Five years ago in Australia, fake psychiatrist Nora Zacardas was arrested for posing as a fake doctor. She spent many years conducting medical examinations, prescribing medicine, and advising friends and family members, despite having no real qualifications or medical training at all. Previously she also deceived hospital staff into thinking that she was an intern - so she could view medical procedures and scans and even got offered a job at the hospital. As this was her third time to be convicted of falsely acting as psychologist and charging patients thousands of dollars for consultation, she has been charged with a maximum 12-month jail term. Teen opens fake medical practice and examines patients More recently, a Florida teenager Malachi Love-Robinson opened his own medical practice last year, complete with paid staff, and even performed physical examinations on patients. Merely a high school graduate, he took advantage of a legal loophole: for USD29.95, a degree in "divinity" from the Universal Life Church Seminary entitles an individual to place the title "Dr." in front of his/her name. Love-Robinson was then prosecuted when an undercover agent from the local Sheriff's office entered his clinic and posed as a patient. Elsewhere, to meet the demands of healthcare in rural India, unqualified medics popularly known as quacks, prescribe and diagnose illnesses of rural folk and are consequently arrested for not possessing a medical certificate. A charity has stepped in to address the problem, teaching the basics of front-line care to these quacks to ensure that patients are not harmed by self-taught medics. However it is estimated that there are about one million self-taught doctors. In other words, it is likely that there are more fake doctors than real ones. Fake doctors: Strategy unveiled According to Monash University’s Dr. Danny Sullivan, an actual-qualified psychiatrist and specialist in criminal fraud, 'successful' fake doctors have common behaviours: “They'll restrict themselves to a couple of procedures or activities that other people won't necessarily determine that they're inept in, and gradually as they develop the bravado or the skill to pass themselves off more effectively, they might then move to try things that are more ambitious." When they have been successful in the early stages of their ‘career’, they will gradually become more attuned with their 'inner doctors. They also often target society’s most vulnerable people, allowing them to evade detection for a long time. "In some situations, con artists will work in small ethnic or minority communities with non-English speaking patients, to exploit that vulnerability," Sullivan explains. Attention-seekers and wannabe heroes Sullivan adds that fake doctors fall into the same personality type as those who pose in so-called ‘heroic’ professions. "We see people who claim to be doctors, paramedics, war veterans, and lawyers," he says. "What they tend to have in common is that they choose occupations which give them some form of prestige or recognition, a situation where they get positive feedback and validation for their skills and abilities." Fake doctors also have similar mental health diagnoses whereby they are either depressed or have substance abuse issues. But most of the time their behaviours are due to personality difficulties. Sullivan says the technical term to describe these sorts of people is ‘fantasists’. Fantasists are always seeking approval from others. For instance, fake war veterans claim to have been in covert operations, and they wish to wear medals and march in parades. Similarly, fake doctors are not content with just being a GP; they want to be in the thick of the action, such as in the emergency department for an adrenaline kick. Medical boards often advise patients to check whether their doctor is a registered medical practitioner, but not everyone heeds the advice. "In many situations, you expect another person has checked for you," Sullivan says. "If you see someone in a hospital wearing a white coat, the assumption is that they've therefore been approved by someone else." Source
