Medico-legal knowledge assessment of interns and post graduate students in a medical institution

ABSTRACT

Background: Forensic Medicine and Toxicology is an essential subject for medical students as it deals mainly with legal aspects Aim and objectives: To assess medico legal knowledge and awareness in interns and post graduate students. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire with 15 questions was designed and distributed to 120 interns and 80 post graduate students from January 2015 to December 2015. The data was collected and analyzed statistically for number and percentage using EPI-Info statistical software version 6. Results: Total 200 students were included in our study. We found that 84 (70%) interns and 32 (40%) post graduate students had no proper knowledge in handling medico legal cases independently. 55 (45.83%) interns and 63 (78.75%) post graduate students were of opinion that the present UG teaching is not sufficient for them to tackle medico legal cases. Only 36 (30%) interns and 33 (41.25%) post graduate students were aware about the preservatives that are generally used for chemicals analysis of organs and 25 (20.83%) interns and 65 (81.25%) post graduate students were aware of Consumer Protection Act. Conclusion: We found that interns and post graduate students did not have sufficient knowledge about routine medico legal aspects and there is a need to bring awareness among them.