Woman Allegedly Failed Exam, Faked Being a Doctor

27-year-old was 'immediately' relieved of her duties at Sydney hospital on Monday
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 11, 2021 2:35 PM CDT
Woman Allegedly Pretended to Be a Doctor for 7 Months
Fake it till you make it didn't work in this alleged case.   (Getty Images)

It's not quite as extreme as this man who famously faked being a doctor (among other things), but it's close. An Australian woman is accused of working at Sydney's Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital as a junior doctor for 7 months—though she reportedly was no doctor. 7 News reports the 27-year-old allegedly did attend medical school but failed her final exam. She is accused of creating fake documents in order to land the job, which she started in January. The hospital reportedly asked the woman for paperwork on Monday that she was unable to supply, and so she was "immediately removed from [her] duties," per the BBC, and New South Wales Police were called.

The hospital confirmed that it "discovered on Monday an employee was not registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Authority (AHRPA)" and emphasized she was "fully supervised" while working at the hospital. She could potentially face fraud charges, and the Guardian reports it's not just the police investigation that could lead to that result. Australian law gives AHPRA the ability to prosecute someone who falsely claims to be a health professional. (This British man failed the exams he needed to pass to become a doctor—and spent the next seven years pretending to his family that he actually was one. It led to murder.)

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