Atreya Alok, Rajbanshi Roshani, Menezes Ritesh G, Acharya Apurba
Department of Forensic Medicine, Lumbini Medical College, Palpa, 32500, Nepal.
Department of STEAM Education, Kathmandu University School of Education, Lalitpur, 44700, Nepal.
BMC Med Educ. 2025 Jan 29;25(1):147. doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-06741-7.
Following the establishment of Nepal's first medical college in 1972, forensic medicine was introduced in 1978. To date, 25 medical colleges in the country have included forensic medicine as a compulsory subject in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Although this subject has been introduced into the medical curriculum, the outcome is unsatisfactory, as reflected by the poor medico-legal reports prepared by newly graduated medical students. Forensic medicine education is therefore at a critical juncture with challenges while paving the way for opportunities to improve. In this analysis, we examined the current state of forensic medicine education for the undergraduate medical programme in the country. For this purpose, we used Schwab's five commonplaces in the curriculum. We then evaluated the curriculum from the perspective of Schubert's curricular image frameworks.We noted significant differences in the curriculum content, teaching methods, and practical training across the curriculum. An acute shortage of qualified teachers, limited resources, and inconsistent curriculum updates have further complicated the situation. The current curriculum does not address cultural sensitivity, which should not be overlooked during medico-legal practices.Following the curriculum evaluation, we find room for improvement and propose recommendations. First, the forensic medicine curriculum should be standardized and uniform to address national needs. There should be uniformity and improvement in practical hands-on training. The manpower should be trained to work in rural settings with limited resources so that the overall justice system of the country can improve. Recent technological advances should be incorporated into the curriculum and interdisciplinary collaboration encouraged. Allocating more scholarship/sponsorship seats for postgraduate programmes and recruiting skilled graduates to be evenly distributed regionally would be important steps toward strengthening the country's medico-legal proceedings and justice system.
1972年尼泊尔第一所医学院成立后，1978年引入了法医学。迄今为止，该国25所医学院已将法医学作为本科医学课程的必修课。尽管这门学科已被纳入医学课程，但结果并不理想，新毕业的医科学生撰写的法医学报告质量不佳就反映了这一点。因此，法医学教育正处于一个关键节点，面临挑战的同时也为改进带来了机遇。在本分析中，我们研究了该国本科医学课程中法医学教育的现状。为此，我们采用了施瓦布课程中的五个基本要素。然后，我们从舒伯特的课程形象框架的角度对课程进行了评估。我们注意到整个课程在课程内容、教学方法和实践培训方面存在显著差异。合格教师的严重短缺、资源有限以及课程更新不一致使情况更加复杂。当前的课程没有涉及文化敏感性，而这在法医学实践中不应被忽视。在课程评估之后，我们发现了改进的空间并提出了建议。首先，法医学课程应标准化和统一，以满足国家需求。实践操作培训应保持一致并得到改进。应培训人员在资源有限的农村地区工作，以便改善该国的整体司法系统。应将最新的技术进展纳入课程，并鼓励跨学科合作。为研究生课程分配更多奖学金/赞助名额，并招聘技术熟练的毕业生并将其均匀分配到各地区，这将是加强该国法医学程序和司法系统的重要步骤。
