“Catch me if you can” is one of the smartest movies ever made, where Di Caprio impersonates many characters. He fakes his ID, his checks and flies as a pilot. But heard of someone faking to be a doctor? It is a hard business and not recommended either.
Adam Litwin is one passionate doctor. But he wasn’t always so. His past is tainted by his efforts to impersonate a doctor. When he was a kid Adam looked up to his grandfather who was a podiatrist.
When he grew up, he realised his calling. But before being a legitimate doctor he was a fake one at the UCLA campus. For 9 months he wore a white coat, and entered the campus. Nobody doubted him. And he carried on his disguise pretty well.
Now, he is ashamed of the stunt he pulled. But at that time he was just a 26 year old boy, who yearned to treat patients and be in the profession. Months later when law caught up to him –he was charged with forging a prescription, impersonating a doctor and stealing state property.
With all sorts of crimes on his head, when he really wanted to be a doctor at 40, it was difficult. The Missouri’s medical board denied his application for license seeing his past behaviour. It weighed negatively against his credibility. After graduating from medical school in the Caribbean and passing the final board exam to become a doctor, he has finally achieved his dream.
Adam is extremely mortified by the situation. When asked about this experience he covers his face and tries evading it. He says a wise man learns from his mistake. And he learnt from his past mistake. People need to commend him because he went from faking to be a doctor to really being a doctor.
Irwin says- “I have persevered and I have struggled to be who and where I am today way too much and come much too far to give up now.”