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Florida woman posed as doctor, bolstered claim with store-bought award, deputies say

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida woman accused of posing as a doctor for a year was arrested on Monday by deputies in St. Johns County.

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Amy Pohlman, 48, is charged with two counts of practicing as a health care professional without a license. Deputies said she claimed to be a registered nurse and to have earned a doctoral degree.

Pohlman was hired in October 2015 as a nurse administrator in Ponte Vedra Beach after she showed employees at Ponte Vedra Home Care documents that claimed she had a nursing license, deputies said.

As part of her job, she wrote up care plans and visited clients before beginning work as an independent care manager.

Her employer became suspicious in June 2016 when the company was unable to verify that her credentials were up-to-date. She quit her job as authorities started to dig into her background.

Authorities determined that Polhman lied about her credentials. Deputies said she had no doctoral degree, no nursing degree and no nursing license. She had created a fake license and further bolstered her story with a fictitious award from the Mayo Clinic, which she displayed in her office. The award was bought from a Jacksonville trophy shop, according to authorities.

Pohlman is being held in St. Johns County Jail on $50,000 bail.

WOMAN CLAIMING TO BE A PHYSICIAN ARRESTED         FOR PRACTICING WITHOUT A LICENSE27 February 2017
      A 48-year...

Posted by St. Johns County Sheriff's Office on Monday, February 27, 2017

The Cox Media Group National Content Desk contributed to this report.