The New Zealand Herald reports the university has launched an investigation into how the person could pose as a medical student for so long after being died entry to the medicine course in 2010.

"Because of the size of the medical class, and by not submitting assessments or sitting tests, the individual was able to deceive classmates and teachers,’ Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences dean Professor John Fraser told the NZ Herald.

"Ultimately the presence of this person was detected when an assignment was submitted that did not match any name on the class list."

What the student expected to do with his or her knowledge once out of the course, which would have obviously earned him or her no academic credit.

Perhaps the phony student was building up some knowledge for a Catch Me If You Can-style con – if Leonardo Di Caprio can pull it off, why not someone who can slip through the system for two years.

In that movie, based on the life of Frank Abagnale, the star also masqueraded as a pilot and a prosecutor – look out flight and law schools!