Medical Board launches action against doctor accused of sending d*ck pic and duck emoji to medical student

An internal investigation found the Adelaide doctor sent the “unsolicited explicit nude” - but he says it was just a reference to his cat, the tribunal has heard.

An Adelaide doctor has been accused of sending a picture “revealing his genitals” to a medical student and then referring to the picture with a duck emoji – but he says it was just a reference to his cat, the South Australian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal has heard.

The doctor, whose name cannot be revealed following a confidentiality order made by the South Australian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal, has had official misconduct proceedings laid against him.

The proceedings were laid after an internal investigation by CALHN found that the doctor had sent an “unsolicited explicit nude” to the student on July 20, 2020 via an online messaging app.

He was found to have breached internal public sector protocols and was issued with a final warning by the CALHN chief executive.

His contract was not extended when it ended in January 2021.

However, the doctor had launched his own complaint this time against the University of Adelaide medical student and her friend, accusing them of “stealing” the picture from him.

He accused the medical student in an official letter to Equal Opportunities Commissioner Jodeen Carney of sexual harassment and said the friend, also a medical student, had “colluded to tarnish his reputation”.

The initial complaint was aimed at the Central Adelaide Local Health Network, which runs the RAH and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, accusing it of gender discrimination for its investigation into his actions.

The Commissioner rejected the doctor’s complaint against the two students.

“On this basis, and based on the investigation completed by CALHN, I determined to decline the complaint as being vexatious because it appears to be reactionary to the complaints levelled against him,” Ms Carney wrote in the decision subject of the proceedings in the tribunal.

“I also believe it is lacking in substance.”

An Adelaide doctor has been accused of sending explicit photos to a female medical student.

The doctor then appealed the decision to SACAT, but withdrew his complaint against CALHN.

In a decision made last year, but only published on Saturday, SACAT senior member Jacqui Rugless refused an application by the two students to have the doctor’s case against them dismissed.

Chad Jacobi KC, for the two women, argued that the case against his clients did not amount to sexual harassment as the doctor was a willing participant in the messages.

“In the course of argument Mr Jacobi invited the Tribunal to infer that a reference to a ‘duck’ emoji in text messages sent by (the doctor to the medical student) was a reference to a picture of (the doctor’s) penis,” Ms Rugless wrote.

“(The doctor) in his submissions denied that this is what the emoji referenced.

“He says he has a cat called ‘duck’ and it was the cat that he was referencing in his messages.”

However, Ms Rugless ordered the case be stayed until disciplinary hearings against the doctor – official misconduct proceedings launched by the Medical Board of Australia last August – were finalised.