Another meltdown at USC Med...

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USC Cardiology Fellowship to be stripped of its accreditation

Not sure if I’m allowed to post in the med student forums, where this might be more relevant, but after two successive deans of USC Med were ousted, one for drug use and the other for sexual misconduct, I can’t help but wonder wtf is happening at this school?

This news comes after a fellow at USC filed a lawsuit against the school and the county of LA for sexual assault by a fellow cardiology resident, Dr. Guillermo Cortes. She alleges that the PD did not take her concerns seriously and blamed her for the incident.
 
1nside said:
That is crazy 🙁 It is also a pervasive issue. There is the gynecologist scandal, deans, and now loss of accreditation. What these doctors in high positions are doing is grave and outrageous.
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The admissions scandal too, though as far as we know that hasn’t affected med school admissions. Still....
 
1nside said:
Did you read Doctor Alerts—4patientsafety.org ?

Warning, the allegations by three victims will make you furious and are at times hard to read.

"Respondent is also the half-brother of Dr. L.C. Dr. L.C. is the Interventiona1 Cardiology Program Director at USC. This is a position of significant authority and influence at USC and in the Cardiology program in particular. "

"FF. Victim #3 then learned that Respondent had also sexually assaulted another cardiology fellow. Victim #3 was in disbelief to learn that USC had known about her complaints against Respondent and had allowed him to continue supervising other fellows and working at the Hospital. "

Maybe not med school admissions but residency programs are on probation.
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Christ. No I think it’s a whole-institution wide issue of covering up sexual assault considering it has now implicated 2 deans and a university student health services physician. I wonder if more people will be stepping down in the near future.

Also, f*** that PD in case of Victim 1. What a pig
 
Not gonna lie, the controversies with the deans were the main reasons why I didn't apply to them this past cycle.
 
FFS. I was going to say, "We are in the post #MeToo movement. When are people going to learn?" However, after reading the allegations, it's clear that the respondent was engaged in egregious miconduct that would have been stopped immediately by a reasonable person in any era.
 
capriccio said:
Not gonna lie, the controversies with the deans were the main reasons why I didn't apply to them this past cycle.
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This bull**** is the reason I declined my offer from USC even though it was strangely my best financial option
 
Lol i have Keck on my list but i might seriously have to take it off. I ignored the other issues but i feel like this might hurt its reputation which might subsequently hurt the students graduating from there.
 
Me taking USC off my list
259986
 
StanleyYelnats said:
Also mentioned in the article... all 60 residencies associated with USC are on probation. I feel bad for the students tbh
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It’s LAC+USC hospital that’s on probation, not the residencies. Friends at their med school as well as ones who will be doing residency there have been informed that the cards program is the only program involved at this time.
 
differentiating said:
It’s LAC+USC hospital that’s on probation, not the residencies. Friends at their med school as well as ones who will be doing residency there have been informed that the cards program is the only program involved at this time.
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Ah okay. I think the article was updated because it said something different when I first posted.

How are your friends feeling about all of this?
 
I heard about their cardiology fellowship losing accreditation but didn't know why.

I'm just so horrified at the reason that I have no words.

Terrible. 🙁
 
StanleyYelnats said:
Ah okay. I think the article was updated because it said something different when I first posted.

How are your friends feeling about all of this?
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Friend doing residency there is wary. My friends at Keck seem not too worried about it, but that may also be because they’re about-to-graduate MS4s. :shrug:

Also I agree with you that it was confusing- that’s why I reached out to them in the first place! Figured they might have some insider knowledge about how it’s all shaking out.
 
This is the school that accepted Olivia Jade and school officials knew about the lies.
 
Tenk said:
The University of Spoiled Children will soon be known as the University of Shady Characters.
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The first one is pretty accurate. Seemed liked all the annoying preppy going-to-Coachella-annually pricks from my high school class applied there and some that weren’t complete *****s were able to get in.
 
ClamShell said:
Btw how does a fellow have a license? Aren’t they still in training?

Sorry if it’s a stupid question haha
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Not a stupid question, it's pretty complex.

Medical license: obtained after 12-36 months of residency and passing all the usmle exams. Length of residency required is dependent on the state. California requires 12 months. Most people apply for this in their final year of residency since it costs ~$400 and residency pays for it. This allows you practice independently on your own license within your state to see patients, prescribe medications, etc. Residents work under a "training license" and need supervision. To be a fellow, you have to have a full medical license.

Board certification: After completing residency, your program director signs and endorses your application to sit for your specialty board exam. Eg IM residents take the ABIM exam, FM residents take ABFM, etc etc. This is what you take an exam every 10 years to maintain. You can practice medicine without board certification.

Board Eligible: For a short while after you complete residency, take your specialty exam, and wait for the results, you are considered Board eligible which is temporarily okay for hospitals/commercial insurance who are hiring/paying you.

To practice medicine as a fellow/attending or moonlight outside of your hospital as a resident, you absolutely need a medical license. To work in a hospital or be accepted by most commercial insurances, you need to be BC/BE (board certified/board eligible)


The sad thing is that California medical board is extremely lenient. Serial sexual assaulter have gotten their license back after 1-3 years.And florida always gives a medical license to doctors who lose their license in other states.
 
dangEras said:
Not a stupid question, it's pretty complex.

Medical license: obtained after 12-36 months of residency and passing all the usmle exams. Length of residency required is dependent on the state. California requires 12 months. Most people apply for this in their final year of residency since it costs ~$400 and residency pays for it. This allows you practice independently on your own license within your state to see patients, prescribe medications, etc. Residents work under a "training license" and need supervision. To be a fellow, you have to have a full medical license.

Board certification: After completing residency, your program director signs and endorses your application to sit for your specialty board exam. Eg IM residents take the ABIM exam, FM residents take ABFM, etc etc. This is what you take an exam every 10 years to maintain. You can practice medicine without board certification.

Board Eligible: For a short while after you complete residency, take your specialty exam, and wait for the results, you are considered Board eligible which is temporarily okay for hospitals/commercial insurance who are hiring/paying you.

To practice medicine as a fellow/attending or moonlight outside of your hospital as a resident, you absolutely need a medical license. To work in a hospital or be accepted by most commercial insurances, you need to be BC/BE (board certified/board eligible)


The sad thing is that California medical board is extremely lenient. Serial sexual assaulter have gotten their license back after 1-3 years.And florida always gives a medical license to doctors who lose their license in other states.
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The ironic thing is that Florida and California are notorious for severe malpractice consequences. Although I’m sure those two things are not related.

Also, thank you for responding so kindly 🙂
 
Any university, especially the size of USC is going to have some bad eggs. But responsible organizations protect the community, not their reputation or the bad eggs. My issue with USC was that in the case of the drug-using dean, there were serious questions about his professionalism that were raised when he was at U Miami, and USC did not do their due diligence, bc they had rose-colored glasses bc of the $$$ they were hoping he would raise for USC. And then, once the allegations of his partying and drug/meth use came to the private attention of the people at the highest levels, they removed him from the Dean's job, but allowed him to continue to practice there as an ophthalmologist (eye surgeon), which was incredibly dangerous to the patients. It was only after this fascinating LA Times article that he lost his ability to work as a physician there. This is one of the most embarrassing stories for a university of this caliber. Pretty entertaining and well-researched by the LA TIMES.

www.latimes.com

An overdose, a young companion, drug-fueled parties: The secret life of a USC med school dean

Photos and video show then-head of Keck School of Medicine partying with criminals and drug-users.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com

And the GYN MD at the student health service until 2017 had also been reported to USC authorities at the university for many years. It was only in the wake of the me-too movement did there end up being enough momentum for a lot of students to come forward all at once and then he was only removed after months of investigation. USC was just afraid of the bad publicity. Finally the president of USC and several admin at the health facility "resigned" or were fired. USC agreed to a $215M class action settlement. Boxes of nude photos were found in a private storage facility belonging to the doctor. There is no legitimate reason to do this, and professionally, not acceptable to store patient photos of any kind in a private storage facility.
 
DrFortiusNatando said:
And the GYN MD at the student health service until 2017 had also been reported to USC authorities at the university for many years. It was only in the wake of the me-too movement did there end up being enough momentum for a lot of students to come forward all at once and then he was only removed after months of investigation. USC was just afraid of the bad publicity. Finally the president of USC and several admin at the health facility "resigned" or were fired. USC agreed to a $215M class action settlement. Boxes of nude photos were found in a private storage facility belonging to the doctor. There is no legitimate reason to do this, and professionally, not acceptable to store patient photos of any kind in a private storage facility.
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Of note, I think Nikias only resigned/was ousted because large numbers of the USC faculty threatened to quit if he wasn't after the scandal broke. I think there was also a threat by a number of alumni to stop donating to the school unless he was out. I don't recall seeing any talk of him resigning until all the protests began - initially, the university's trustees were behind him, and probably wouldn't have penalized him if it didn't become such a hotbed issue.
 
USC has not been a historically good school, and would have never moved up in the ranks without piles of donor money. They were able to use that money to poach high quality academics, and offer generous aid packages to smart students. Unfortunately, this "money solves everything" mentality is corrosive, and we are now seeing the unintended effects.
 
Has anyone heard anything else about what happened to this guy? I just met someone that dated him during their residency.... and I’m in shock that someone could date such a man! This was within the past few years! He should be locked up for the rest of his life. So disgusting
 
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