Australian medical bodies have condemned the actions of a Melbourne doctor who called for women to be raped in online forums, saying attitudes that condone violence against women "have no place in the medical profession".

Key points: Christopher Kwan Chen Lee has been given six weeks' suspension for posting derogatory comments online

Christopher Kwan Chen Lee has been given six weeks' suspension for posting derogatory comments online His current employer, Box Hill Hospital, has said it is reviewing the implications of the decision

His current employer, Box Hill Hospital, has said it is reviewing the implications of the decision AMA Victoria has said anyone who expresses racist or sexist views "needs to be carefully scrutinised"

The Tasmanian Health Practitioners Tribunal last week ordered Christopher Kwan Chen Lee, 31, be suspended for six weeks over "numerous inappropriate and offensive comments" made on a Singaporean online forum in 2016.

"If my marriage fell apart, it would not end in divorce. It would end in murder," one of Dr Lee's comments read.

"Some women deserve to be raped, and that supercilious little bitch fits the bill in every way," he said in another post.

At the time the posts were made Dr Lee was a registrar at the Royal Hobart Hospital, but he has been an emergency registrar in Victoria since 2018.

President of the Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), Julian Rait, said the organisation "condemns such conduct in the strongest possible terms" and said the group backed the tribunal's decision to suspend the doctor.

"Attitudes that condone racism or promote violence against women really have no place in the medical profession," Associate Professor Rait told the ABC.

"Anyone who expresses these views and condones such conduct really needs to be very carefully scrutinised for whether they should continue to be able to practise, and we would encourage the medical board to consider those issues accordingly.

"We have a doctor who has been in an emergency department and clearly the concern we would have is that such doctors obviously are the front line, often, in dealing with domestic violence, along with GPs."

Julian Rait said AMA Victoria fully supported the decision for Dr Lee to be suspended. ( ABC News )

The tribunal ordered Dr Lee's six-week suspension start a fortnight after the ruling — coming into effect on April 30 — and ordered he undertake education on ethical behaviour and communications.

The ABC has confirmed Dr Lee remains an employee of Box Hill Hospital, which is a part of Eastern Health, one of Melbourne's largest public health services.

"Eastern Health is currently reviewing the implications of the tribunal findings for Dr Lee. We take the issue of professional misconduct seriously," Eastern Health's chief medical officer Alison Dwyer said in a statement, adding they would comply with the tribunal's ruling.

A spokesperson for Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said she had asked the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) if the suspension was adequate.

"This behaviour is appalling and has no place in Victoria, let alone in our hospitals," the spokesperson said.

'My online personality is exactly the same as my offline one'

Dr Lee, who described himself online as a "mongrel doctor", made consistent references to his position, including one post that said: "You really ought to meet me in real life. My online personality is exactly the same as my offline one. I don't just talk big here. I talk big EVERYWHERE."

"Doctor cannot be scathing? Doctor cannot be vulgar? Doctor cannot scold people? Fug you all lah," another read.

Dr Lee is an emergency registrar at Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne's East. ( Supplied )

Dr Lee told the tribunal he was "relatively young and inexperienced" when he made the chat room comments and said he had "a brash and opinionated bent" to his conduct on social media.

A joint submission from Dr Lee and the AHPRA to the tribunal stressed the views in the chat forums had not influenced his medical practice.

Tribunal Chair Robert Webster said Dr Lee was apologetic for his behaviour and understood he should perhaps not partake in such forums in the future.

'Doctors should clearly be above this'

Dr Chris Moy, chair of the AMA's Ethics and Medico-legal Committee, told the ABC "the same level of behaviour and the same respect for dignity of patients and the community must be maintained" on social media.

"I'm upset that this has occurred. Doctors should clearly be above this," Dr Moy said.

"The ability to stay above this sort of behaviour has to be at the forefront of doctors' [minds] when they act, especially when they interact with the community."

The AMA is currently updating its social media policy, which Dr Moy said was to "reinforce" the need for doctors to continue to abide by the code of ethics when on social media.

"Because it's still relatively new, there is a risk that social norms and boundaries that should still apply are forgotten — which they must not be," he said.

A spokesperson for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine said it "views discrimination and other unacceptable behaviour and conduct as having no place in the practice of emergency medicine or medicine more broadly".

The ABC has attempted to contact Dr Lee.