Dr Okwu Timothy Okwu found guilty of professional misconduct

Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by Shera Crossan in Education, Events, Feedback, Health, Hidden Crimes, Immigration, Science and Technology

A DOCTOR who falsely claimed on his CV that he had nearly 20 months’ surgical experience at a hospital in Nigeria before he took up a job at St Luke’s hospital in Kilkenny was found guilty of professional misconduct yesterday.

The Medical Council’s fitness to practise committee heard that when Dr Okwu Timothy Okwu (35) took up the job in Kilkenny in July 2008 as part of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) two-year basic surgical training scheme, it was noted his experience in surgery didn’t match his CV. He behaved like someone with little or no experience in the field.
However, when consultant surgeon Ian Wilson, who was supervising his training, asked him about this he said it was because the system in Ireland was very different to that in Nigeria. Mr Wilson gave him the benefit of the doubt.

In November 2008, however, it came to light during a routine check by Dan McCarthy, medical manpower manager at St Luke’s, that information on Dr Okwu’s CV was inconsistent with information on his Garda clearance certificate.

That certificate stated he was residing in Dublin in March-April 2006 when his CV claimed he was working as a registrar-senior house officer at the Federal Staff Hospital in Nigeria from April 2006 to December 2007. The CV also gave a long list of surgical cases he would have had experience of, including appendix, breast lumps, hernias and ulcers.

In evidence Dr Okwu, who graduated in Nigeria in 2002, said he worked at both hospitals at the same time. He admitted the information in his CV was wrong, but said it was “an honest mistake” in that he was due to work at the Federal Staff Hospital to train in surgery between April 2006 and December 2007, but three weeks into the contract he decided to take study leave and travel to Ireland to pursue his training.

He said it was normal practice in Nigeria to state the full duration of a contract on a CV even if it hadn’t been completed due to study leave. The operations listed on his CV were ones he was “exposed to”, he said.More . . .

thank you e