Fake It Till You Make It: Turkish Girl Faces 13 Years in Jail for Working as Doctor Without Diploma
Turkish Ambulance
Evgeny MikhaylovThe suspect confessed to forging her medical school exam results in order to please her family. This started a years-long “career” of pretending to be a doctor and eventually – working in a real medical facility.A Turkish woman who spent four months working in a hospital without proper medical training faces over 13 years in prison, local media has reported.Ayse Ozkiraz became a doctor in the Tekirdag province in Eastern Turkey, claiming to be a graduate of Capa Medicine School. However, co-workers noted her lack of medical knowledge and voiced their suspicions. After several complaints, police investigated and arrested her, revealing that the woman’s diploma was fake. In addition, Aisha lied about her age, claiming to be 25 years old – while in fact, she was only 20.
"When I was a high school student, my parents wanted me to study in a medical school. They thought I would get a high score. But I did not get a good enough score to get into medical school," Ozkiraz stated. "When my family wanted to see the exam result document, I prepared a fake exam result document and showed it to my family".
The wannabe medic settled in a dormitory in Istanbul to make a fake ID card, so she had an opportunity to spend some time with students, but she did not attend any classes.© Photo : gchahalA screenshot of a tweet showing Ayse Ozkiraz, who forged her ID and claimed to be a doctor.
A screenshot of a tweet showing Ayse Ozkiraz, who forged her ID and claimed to be a doctor.Ozkiraz brought her “medical career” even further after her mother was admitted to a state hospital in Tekirdag – the young woman claimed that she was a pediatric surgeon and eventually started working there.On her social media, Ozkiraz posted photos from the hospital, wearing a gown and a stethoscope or claiming she was “performing surgery”. In reality, she only assisted once.
"Over time, I gained the love and trust of the doctors in the hospital. A chief physician, whom I said I wanted to become a pediatric surgeon, even included me in an operation. During the surgery, he told me, 'come on, you stitch the wound,'" she stated.
After her arrest, Ayse said she didn’t treat the patients herself. Police found fake student cards, intern doctor cards and a fake diploma in her apartment, and in the coming days, the woman is expected to face the trial for forging documents.In the meantime, her superiors face a wide range of sanctions for allowing the impostor to work in the hospital, including fines, official reprimands and termination of contracts.
