Re: Fake Norwegian Doctor Article

[Guest guest]

Hmmmm - maybe he wasn't a doctor but he does sound like a healer.

> I saw this one earlier today on one of the news websites. I had

> several reactions while reading it.

>

> (1) Being Norwegian myself - of course he was good; he's Norwegian

> (2) They must have REALLY good medical schools in Norway

> (3) I hope he wasn't one of Aase's doctors, and

> (4) What does it say about the quality of care in that area when

> (per the last line in the article) - the best doctor you have ever

> met ... wasn't.

> -----------------

>

> Hoax Doctor Praised for Bedside Manner

>

> Apr 2, 12:15 pm ET

>

> STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Norwegian medical student posed as a

> qualified doctor for two years in a small Swedish town and got top

> marks from senior doctors and his patients after the case was

> uncovered.

> " We have studied his journals to check on the patients. He was not

a

> bad doctor, " said Leif Spangen, former chief surgeon at a hospital

> near the town of Torsby where the 34-year-old man had more than

> 1,200 patients.

>

> " Yes, he performed minor surgery such as surgery on skin

> abnormalities, nail infections and simple extractions, " Spangen,

who

> is reviewing the case, told Reuters Friday.

>

> Doctors said they had not found a single mistake by the Norwegian,

> who had studied medicine for four years in Poland but never

> qualified. His bedside manner was widely admired and one female

> called him " the best doctor I have ever met. "

[Guest guest]

Hi,

This has been all over the papers here a while ago. This was front

page stuff, he-he... Does not say anything about Norway at all

though, because it was in Sweden he did this... He is a Norwegian,

but went to medical school in POLAND, then moved to Sweden and got a

job there... The way they wrote it, it could easily be misunderstood

because it said " A Norwegian medical student " , then they said at the

end of it that he went to medical school in Poland... So he never was

in Norway at all, except maybe on vacation... So lucky me haven't

had to be anywhere near this guy, he-he...

As I understood it, he was nearly done with medical school, but had a

few exams left, which he meant to do. He himself still means he has

not done anything wrong, that the problems is that his employers in

Sweden made a lot of assumptions... As I remember, he claims that he

told them when he started there that he had a couple of exams left,

and that he planned on taking them. Anyway, he came there, and got so

much trust, because he obviously was a " very nice guy " and seemed to

be a good doctor... Amongst others he started an organization to

provide medical help to refugees - in Africa, I think. The org. went

down though, he never succeeded except in getting a local company to

donate a jeep for the org, which he obviously was seen driving around

in - this lead to a lot of media attention but didn't come up until

after they discovered that he had not finished his med. school... He

also got involved in different local stuff etc.... LOL... It is

outrageous though how this small Swedish hospital manage to hire a

" doctor " and don't even ask for his diploma... How scary. I really

don't think this is a common thing though.

But on a more serious note... If he had tried to find a job here, he

wouldn't have come far though. He would have had to first get his

papers reviewed and approved, then do his final exams, then get a job

as an intern. At work we have had several refugees who are doctors,

and the requirements they are met with, are really strict. They have

to take various courses at the medical faculty at the Oslo

University, they have to take a lot of tests to test their actual

skills, even if they maybe have worked like a surgeon for 20 years,

they have to do an internship all over again etc. etc. All to make

sure that they really have the skills required... Some haven't

succeeded, especially because they require that they are so good at

the Norwegian language, something that can be tough for some. The

system can even seem like it is a bit paranoid and don't trust that

other countries have good enough medical schools, but I guess they

just don't take any chances, even if I do think there are some

differences depending on which countries they come from. Some

countries don't have a medical education system though which is

considered good enough to be approved here. E.g. a doctor from Sweden

or Denmark, wouldn't have to go through all this, but they have to

let them review their papers, diploma etc.... If a doc from e.g. the

US were to come here to work, I think they first have to go through

general courses in the language as well as " Medical Norwegian " . And

their papers are reviewed by a governmental agency specializing in

approving the education papers of foreigners. This agency also

reviews all the papers refugees bring with them.

But anyway, I really think this case, with all the media attention it

got, will lead to some good, that all the hospitals in Sweden will

_have to_ get standard routines to follow when it comes to hiring

foreign doctors...

The doctor in this case was obviously so popular, amongst patients

and colleagues, so he got a lot of trust and somewhere along the line

they let him get away with not giving them the papers, probably

because he was so nice and seemed so skilled, they couldn't imagine

that anything was wrong... Big mistake! They are reviewing all the

cases he has worked with though, and the last I read, they have

luckily not been able to find that he has done anything wrong (as

this piece also says). So even if he did not have his papers in

order, he must have been quite good, I guess... (I actually think

that is the case, rather than all other doctors there being so bad;)

He-he...

But luckily this has nothing to do with Norway, except from the fact

that he is Norwegian... LOL

I must admit, I have got more than one good laugh reading about this

case in the national newspapers... The whole thing has been so

outrageous it has been really funny, but I guess his patients and

colleagues haven't exactly found it to be that funny...

Aase Marit

>I saw this one earlier today on one of the news websites. I had

>several reactions while reading it.

>

>(1) Being Norwegian myself - of course he was good; he's Norwegian

>(2) They must have REALLY good medical schools in Norway

>(3) I hope he wasn't one of Aase's doctors, and

>(4) What does it say about the quality of care in that area when

>(per the last line in the article) - the best doctor you have ever

>met ... wasn't.

> -----------------

>

>Hoax Doctor Praised for Bedside Manner

>

>Apr 2, 12:15 pm ET

>

>STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Norwegian medical student posed as a

>qualified doctor for two years in a small Swedish town and got top

>marks from senior doctors and his patients after the case was

>uncovered.

> " We have studied his journals to check on the patients. He was not a

>bad doctor, " said Leif Spangen, former chief surgeon at a hospital

>near the town of Torsby where the 34-year-old man had more than

>1,200 patients.

>

> " Yes, he performed minor surgery such as surgery on skin

>abnormalities, nail infections and simple extractions, " Spangen, who

>is reviewing the case, told Reuters Friday.

>

>Doctors said they had not found a single mistake by the Norwegian,

>who had studied medicine for four years in Poland but never

>qualified. His bedside manner was widely admired and one female

>called him " the best doctor I have ever met. "

>

>

>

>

>

>To learn more about EDS, visit our website: http://members.rogers.com/ceda2/

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

He had studied medicine at a Polish medical school for 4 years. He

had almost finished medical school, but had some exams left to be

properly finished to start as an intern, but instead he managed to

get a job as a MD at a Swedish hospital in a small town...

Aase Marit

At 02:44 +0000 03.04.04, mohrs6 wrote:

>

>Hmmmm - maybe he wasn't a doctor but he does sound like a healer.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I just finished reading the rest of the story in your other post - so

I guess this guy was in a bit of a hurry to get started - managed to

get a jeep - hmmm, maybe a huckster instead of a healer. Really pays

to know the whole story before I comment - I'll be more careful next

time.

> >

> >Hmmmm - maybe he wasn't a doctor but he does sound like a healer.

> >

> >