Woman in China forged credentials to get into top medical programme, had affair with senior surgeon

A total of 19 officials, doctors and educators from nine institutions in Beijing, China, have been punished after a junior physician fabricated academic records and committed plagiarism to gain admission into a prestigious medical programme.

The 29-year-old junior physician, surnamed Dong, gained admission into China's top medical institutions through forged transcripts, plagiarised research and nepotism.

Dong had an affair with a senior surgeon

According to China Daily, Dong first came into the public eye in April after it was revealed that she allegedly had an extra-marital affair with a senior surgeon at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, surnamed Xiao.

The news was broken by Xiao's wife in a report where she accused the 38-year-old of having affairs with multiple colleagues.

Citing media reports, Global Times reported that Xiao had allegedly left operating rooms due to emotional reasons, leaving anaesthetised patients unattended for extended periods of time.

China's National Health Commission (NHC) proceeded to launch a four-month probe into the case.

Left a patient in the operating theatre during surgery

The investigations comprised reviewing Xiao's professional conduct, ethics and medical practices, as well as reviewing Dong's credentials and her compliance with standardised residency training protocols.

Investigations found that in July 2024, Xiao was the lead surgeon during a thoracoscopic lobectomy procedure.

However, during the procedure, Xiao allegedly left the operating theatre after arguing with a nurse, leaving the patient, who was under anaesthesia, in the room.

He also reportedly removed the surgical assistant from the procedure.

Medical licenses revoked

The medical licences of both Dong and Xiao were revoked after confirming that they had both violated professional and ethical standards.

The NHC said in a statement that Xiao's actions were a violation of medical ethics and professional conduct, and had severely damaged the reputation of the medical community.

Following this, Xiao's medical licence was revoked and he was banned from practicing for more than five years.

Probe revealed Dong's credentials were forged

According to Global Times, investigations also revealed that Dong's admission to Peking Union Medical College's (PUMC) "4+4" Medical Doctor (MD) pilot programme in clinical medicine was based on falsified academic records.

One of the pre-requisites for the programme is to have at least 66 medical pre-requisite credits.

However, Dong had submitted fake transcripts for four pre-requisite courses, which translated to 16 credits.

The probe also revealed that Dong had plagiarised her doctoral dissertation in 2023.

The dissertation was found to have a 20 per cent similarity with another student's thesis from the University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB).

Dong also had three instances of improper authorship and one instance of duplicate publication.

Following these, both Dong's diploma and academic degree were revoked.

Authorities also revoked her medical qualification and licence.

19 have been punished for their involvement

China Daily reported that several officials and doctors from the PUMC, PUMC Hospital and Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences were found to have ignored gaps and irregularities in Dong's application and dissertations.

Some supposedly also engaged in nepotism to transfer Dong to different departments during her residency.

Dong's aunt, who is an official at USTB, reportedly helped Dong to forge her academic records that were used as part of her application.

She supposedly also asked a university teacher to help Dong to write her doctoral thesis.

NHC stated that the vice-president of the China-Japan Friendship Hospital, surnamed Cui, was given a formal warning.

The then vice-president of PUMC, surnamed Zhang, who was responsible for admissions and teaching, was also given a serious warning.

A total of 17 other officials or workers from hospitals and universities, including some chief physicians and surgeons, have also been punished.

Peking Union Medical College to tighten application process

PUMC's "4+4" Medical Doctor (MD) programme, which Dong was admitted into, gives top students from other disciplines a fast-track to becoming a doctor, and is designed to integrate medical training with other academic disciplines.

China Daily reported that the NHC urged PUMC to tighten its review of applications for the programme and emphasised the need to strengthen academic integrity education and ensure that all who are admitted complete a mandatory three-year residency.

NHC has also coordinated with China's Ministry of Education to implement further reforms such as enhancing verification of academic records, as well as improving oversight of clinical internships and academic ethics education.

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