Premeds going a little too far...

[Guest quebecboy]

Hey,

 

Here's an interesting story for those who can read in french . I'm not sure if the guy was premed though, but if he wanted shadowing experience, there are easier ways

 

www2.canoe.com/infos/societe/archives/2004/05/20040526-065617.html

 

Un jeune imposteur parmi les médecins

Éric Yvan Lemay - Journal de Montréal 26/05/2004 06h56

 

 

Un jeune étudiant a espionné à leur insu des médecins résidents et leurs patients de l’Hôpital général de Montréal pendant un an en prétendant faire une recherche sur le stress en milieu hospitalier.

Habillé en sarrau de médecin la plupart du temps, il a pu assister à des opérations et à des interventions cliniques un peu partout dans l’hôpital. L’étudiant de 22 ans de l’Université McGill a pu faire durer son petit manège et même se lier d’amitié avec certains médecins, avant d’être démasqué le 14 mai dernier. Il a aussitôt été renvoyé de l’hôpital et ne peut plus s’y présenter, sauf pour urgence.

 

«Je n’ai jamais vu ça de ma carrière. C’est très inusité que quelqu’un s’avance avec autant de front», a commenté la directrice des services professionnels, Dr Françoise Chagnon, qui a rencontré l’étudiant il y a 10 jours.

 

Le jeune homme approchait les jeunes médecins résidents en prétendant vouloir étudier le stress qu’ils ressentaient à l’hôpital. Il a contourné les règles internes de l’hôpital en ce qui a trait aux séjours d’observation.

 

Démasqué par un médecin

 

L’étudiant a ainsi pu suivre de façon sporadique les médecins et avoir accès à des endroits cliniques interdits au commun des mortels et assister à plusieurs interventions. Selon les informations recueillies par le Journal, l’individu fréquentait particulièrement le Département de traumatologie.

 

L’hôpital est le seul avec Sacré-Coeur à disposer d’une telle installation permettant d’accueillir entre autres les victimes d’accidents de la route violents.

 

C’est la perspicacité d’un médecin, intrigué par la longueur de l’étude, qui a permis de démasquer l’imposteur. Confronté par la direction, il a assuré n’avoir eu aucune malice et avoir agi par intérêt personnel.

 

« Il était assez reconnu par le personnel de l’hôpital. Il était poli et gentil », dit le Dr Françoise Chagnon. De même, on assure qu’il n’a pas pratiqué d’examens ou participé directement à des opérations, mais agissait plutôt comme observateur.

 

Tout sourire

 

Selon elle, les médecins ont eu toute une leçon et seront plus vigilants à l’avenir. Des mesures ont également été prises pour éviter qu’il ne remette les pieds dans l’établissement de la rue Cedar. Ainsi, une petite photo a été accrochée sur le babillard des agents de sécurité de l’hôpital.

 

Le jeune homme aux traits et cheveux foncés y apparaît tout sourire vêtu d’un habit vert comme celui que revêtent les médecins en chirurgie.

 

Selon ses propres dires, il n’aurait pas fréquenté d’autres hôpitaux. L’Université McGill a été informée de la situation et doit enquêter sur les circonstances ayant mené l’étudiant à prendre une telle initiative.

[Guest MDHopeful04]

quebecboy,

 

Thanks for the interesting article. I'm amazed at how long he could go on like that! Well, at least no (real???) harm was done.

 

 

For those who don't read French, the article basically tells the story of a 22 year old McGill student who managed to "infiltrate" the Montreal General Hospital. He wore scrubs and convinced medical residents and many physicians that he was in the hopsital to conduct a study on medical residents and stress. He was allowed to observe many procedures and gained access to restricted areas.

 

He was caught when a doctor confronted him due to the suspicious lengthiness of his "study".

 

He has been restricted from the hospital, except for an emergency.

[Guest noncestvrai]

Well you have to admire his courage, however clearly not the proper "route to knowledge"...I would be curious to know his motives.

 

noncestvrai

[Guest cutieyellow]

Wow,

I must admit it takes a lot of guts to actually do that, imagine, walking in, lying and then returning for a long period of time without feeling any guilty! It is definitely not the right way to go about, but still, i admire him for his guts...

 

CY

[Guest TheDDSDude]

To be honest, I think that guy was kinda smart for doing that. That's pretty clever, however, I don't know how he can put that down on his application. THe only stupid thing he did was going in too long and getting caught.

[Guest PaniDoktor]

Really? I think it's rather disrespectful to barge in on the health care system like that. I guess he did no harm in the end (that we know of), but he could have. And it's also a violation of patient privacy to have some joker off the street watch medical procedures. I don't know, I just think that the medical field is too serious to mock like that. The only thing I give him thumbs up for is the guts, but I woulnd't want this hero to be my family MD:\ .

[Guest medicator007]

A number of adjectives have come to mind since this story first circulated through the McGill hospitals and subsequently in the Montreal and national media, and I can say that admiration isnt really one of them.

 

This individual over the course of well over a year concocted an intricate series of lies concerning a supposed research study, that didn't exist, had no supervisor and hadn't ever been shown to anything even resembling an ethics board. They managed to con numerous residents, staff doctors and hospital personnel that they did indeed have a role in the hospital and would repeatedly observe procedures performed by members of the Trauma-service both in the ED and the OR, all of which was based on a series of well constructed lies. The whole scenario just seems straight out of "Catch me if you can".

 

As Panidoktor mentioned, there is the issue of patient confidentiality. Here is someone with no medical background nor justifiable reason to be in the hospital, who by the virtue of wearing scrubs, lab coat, stethoscope and circulating with the trauma team was allowed into patient rooms and the trauma room at one of Montreal's 2 Trauma Centers. They are privy to all of the personal details and private moments of a patient's hospitalizion under some of the most trying cases imagineable. If a loved one were in a horrendous accident and fighting for their life in the trauma resuscitation room, would you want some joe off the street who conned their way onto the team, randomly waltzing in and out of the room?

 

Over and above that, while the official statements from the hospital is that this individual only acted as an observer, there is currently an internal investigation into exactly what thye did over the course of this 1 plus year to see if they did more than just watch and referral to the Montreal Police Department has been stated as an option, if it has not already taken place.

 

There are a number of ways to gain medical experience, and while this person states their intentions were benign and purely out of self interest, lying and conning your way through the healthcare system in the manner that they did is absolutely despicable in my opinion. Makes you want to question the sort of values they'd have if they ever did make it into medicine.

 

Medicator