Can A Novice Perform Surgery? (The Tale of Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr)

Is it possible to operate on a person without being a medical doctor, or would a person who is in the brick of dying ask the medical doctor in front of him if he passed his medical examinations or if he is truly a doctor? I was seeing a movie yesterday that was looking at the life of a con-artist who became different characters in the disguise just to achieve his goal. This movie act got us to start talking about a con-artist acting as a medical practitioner and treating people just because he wanted to be a doctor or because he wanted to change his identity. That said, what would you do if you find out that the person who just perform a major procedure on you isn't a surgeon but just learned about how to perform surgery from reading books.

You think it is impossible, then let me share with you the case of a fraud who performed surgery during wartime as a part of the Canadian Royal Navy Ship. This is the story Dr Joseph Cyr who acquired a medical document and was going to join to Army in the war which was in Korea. He was transferred to HMCS magnificentt in Halifax.

He met Catherine who was a nurse in the Navy and was going to tell her his secret but before he could, he was asked to report to the HMCS-Cayuga and leave for Korea where the war was ongoing. The captain of the ship, CDR James Plomer wanted his tooth checked and possibly removed since he had been feeling pains but Dr Joseph told the captain he had to reach for his equipment. The Dr went into his cabin, began to read about how to get a tooth out and returned to the captain with an injection containing Novocaine and removed two rotten teeth. This gave the captain a reason to trust that he was good with his job.

One afternoon, a Korean Junk carrying injured soldiers passed through cayuga and the captain Beckoned on Joe to help even when it was not necessary since they were on the other side but for the sake of humanity. At the end, he had performed 16 surgeries both opened and non-invasive surgeries.

Joe had gotten the medical certificates from a canadian doctor named Dr Joseph Cyr. His real name wasn't Joe, his real name was Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr, also known as Fred. He was able to do these things because he had a photographic memory and a genius level IQ. With this, he was able to perform lots of surgeries even when they were life threatening.

Demara's case is an outlier, a blend of audacity, intellect, and sheer luck, and serves as a cautionary tale about the critical need for vigilance in the medical field to ensure patient safety and trust. I cannot say you should ask the doctor when next you go to the hospital if he has a medical degree or passed his medical examinations, just trust that he is good at his job, and you can entrust your life to them.

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Read More

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https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/brother-doctor-soldier-lies
https://headstuff.org/culture/history/fred-demara-great-imposter/
https://theconversation.com/how-to-become-a-great-impostor-98798
https://content.time.com/time/specials
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/22294

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Image Credit

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Image 1 || Needpix || Surgery Surgeon Operation
Image 2 || Rawpixel || https://www.rawpixel.com/image/8732187/photo-image-hands-public-domain-doctor