Forensic medicine education of Tokat Gaziosmanpaşa University Medical School students and the evaluation of first stage forensic physician responsibility awareness

The duty of forensic physician is one of the basic duties of every physician. In this survey, we aimed to show that the first stage forensic physician responsibility of the awareness of the medical school students has increased with forensic medicine education but the awareness on this subject has not been fully realized; and to determine the level of awareness of students about the responsibility of the forensic physician in first stage physician duties; and to determine the effectiveness of forensic medicine education and to make suggestions to correct existing deficiencies. A total of 536 students participated in this survey study between 16.04.2018- 30.04.2018, as 1st grade students (n:99), 2nd grade students (n:89), 3rd grade students (n:91), 4th grade students (n:89), 5th grade students (n:88) and 6th grade students (n:80). The total participation rate was 88.01 %. In the study group, the average age was 21,83 ± 2,08, with 18 being the youngest and 28 being the oldest. There were 68.7 % (n=368) of the students of the Term I-IV students who have not received internship training for forensic medicine; and there were 31.3 % (n=168) of students of the Term V-VI students who have received internship training. The proportion of the students who think that the service of a physician as a forensic physician is one of the basic duties of the physician is 70.3 % (n=377). 52.8 % (n=283) of the study group stated that they had information about what is the responsibility of the forensic physician. As it is seen in the study we conducted, the level of the responsibility of the forensic physician awareness of the students who have received internship training is higher than the other term students, but it is clear that not all of the students are fully aware of this issue. Despite the presence of the core education curriculum for pregraduate forensic medicine in medical school in our country, there is no established standard in this respect. Due to the legal regulations in our country, forensic medicine education should be given importance in order that the physicians can be more aware of the responsibilities of forensic physician they carry as a basic duty.