Open Access: View PDF

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21088/ijfmp.0974.3383.11218.3

Abstract

Background: The rising trend of medico-legal cases reporting to our hospital emphasizes the need to have physicians who are trained in Forensic Medicine to equip them to deal with such situations. In an era of escalating crime, litigation and eroding doctor-patient relationship, ignorance of the law could lead to pitfalls in practice. Hence, the present study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge of our interns on handling routine medico-legal cases in the wards and Casualty.

Material and Methods: A total of 109 interns posted in various departments of the institute during the period from May 2016 to April 2018 participated in this research. Data was collected in the form of a self-administered questionnaire comprising close-ended multiple choice questions related to the topic of the study. It was then analyzed using SPSS version 11 by descriptive analysis.

Results: The majority of participants were able to identify a medico-legal case and classify an injury as simple or grievous. However, there was uncertainty regarding giving opinion in a case of drunkenness and custody of forensic samples in poisoning.

Conclusion: Overall, interns had good knowledge of handling medico-legal cases. The knowledge gaps identified through this study on particular topics have to be revised at regular intervals during internship and residency.

Keywords: Medico-Legal; Forensic Medicine; Interns; Wards; Casualty.

Corresponding Author : A.D. Ropmay, Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, Shillong – 793018, Meghalaya, Northeast India.