Knowledge and Attitudes of Senior Students of the Faculty of Medicine and Doctors who Specialist Training on Forensic Reports

ABSTRACT Objective: In Turkey, physicians are obliged to serve in forensic events when needed as per the Forensic Medicine Law and to report the forensic cases to the pertinent healthcare professionals as per the Turkish Penal Code, Article 280. Forensic reports are legal documents demanded by judicial authorities, providing information on the medical condition of the forensic cases, encompassing answers to the questions to be probed by judicial authorities regarding the forensic event, and also presenting the remarks and opinions of the physician. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge base, attitudes, and views regarding forensic reports in the medical students enrolled in the last grade of medical education at Dicle University Medical School and the general practitioners doing specialty training at Dicle University Medical School Hospital. Methods: The universe of this cross-sectional descriptive study included all the students enrolled in the last grade of medical education at Dicle University Medical School and the general practitioners doing specialty training at Dicle University Medical School Hospital. Data collection was achieved by a questionnaire consisting of 8 multiple-choice items probing the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants and 20 multiple-choice items probing their knowledge base, attitudes, and views regarding forensic reports. Data were evaluated using SPSS 22.0 for Windows. Results: The participants comprised 175 (65%) general practitioners and 94 (35%) students. Mean age was 29.4±3.83 years in the general practitioners and 24.7±1.62 years in the students. The general practitioners included 120 (69%) men and 54 (31%) women and the students included 65 (69.1%) men and 29 (30.9%) women. The results indicated that 115 (65.7%) of the general practitioners and 83 (88.3%) of the students indicated that they felt incompetent in the realm of forensic medicine. Moreover, 59 (33.7%) of the general practitioners and 69 (73.4%) of the students declared that they had no idea regarding the legal effects of the forensic reports prepared by physicians, 39 (22.3%) of the general practitioners and 2 (2.1%) of the students declared that they had complete knowledge about this effect, and 77 (44.0%) of the general practitioners and 23 (24.5%) of the students declared having limited knowledge. On the other hand, regarding the validity period of provisional forensic reports, 45 (25.7%) of the general practitioners and 66 (70.2%) of the students indicated that they heard this report for the first time. Conclusion: Forensic