Former Toronto neurosurgeon Mohammed Farid Shamji, who is serving a life-sentence for the murder of his wife, now faces a disciplinary hearing from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario for accusations of professional misconduct.

The professional misconduct accusations levelled by the CPSO follow Shamji’s murder conviction in May, which the college calls an “offence that is relevant to his suitability to practise,” as well as allegations he engaged in “disgraceful, dishonourable or unprofessional conduct” for providing “inaccurate and untruthful information.”

When Shamji applied for an independent practice certificate in 2012, the college says he failed to disclose charges relating to domestic violence he faced in 2005. The independent practice certificate is a type of membership within the college that authorizes holders to practise medicine unsupervised.

In 2005, when Shamji was living with his wife and fellow physician Dr. Elena Fric-Shamji in Ottawa, Shamji was charged with assault and two counts of uttering threats. The charges were withdrawn after Shamji signed a peace bond.

The College of Physicians and Surgeons is the governing body for doctors practising medicine in Ontario. In order to practise in the province, doctors are required to a member of the college in good standing.

A panel of the college’s discipline committee will hold a hearing for Shamji at a date yet to be determined. The panel has the power to revoke or suspend certificates or issue fines up to $35,000 under Ontario’s Regulated Health Professions Act. Shamji’s certificate of registration expired in 2017 and he has not been licenced to practise medicine since then.

A spokesperson for the college said, “The CPSO has an obligation to serve in the public interest. Where physicians have breached the public trust, it is our responsibility to apply disciplinary measures that are consistent with the specific issues.”

“This means, in the most significant cases, the physician is not only removed from practise in Ontario but the CPSO also takes steps to ensure that other jurisdictions are aware of the disciplinary findings and associated sanctions,” the spokesperson added.

Shamji, a neurosurgeon at Toronto Western Hospital, was sentenced to life in prison in May after pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of his wife, Fric-Shamji, a family physician at Scarborough Hospital and associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto. Shamji admitted strangling Fric-Shamji, who was also the mother of their three children, in their family home two days after she filed for divorce in November 2016.