Forensic Medicine

The aim of the course is to explain main forensic aspects of medical issues, starting from forensic pathology (wound examination and documentation) and followed by the clinical forensic medicine (rape, sexual and domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, torture, age estimation). A comparison between Italian and international legislations will be treated, as well as bioethics and ethical codes. The course also explains post-mortem alterations, death certification, and the estimation of time since death. During the course there will be a one-morning tutorial where each student will be given the possibility to participate in an autopsy. Students are introduced to the lists of occupational diseases in the world and their role in promoting reporting and prevention of occupational diseases.

At the end of the course students are expected: - to know the main bases of forensic pathology. - to be aware about how to describe and collect all kinds of wounds, how a clinical forensic examination must be performed to be used as evidence. - to illustrate the crimes of interest to physicians (rape, sexual abuse, neglect, child abuse, domestic violence, age estimation ) and know when report is due. - to know the main differences between Italian and international legislations - to identify post-mortem alterations - to learn how to identify the cause of death, the estimation of time since death and post-mortem identification, including the importance of toxicology, anthropology, odontology, entomology and neuropathology for these issues. - to know how to write certificates and medical documents of legal interest - to illustrate the meaning of evidence-based medicine and its importance in cases of medical malpractice - to know the difference between private and social insurance - to learn how a judicial autopsy should be performed. - how to report an occupational disease