Florida version of 'Doogie Howser' is an imposter

John Bacon | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Teenager poses as doctor for over a month at Florida hospital West Palm Beach police say a teenage boy was posing as a doctor for over a month at St. Mary's Medical Center. He wore a white lab coat, carried around a stethoscope and sometimes wore a face mask.

A 17-year-old Florida boy posing as a physician at a West Palm Beach hospital was nabbed in an examination room while a gynecologist conducted an exam, police say.

The tale harkens back to the days of Neil Patrick Harris starring as lovable teen doc Doogie Howser. And like Harris the actor, this teen isn't really a doctor.

Gynecologist Sebastian Kent and nurses at St. Mary's Medical Center told police the teen dressed in a white lab coat with a "St. Mary's" logo and "anesthesiology" embroidered on the front. He wore a stethoscope around his neck and a face mask.

The West Palm Beach police report says numerous hospital employees had seen the teen in the halls for weeks and believed he was a doctor. Surveillance video shows the youth walking around the hospital but "never entering any rooms or seeing any patients," the police report says.

Kent told police he became suspicious Tuesday because he "thought something concerning (the teen's) medical training was not accurate." Hospital security and the police were called. Kent later discovered a note on his desk from the teen asking if he could "shadow" Kent.

St. Mary's released a statement saying the teen "never had contact with any hospital patients and did not gain access to any patient care areas of the hospital at any time."

The report says officers tentatively determined that no crime was committed. The suspect's identity was redacted from the police report, apparently due to his age.

The suspect's mother told police her son was being treated for an undisclosed illness but refused to take his medication.