"Fake it 'til you make it," the old adage goes. If faking it means attending classes at a medical school that declined to admit you, though, you'd be well advised to attempt 'making it' elsewhere.
That's the situation at the University of Auckland Medical School in New Zealand, where officials recently learned a student had applied for admission in 2010, been denied, yet attended classes for the last 2 years anyway.
According to the Otago Daily Times, the unnamed male attended med-school classes and labs at the university and interacted with patients. While in the hospital, he used a fake student doctor ID badge to blend in.
"Because of the size of the medical class, and by not submitting assessments or sitting tests, the individual was able to deceive classmates and teachers," explained the university in a statement to 3News. "Ultimately the presence of this person was detected when an assignment was submitted that did not match any name on the class list.”
Professor John Fraser, Dean of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences told TVNZ the faux student hadn't been granted access to any confidential information, including patient records, but students contacted by the station disputed that claim.
The station reports the person had a good relationship with many of the students and was quite popular. "Understandably the class is very shocked, and no one knew anything of this, not even his family," added Fraser.
At this time, reports Fairfax NZ News, the university is "reviewing all procedures" and is believed to have reported the man for trespassing.