By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The head of the association of medical doctors in Liberia has been banned from practising medicine following a controversy surrounding his qualifications.
The Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC), the country’s regulatory body, stated that it had no evidence of Peter Matthew George’s initial medical degree.
During a qualifications audit conducted by the LMDC, George was asked to present professional certificates proving he was qualified to practise medicine.
After he failed to comply, the regulator informed George that his licence had been revoked due to his inability to provide satisfactory proof that he had graduated in medicine from the UK’s University of Hertfordshire, as he had claimed.
George has criticised the LMDC’s decision, accusing the council of bias against him due to his advocacy in a labour dispute between doctors and the government.
In a letter addressed to George, the LMDC said he had not provided an actual certificate from the University of Hertfordshire, but had instead submitted an “award verification letter” which merely stated that he had “obtained an MD”.
The LMDC noted that the “MD” designation refers to a qualification typically awarded in the United States, not the United Kingdom.
“Of utmost concern is that investigation showed that the only University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom does not currently offer a medical degree,” the LMDC stated.
“Following a thorough review of our academic records, we can confirm that there is no evidence that this individual was ever awarded any degree by the University nor studied here. Any claim to the contrary is therefore false and constitutes a misrepresentation of our institution,” the university responded to a BBC inquiry.
George’s LinkedIn account had indicated that he studied for a “professional doctorate in medicine MD, general medicine” at Hertfordshire between 2010 and 2014. The LinkedIn page has since been taken down.
When approached by the BBC for comment, George said his primary medical degree was not from the British university. “I never told anyone so. Those are make-up stories,” he wrote.
Asked why he had referenced the University of Hertfordshire, he said: “Maybe I made an error when writing because I am under pressure.”
He clarified that his initial medical degree was from the University of Central Nicaragua.
