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Dancing dermatologist agrees to suspended license

On Behalf of | Jul 6, 2018 | Receiving And Maintaining Professional Licenses |

The woman who earned the moniker “The Dancing Doctor” for her on-camera antics inside the operating room with her patients has dropped her attempts to stop the medical board in Georgia from pursuing any further action. She’s also accepted a minimum 30-month suspension of her license to practice.

The Georgia dermatologist came to national attention after she posted videos of herself rapping and singing along to various tunes while performing surgery. At times, her patients’ partially-bare bodies could be seen in the videos. Although the doctor claims that she had her patients’ consent and co-operation for the videos — which she termed “educational” — there’s considerable doubt about that issue. The videos also scandalized many in the medical profession due to her apparent lack of professionalism. For her part, the doctor seemed unrepentant about the videos, even appearing on camera with news outlets to defend her practice.

The action from the medical board, however, isn’t directly related to those videos — although the timing of their move indicates that the videos and her news interviews didn’t help her case. The license suspension stems from seven other incidents in which patients allege everything from brain damage to disfigurement due to substandard care. The doctor has at least five malpractice lawsuits in the works.

According to the terms of her agreement with the medical board, the dermatologist will not be allowed to use the title “doctor” nor practice medicine of any sort for an indefinite period of time. After the initial 30-month period has passed, she can ask for the suspension to be lifted — although there are no guarantees.

These kinds of cases go to illustrate exactly how important appearances can be when it comes to keeping your medical license. It’s hard to say what her punishment would have been over the malpractice claims, but the furor over her visible lack of professionalism in those videos and her attitude after being called out over them doubtless brought little benefit. One of the keys to retaining your license in a crisis is demonstrating an understanding of the gravity of your situation — rather than defying the authorities further.

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