If you grew up a fan of Doogie Howser M.D., you may find this story delightful. If you have stayed in a Florida hospital over the last month or so, you may find it horrifying. All depends on your point of view. Essentially, a 17-year-old teenager walked into St. Mary’s Medical Center in Florida and put on a white coat. He then walked around and pretended to be a doctor. That story in itself is not that remarkable. What is more remarkable is that it took staff a month to figure out this teenager might not have been who he claimed.
From TheSmokingGun:
The phony physician’s gambit unraveled after a patient alerted OB/GYN staffers that “a young black male who appeared to be a child was dressed as a doctor” and was inside a nearby examination room, police noted.
It’s not as scary as it sounds, as it seems the kid didn’t actually have any real contact with any patients. Allegedly:
Despite witness accounts, a St. Mary’s spokesperson denied that the underage impersonator had contact with patients or gained access to restricted medical care areas.
The best part is they let him go once they caught him. So what we have here is the classic Catch Me If You Can Scenario. One can only hope this is just off the kid’s stint of successfully pretending to be a pilot whilst also somehow evading a determined Tom Hanks. Curious to see where the precocious little fella turns up next.
Via TheSunSentinal, H/T The Smoking Gun