From the exam room to the courtroom: A former Santa Clara Valley Medical Center radiologist has been charged with stealing nearly $50,000 from the hospital.

The money was intended to help advance cancer research.

Dr. Tri Minh Do will be arraigned next week. He allegedly cashed $46,000 in checks intended to reimburse the hospital for cancer research expenses and used the money to pay his own bills.

The 45-year-old began working at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in March 2002. The county says he left the hospital in February of this year. His last annual salary was more than $293,000.

The district attorney’s office confirms Dr. Do is now practicing medicine in Fresno, but he will be back in San Jose later this month to answer to charges that he embezzled from the hospital.

"He opened up a separate account with a 'doing business as' Santa Clara County Valley Medical Center, and so he was able to cash all the checks in that separate account," Deputy District Attorney Judy Lee said.

That money that was supposed to go toward reimbursing the hospital for prostate cancer research.

“He spent the money to pay off his credit cards,” Lee said. “He also wrote checks to himself and checks to help his parents pay off their mortgage.”

The research money came from the American College of Radiology, which issued a statement Wednesday, saying, “The ACR has been cooperating with The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s investigation for several months. The college remains a strong supporter of clinical research initiatives nationwide.”

The alleged embezzlement was uncovered late last year, after Do stopped working at the medical center and reimbursement checks kept coming to the hospital from the American College of Radiology, Lee said.

If convicted, Dr. Do could face four years in state prison.

Attempts to reach Dr. Do's attorney were unsuccessful.

Dr. Do will be back in court in San Jose on Sept. 13 for arraignment.

Do's parents had no idea where about the scheme and are not facing criminal charges, Lee said.