Some 66 percent of job applicants for nursing positions at state hospitals last year were found to have forged their educational qualifications, the Supreme Council of Health has said.

Some 13 percent of people applying for jobs as doctors and 21 percent up for paramedic posts also submitted fake documents, Dr. Jamal Rashid Al Khanji said in an interview with SCH publication Qatar Health Magazine.

Al Khanji added that many of the forged degrees actually cleared the attestation process, in which officials from an applicants’ home country sign off on the documents before sending to the Qatar embassy there. 

“Because those degrees were original, the authorities easily put their stamp of verification,” he said, as reported by the Peninsula.

‘We do not remain quiet’

But the forgery came to light when the SCH cross-checked the documents, recommendations and certificates with their sources (i.e. universities and previous employers).

This implies that the alleged nurses, doctors and paramedics were in an advanced stage of the hiring process before the forgery came to light, as general job applicants are not required to have their degrees attested.

Speaking to the magazine, Al Khanji said:

“The SCH has a zero tolerance policy towards such acts of forgery, and we do not remain quiet. We inform other GCC countries and medical authorities around the world with the aim of preventing such characters from landing jobs.”

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Our Lady of Disgrace