Former UK doctor used someone else’s baby photos in leave request. He’s giving up his license

A former University of Kentucky doctor accused of submitting fake recommendation letters and using photos of someone else’s babies in a leave request has agreed to surrender his medical license.

Dr. Paul A. Salazar gave up his license to practice in Kentucky in lieu of having it revoked, according to the state Board of Medical Licensure.

The board suspended Salazar last September after UK notified regulators it had terminated Salazar over “multiple and repeated instances of falsification of information,” according to the board order.

Salazar was in the surgical residency program at UK, meaning he was training as a surgeon.

Dr. Sandra Beck, director of the program, told the licensure board that in the spring of 2022, Salazar had said his wife was pregnant and was granted time off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Salazar later sent Beck photos of twins he said were his sons, but the babies didn’t look like newborns, and Beck later found the photo on the internet, according to the board order.

Beck also told the board she discovered that Salazar had submitted fake recommendation letters in applying for entry into programs at two other schools.

In one case, Beck received notice that Salazar had provided letters from her and two other doctors to a residency program in emergency medicine in Georgia.

Beck got a copy of the letter from her and confirmed it was fake. The other two doctors said they had not provided recommendations for Salazar, according to the board order.

The order said Salazar admitted to the board he had sent letters under the names of Beck and the two other doctors and filed a false request for leave. He said a friend signed the leave request and the photos were of his brother’s babies, the board said.

Under the agreement, Salazar, who lives near Indianapolis, has to wait at least two years to apply for reinstatement of his medical license in Kentucky and complete an assessment of his clinical skills and a behavioral assessment.

Salazar completed medical school at the Indiana University School of Medicine and then spent a year in preliminary surgery training before beginning the general surgery residency program at UK in July 2020.