Survey finds almost half of Russian medical workers know colleagues who have forged voluntary professional certifications

A new survey found that nearly half (43 percent) of medical workers in Russia say they know colleagues who have used forged documents to certify that they’ve obtained voluntary additional qualifications, according to the newspaper Kommersant.

In the study, which was conducted by the service Aktion Meditsina, 51 percent of doctors, 25 percent of managers, and 40 percent of mid-level medical personnel such as nurses and paramedics who responded said they know of colleagues who have used falsified certificates. Respondents said they believe their colleagues use the fake documents in order to attract more patients, to increase their odds of getting hired, and to qualify for bonuses.

Gynecologist Maria Gubareva, the head of the Moscow branch of the medical workers’ union Deistvie, told Kommersant that there “plenty of firms” that offer to increase workers’ qualification categories, and that the majority of them obtain falsified documents “through official channels.”