Unqualified medical intern convicted
Thursday, 27 January, 2022
A Sydney woman who worked as a medical intern at a Sydney hospital despite not being qualified or registered to practise has been convicted, following charges laid by the .
In 2020, Zhi Sin Lee was part way through completing a Doctor of Medicine qualification at the but failed several disciplines and was advised she would not be eligible to graduate.
Medical interns must hold an approved qualification in medicine and surgery after completing an accredited program of study and have provisional registration with the , before they can undertake accredited intern training.
Despite failing to graduate, she accepted a position as a medical intern at Bankstown-Lidcombe 黑料吃瓜群网 for the 2021 intake of intern medical practitioners and worked 126 shifts between 18 January and 9 August 2021. Her employment was terminated immediately after the hospital discovered that she was not registered.
The court sentenced Zhi Sin Lee, who is not qualified as a medical practitioner and is not registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, to two years imprisonment to be served by Intensive Corrections Order (ICO) in the community and fined her $10,000. She was also ordered to pay Ahpra鈥檚 legal costs of $3400.
This is the first time a term of imprisonment has been imposed under the national law. In NSW, an ICO can be imposed where a court has sentenced an offender to imprisonment but decides that the sentence may be served by way of intensive correction in the community instead of in a prison.
Ahpra CEO Martin Fletcher said, 鈥淎hpra and the Board protect the public by ensuring that only registered health practitioners who are suitably qualified and fit to practise can be registered. We will not hold back prosecuting those who claim to be qualified to practise when they are not registered.鈥
Chair of the Medical Board of Australia Dr Anne Tonkin welcomed the outcome. 鈥淛eopardising public safety and violating the public trust in medical practitioners will not be tolerated. This outcome should send a strong deterrent to anyone who thinks they can get away with practising medicine without being qualified and registered,鈥 Dr Tonkin said.
WA's Health Support Services appoints Giles Nunis CEO
In WA, Health Support Services has appointed Giles Nunis its new Chief Executive Officer,...
The ACCC institutes Federal Court proceedings against Bupa
The ACCC has instituted Federal Court proceedings against Bupa for breaches of the Australian...
Whiteley opens $25m Human Therapeutics Plant in the Hunter
Human Therapeutics Plant, a new $25 million facility for the manufacture of alcohol-based hand...