Escape.

DZ has often on this site criticised the GMC revalidation process. Anyone who has gone through revalidation will confirm the utter pointlessness of the excercise. Ridiculous box ticking, confirming that you've attended so called Continuing Professional Development, when in fact the whole point of attending the meeting was to enable you to tick the box, and nothing more. And testimonials from your mates saying what a wonderful guy you are to work with. Even Shipman could have got enough of these, as well as the "how was it for you" forms filled out by patients. DZ has had patients who have filled these out for his revalidation express huge scorn for the forms. The whole process is a complete waste of time and resources, and achieves nothing. It is no more than another stick to beat us, another nail in the coffin of medical staff morale. And yet government and the GMC continue to assert how good it is for the profession.

Revalidation is specifically cited in this article as one of the reasons why young doctors are deserting the UK and taking their expensively acquired medical expertise elsewhere. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not aware of any other country that has followed the UK example and gone down this route.

The article sought the opinion of that twat Dickson at the GMC on the loss of these valuable people, and inevitably he failed to acknowledge that revalidation is one of the aspects of British medical practice that they wish to escape. Instead he just gave a few sound bites, reiterating his support for the process. Is he really that stupid? Yes, of course he is.