A Connecticut licensing hearing on allegations that a nurse obtained a license fraudulently focused Tuesday on the nurse’s coursework and practicum at Medlife Institute in Florida in 2016.

Under cross-examination, the respondent said she first attended Medlife in March 2016, traveled from New York for one-week sessions and completed a mix of lecture and practicum work. She told the panel she submitted assignments via an electronic system she described as Blackboard or Engrade and said most instruction was in person: "No. I did not [take classes online]," she testified when asked if any credits resulted from online instruction.

The state’s questioning highlighted several inconsistencies between the respondent’s testimony and written exhibits. The respondent acknowledged differences and repeatedly called certain items in department exhibits "incorrect" — including a start date listed as May 2016, a statement that she received both online and in-person instruction, and a form that said she traveled only three months when she testified she attended for about six months. The respondent said Medlife offered a "test-out" option (a comprehensive exam and, for practicums, video demonstrations) that allowed transfer students to avoid attending full classes and that she used that process for at least some coursework.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health told the respondent by email and mail that she must return her Florida license because it had been "obtained fraudulently," the respondent testified. She said she was not interviewed in person by a department investigator but received a questionnaire. The respondent said she became licensed in Florida in July 2017 and later in New York in August (dates given in testimony), and that she worked at Brookdale Medical Center beginning in April 2018 until she was removed from duty after a Connecticut nursing-board communication in late 2025.

Defense counsel pressed specifics about where and when courses and practicums occurred, pointing to Medlife registration pages and class calendars that list differing days and campus assignments. The respondent said some Medlife-produced pages were prepared for her attorney and that some calendar entries show offerings at particular campuses rather than her personal attendance. She also said multiple students in her cohort had failed an earlier program and that she and classmates had sought redress with their prior program’s dean.

The hearing record shows the panel has sought documentary clarification: counsel for the respondent said she will produce classmates to testify about program structure and attendance. Attorney Miller, representing the department, said Marcus Moore and Michaeline Graham are among potential classmates who can address the structure of Medlife’s program and whether the respondent completed required hours.

The hearing was recessed for a half-hour with plans to reconvene at 2:35 p.m. and to call additional witnesses. No final determination was made during the session.