by Lekan Olanrewaju

While doctors in this part of the world make headlines for threatening to go on strikes, at least one of their counterparts in other parts of the world seem to have found more, er, creative ways to get us to pay attention.

A German gynaecologist is being investigated for possessing an alleged 35,000 copies of pictures and videos of naked patients.

Medical assistants alerted the authorities to the collection of photographs kept by the doctor from Schifferstadt near Frankfurt in western Germany, the report by the DPA agency said.

The photographs and some videos showed around 1,850 naked patients and were discovered in September 2011, the prosecutor’s office was quoted as saying by the agency.

So far 700 victims have filed criminal complaints against the 56-year-old doctor.

The doctor, who has not yet been charged, will appear before an administrative hearing on 19 April at which he will seek to overturn a decision to suspend his licence to practise.

“We are still in the middle of the investigation, it may well be that more victims come forwards,” Lothar Liebig, the director of public prosecutions in Frankenthal.

His lawyer has said he would be willing to accept a job in a laboratory without any patient contact.

Approximately 3000 women were allegedly snapped by the doctor without their permission while undergoing examinations.