Originally published at: 19-year-old woman pretends to be doctor at London hospital — but 2nd day "on the job" gets her arrested - Boing Boing
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I work in a hospital and have no idea how she could keep this up for even five minutes. But seriously, if she wants to volunteer there’s a lot of good to be done simply guiding patients around!
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American conman Frank Abagnale (whose life was fictionalized in the semiautobiographical book and movie Catch Me If You Can) claimed that he worked as a doctor for a time—ranging from “a few days” to “a year” depending on the telling—but by all accounts he’s a big fat liar so it’s hard to know how much of that is true.
Of course if even a portion of it is true he’s also a fucking sex predator since he bragged about conducting medical exams on young women.
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I concur.
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Funnily enough, that was the line Abagnale used (at least in the movie) when he was trying to pretend he knew what the hell he was doing while he was endangering patients’ lives.
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That seems like a give-away. Other than commercials and TV shows, does anyone wear a stethoscope on their neck at hospitals any more? Slap some probes on and get them on a monitor to see what’s really going on.
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I just had a checkup a few weeks ago and my doctor still used a stethoscope. 
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Pfft, amateur.
My maternal grandfather was quite a short man, but with a very sharp posture and look, helped by a full head of crew-cut hair, completely white since his 30s.
He worked for years quite close to his house in Florence, but a very large hospital complex was in between.
He had devised the shortest home-work path, which not only went through the hospital complex, but cut through a good number of ambulatories and wards.
Every morning and every evening he went through, and doctors and nurses had started greeting him with “Good morning professor”, some with “Good morning primario” (Chief doctor in a department), and he always answered in tune, with his polite but haughty tone.
According to my mother, first hand witness whenever he brought her along for some reason, this went on for years, in fact, until he changed job.
Same here, just yesterday!
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There is a legitimate use for stethoscopes but modern UK medical custom is for doctors to forgo the white coat and stethoscope as badges of authority which intimidate patients.
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But I want my doctor to have authority!
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I must be visiting a hospital back in time, they aren’t allowed to have their forearms covered (for hygiene, or at least hygiene-confidence), but they have white short-sleeved jacket/coats and carry stethoscopes.
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What an odd thing to worry about given that the white coats and stethoscopes are functional rather than ceremonial.
Isn’t this the same society where legal professionals still wear horsehair wigs in court?
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I have an appointment Monday morning, my doctor also has a stethoscope around his neck, but he’s a cardiologist.
He also pushes a laptop everywhere he goes and dictates the entire visit as we’re talking.
My last few hospital visits, everyone still has a stethoscope around their neck.
I can see how someone could trick patients in the hospital, it’s extremely difficult to keep track of all the doctors who come in and out of your room.
There should be a law that every doctor who comes into your room sign a book with thier name, specialty, and who ordered them. When the bills start arriving you can reference the book.
Side note, I forgot the appointment was coming up, I also forgot to lose weight, anyone got some ozempic I can borrow?
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There is apparently a practical reason for wearing those wigs (only Barristers and Judges do it as far as I am aware); people seem less likely to physically attack the wearer as they are clearly marked as being someone special.
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Arguably, in a hospital where everyone wears scrubs, the lab coat has no functioning other than as a symbol. It used to be what people threw on over their street clothes when entering a laboratory so as to avoid ruining their clothes, but obviously, doctors generally don’t wear street clothes anymore, at least in hospitals.
As for the stethoscope, I suppose one could argue over whether it is so essential that they have to keep it on them at all times rather than having one available in the room, as with all the other paraphernalia. That is probably a different calculation for each specialist. A cardiologist would probably want one, an ophthalmologist probably not.
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The idea of white overgarments in a sterile working environment isn’t to protect the wearer’s street clothes. The idea is that white is hard to keep clean so it’s easy to tell if you get some potential contaminant on your clothes. That’s why people who work in laboratories, kitchens and electronics assembly facilities traditionally wear white.
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That is the reason they are white, but the reason that the lab coat exists and that it generally takes its form from a classic overcoat with lapels is because 19th century (male) doctors needed to protect their clothes.
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If you add baby diapers to the list, it really starts to make sense: you can sterilize in boiling water and use bleach if everything is white.
Long before there were hospitals or science labs, there were babies. But that’s women’s work.
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