The young doctor accused of filming hospital colleagues in a staff toilet has been banned from practising medicine in Australia almost a fortnight after he was charged by police.
The Age can also reveal that Ryan Cho recorded his remote hiking adventures and spruiked the footage – filmed on portable devices like his mobile phone – to thousands of people on social media.
Cho’s registration was suspended on Monday, a spokesperson for the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) has confirmed.
“Confidentiality provisions of the national law under which we operate limit what we can say publicly about an individual practitioner or matter,” the spokesperson said.
Cho was arrested by police after staff at the Austin Hospital, in Melbourne’s north-east, discovered a mobile phone in a staff bathroom allegedly recording them. Police later charged Cho with stalking and use of an optical surveillance device.
When asked why it had taken several days for the junior doctor to be suspended, the AHPRA spokesperson said the medical board was compelled to consider a practitioner’s response before restricting their registration.
Public records show Cho graduated from Monash University in 2022 and was first registered as a medical practitioner in January 2023.
He was a prolific social media enthusiast who used Instagram and several Facebook groups to spruik his hiking adventures, which involved filming treks through remote locations such as the Grampians National Park in western Victoria.
The 27-year-old also promoted content from Tasmania’s famous Overland Track days before his July 10 arrest. The doctor has since scrubbed his social media accounts, but snapshots of his online life remain thanks to cached web pages seen by this masthead.
His Instagram account boasted more than 4000 followers before it was deactivated.
One hiking aficionado, who wished to remain anonymous, described Cho as a prolific user of local Facebook groups.
“He is well known for his ultra-light speed-hiking boasts,” the hiker said. “He will list all of his packed items by weight and size. I remember him stating that his camera was an essential item which he was prepared to carry.”
One such boast, seen by The Age, involved “a big 32km day on trail”. This distance is close to the upper daily limit for healthy, experienced adult hikers depending on the terrain and weight of their gear.
The Age revealed on Friday that police have since expanded their investigation to include the Royal Melbourne Hospital and multiple regional hospitals, where Cho worked before starting at the Austin.
Hospital sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly, said the court case should be a wake-up call to hospital security and management.
Spokespeople for the Austin and Royal Melbourne have said the hospitals take staff wellbeing and safety incredibly seriously.
Cho is due to appear at Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on August 29.
Police are encouraging anyone with further information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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