KUALA LUMPUR, August 9 — The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) today urged Sultan Idris Shah Serdang Hospital (HSIS) to investigate if a teenage girl’s impersonation of a medical officer had affected patient care.
Police today obtained a two-day remand for the 14-year-old girl, who was brought in an orange lock-up outfit to the magistrate’s court in Sepang, Selangor, in an investigation under Section 448 under the Penal Code for trespass and Section 170 of the Penal Code for impersonation of a public servant.
Berita Harian reported that the child’s parents did not appear to be at the court complex.
“This breach in security can potentially put the health and lives of patients at risk,” MMA president Dr Azizan Abdul Aziz said in a statement.
“We urge the authorities to tighten up its security system, in particular its identification of staff, to ensure no repeat of such incidents. Patient safety and privacy must remain the highest priority at all times.
“We also urge the hospital concerned to thoroughly investigate the matter to ascertain if the incident had in any way affected patient care.
“Additionally, the 14-year-old’s mental health should also be assessed as it is unusual for a 14-year-old to behave in such a manner.”
Sepang district police chief Assistant Commissioner Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said yesterday that the 14-year-old girl had allegedly masqueraded as a doctor at HSIS for an entire week, before a HSIS staff filed a police report last Wednesday.
The young teenager, who was found at an operating theatre (OT) in the Ministry of Health (MOH) hospital, allegedly confessed to pretending to be a medical officer (MO) and that she wanted to assist in a surgery.
Sepang police arrested the teenager at the HSIS hospital lobby yesterday morning with a fake identity, besides seizing a set of scrubs and a hospital lanyard.
Government doctors and ordinary citizens made fun of the case when the news broke yesterday, comparing the 14-year-old girl to American con man Frank Abagnale – played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the 2002 film Catch Me If You Can – who had pretended to be a medical doctor, among various fake careers.
Malaysians also compared the 14-year-old girl to the title character of 1989-1993 American medical sitcom, Doogie Howser, M.D., about a child genius who became a physician at the age of 14.
Commenting on the girl’s masquerade as an HSIS staff member, Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) posted on X: “Plot twist: everyone in the ward knew but they just need the extra help so they just roll with it.”
In a post on X yesterday, a person claimed to have spoken to the 14-year-old girl last Sunday, where the teenager seemed to be interested in paediatrics, as she had allegedly entered the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the maternal operating theatre – low segment caesarean section (MOT LSCS), the patient admission centre (PAC) in the obstetrics & gynaecology (O&G) department, and the person’s own ward.
“She actually entered MOT LSCS and got scolded by O&G. When she was asked which department MO she was from, she replied, ‘paeds MO’. My MO colleague also said she saw the child crying in the changing room after she was scolded by O&G,” said the person, who has since deleted her posts and deactivated her X account, after her post received 604,000 views.
“She’s said to be 14, but she doesn’t look like a child. The way she talked, walked, and presented herself didn’t seem like a child; I guess she watched a lot of movies. When asked which department MO she was from, she said, ‘PAC MO’. At that time, I was puzzled as to what a PAC MO was doing in my ward, but I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
The person also posted a screencap of an Instagram story, saying the girl pretended to be an MO among the person’s fellow house officer colleagues.
The Instagram story by an unknown person (user name was redacted) posted laughter about a news report on the 14-year-old girl pretending to be a hospital staff member at HSIS for a week.
“These Gen Zs are really unstoppable. This girl literally borrowed my friend’s stethoscope, pretended to be my MO, went into our OT and wards, like girl, while you’re at it, might as well round a cubicle and help me do my work.”
MOH’s statement yesterday disclosed scant details about the case, merely claiming that HSIS’ “quick action” had exposed the suspect. “Preliminary investigations showed that the individual used a fake identity card,” said MOH.
