WATERLOO -- Dr. John Zarcone III has been issued an Iowa medical license, but was fined $5,000 and ordered to complete an ethics program for excluding information on his license application.

Zarcone failed to disclose that he was not offered a second-year position at an internship at New York University from July 1994 to June 1995 due to inadequate performance and repeated unexcused absences. He also excluded the information when applying for a Wisconsin medical license in 2003.

The Iowa Board of Medical Examiners called the exclusion "unprofessional or unethical conduct" and issued a reprimand, in addition to the penalties.

Zarcone, fresh out of medical school at the time, said he was enduring a personally difficult time -- his father had suffered a heart attack, and he was going through a divorce. When his personal life began to affect his work, he asked for more time off and the request was denied, which is when the five-year internship ended prematurely.

"I wasn't performing optimally. I wasn't happy with it, (the hospital) wasn't happy with it. So I asked for more time, and they wouldn't give it to me," he said.

As for excluding the information from his application, he said the process is done electronically, so he had an assistant submit the application. He said the information was excluded because the assistant didn't know about the internship.

"My mistake -- I didn't catch it," he said.

Zarcone, a cardiovascular thoracic surgeon, joined Cedar Valley Medical Specialists and Allen Hospital in May. He previously practiced at Staten Island University Hospital in New York, and received his medical education from the University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School. He completed a general surgery residency at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.