Radiologist or not?

[mizfiesta]

I met a man recently who told me he was a Radiologist and specialised in the musculoskeletal system. He said he was not involved in diagnosing and worked for a company who provided radiology service to healthboards (?). To cut a long story short, after a while I had a feeling he wasn't telling me the truth. He never appeared to go out to work like ordinary people and said most of his work was done from home - conference calls and the like. Anyway I got fed up with this nagging doubt I had been having so decided to confront him. I had been through some college work years ago involving basic human anatomy and also completed a module in medical terminology so I asked him to name the bones in your fingers (phalanges) and he couldn't tell me. I then pointed to my jaw bone and asked him for the medical name for that (lower mandible) and again he drew a blank. He said he hadn't used this stuff for a while and couldn't tell me off the top of his head! Surely anyone with any basic medical knowledge, never mind a radiologist, should have been able to tell me this?? Feedback appreciated. Is it me that's going mad?

[suzie1]

hes lying

[dothawkes31]

I have no basic knowledge of human physiology from ant previous study but i knwo most of the bones in the body from reading kathy Reichs books or watching David Boreanez frown everytime tempe brennan mentions a human bone. So he's either a very bad liar or completely insane.

[Sqad]

"Lower mandible?"

Where is the "upper mandible?"

[China Doll]

I've some basic medical knowledge and I couldn't tell you what the bones in your fingers are called.

Does he provide the equipment? Is he some sort of engineer? Does he sell the equimpment? They can sometimes work from home but would do site visits adn probably quite frequently if they're in the middle of building one of the machines. I only ask because he did tell you he's not a Radiologist (I think they prefer Dianostic Radiologist or Radiotherapist now, the two are different but they're a tetchy bunch and I get confused).

Ask for the company name. If you don't get it and you still have doubts then get rid. He may be perfectly legit but if you're questioning him that much it sounds like way too much hard work for both of you.

[Sqad]

// a Radiologist and specialised in the musculoskeletal system. // implies a Medically qualified person, who should know ALL the names of the bones in the body without thinking.

[China Doll]

Agreed Sqad but at one point the poster says taht this person said they were not a Radiologist which made me think maybe they did something with the equipment.

Personally it all sounds too much like hard work to me.

[mizfiesta]

No he definitely says he was a qualified radiologist though he didn't diagnose now. He even told me he went to Cambridge when he was 19 which frankly I didn't believe a word of either. Coming from Scotland surely if he was going to Uni there would be easier places to study. And Cambridge? Its the cream of the crop there surely?

[Sqad]

miz........bang his name into Google.....if he is medically qualified it will tell you.

[China Doll]

Well clearly you don't trust him so I don't see any point in pursueing it regardless of where he says was educated. Sounds like you're not mad but you're likely to drive yourself mad thinking about it. Just get rid.

[mizfiesta]

Sqad, tried googling him and no sign of him. The mind boggles that people would actually lie about this type of thing eh. I'm an honest person so I always tend to think other people are to. I wonder what drives folk to lie. My friend keeps ribbing me about a Coronation Street storyline years ago where Deirdre Barlow met a guy who said he was a pilot - turns out he worked in the tie shop at the airport! Wow, tis a strange world.

[Sqad]

miz...LOL LOL

[theprof]

I answered a question along these lines a few weeks ago when someone asked exactly what a radiologist does. It sounds to me that this man is taking you for a ride. All radiologists are medically qualified and undoubtedly he should know that the phalanges do not have individual names in the strict sense.

The fact that he "may" have studied at Cambridge but hails from Scotland is irrelevant as to many, it's the prestige of the oxbridge universities that matter along with their reputation. However, no matter where he studied medicine, he'd be in uni at 19, so again that's not relevant. All in all, when you combine the Cambridge aspect with being there at 19, it looks like he's portraying himself as a prodigy. The funny thing is that I know the names of the majority of the exceptionally talented medical students who have passed through oxbridge myself, so I'd be able to tell you if he was genuine.

In the meantime, the following link should help you.

http://www.gmc-uk.org/

On the homepage, click on "Check a doctor's registration". This will open a new window. Leave the "GMC reference number" box blank as well as the GP register part. Under "given name" enter his christian name and select "male" as his gender. If he's qualified, his name should come up in the lists after you click on "search".

If you can't find him listed, confront him and ask him for his GMC reference number. This is the number that appears above your GP's name on prescriptions that you get from your GP Surgery. If he can't give the number to you off the top of his head, he's lying as all doctors have the number ingrained in their brain.

[theprof]

MrsProf ( a consultant herself) has just reminded me that if you do find his name listed on the link, clicking his GMC number will show which university he graduated from. This might be useful if you have two people of the same name listed. Either way, it will expose a charlatan.

[bednobs]

perhaps he meant radiographer (the people who actually take the xrays) rather than radiologist (doctor who specializes in interpreting them)

[mizfiesta]

Checked the link you provided Prof, (thanks for your help) and completed a name search, and his was nowhere to be seen. Why am I not surprised?

[mizfiesta]

Prof, I spoke with this guy on phone last night again as he told me he wanted to explain things in more detail (or tell more lies?). He said he attended Cambridge as a medical student specialising in Radiology and passed his exams etc. But he said that on a night out he got caught for drink driving and was charged by police. He said he was expelled from Cambridge and not allowed to graduate. Said he was shunned and made to do a walk of shame? Said a lot of his peers went on to become consultants in Radiology. Any of this ring true? I so want to give him the benefit of the doubt. I can't think for the life of me why he would lie about all this when I told him it didn't matter to me if he was a fish fryer or a bin man! I just want the truth.

[theprof]

OK, dealing with what he said from the beginning, all radiologists are qualified doctors as we said earlier. It's therefore not possible to attend any university medical school as a " medical student specialising in radiology". Medical students do not specialise: they graduate first as doctors and then go on to specialise in the chosen branch of medicine.

It's very unlikely that he would have been asked to step down from Cambridge due to being inebriated even if he was charged by the police. There can be serious charges laid against students for bringing Cambridge colleges into disrepute, but drunkenness isn't one of them whether the police were involved or not. To be honest, I'd have got booted out myself if that was the case! It certainly wouldn't stop him graduating.

The "walk of shame" he mentioned is not as bad as it sounds: it refers to a student's sheepish return to to his or her college digs after spending a night out elsewhere. I'll leave the rest to your imagination! All the same, the most that happens is that the student gets chided by his or her fellow students, so it's certainly not the end of the world and doesn't warrant expulsion in itself.

(continued)

[theprof]

Radiology is not one of the most popular branches of medicine, but as he seems to insist that he was some sort of "radiology medical student" it certainly sounds plausible that his fellow students became consultants in radiology doesn't it? Given that there's no such student specialism, it's a load of codswallop.

I'm afraid that your phone chat has just provided us with further evidence that's he's a liar. He's just digging himself a deeper hole.

I understand perfectly where you're coming from over the truth about his career. I'm from a fairly modest background myself and this year alone, I've spoken to everyone from the my binmen to the highest ranks in the armed forces and even two members of royalty about my work. The truth is important, so stick to your guns - you've certainly got my support!

[mizfiesta]

Thanks Prof. You've been a great source of help. I'll keep you posted.

[mizfiesta]

Also Prof (wee things coming back to me from conversation I had with man we have been discussing) he mentioned a chaps name that he was at Cambridge with (allegedly), so I looked the guy up on the GMC register link that you provided. It states that the chaps Primary Medical Qualification is from the University of London. Is the University of London part of Cambridge? The specialist entry was in clinical radiology. Googled this chap also and it does appear that he is in fact a Diagnostic Radiologist/Consultant Neurodialogist working from a hospital in Edinburgh. Thought went through my mind which sounds absolutley so far fetched but I'll run it by you. Guy who I have suspicions about mentioned that a very close member of his family suffered from breast cancer. Maybe he knows this radiologist not because he went to Cambridge with him but because he treated his family member?! This 'kosher' radiologist has an email address but he'd probably think I was a nutter if I enquired about this man?