I’m sure there won’t be a problem finding you an invite