forensic medicine resources for medical students
Established in 1999, www.forensicmed.co.uk still remains the only website dedicated to providing comprehensive educational resources to medical students on forensic medicine and pathology, and has been archived by the UK Web Archiving Consortium (www.webarchive.org.uk), having been selected for preservation by the Wellcome Trust (www.wellcome.ac.uk).
This subject is rarely taught at undergraduate level in the UK and so this website remains a unique resource for the application of forensic principles to clinical medicine.
Some may find the subject matter distressing. It is not my intention to offend, but to provide educational materials for medical students (and others); if you are likely to be offended by the subject of violent injury/ death, and the aftermath of such violence, please do not proceed any further into this website, which is not suitable for viewing by minors.
keep forensicmed online and 'add free'!
150,000 unique visitors visited this site in 2011, and there were 11.6 million hits. So far this year, that number has been rising dramatically, with nearly 80,000 visitors so far in 2012, and 6 million hits!
I am delighted that so many people have found the resources on this site so useful, as well as the nearly 10,000 links curated via Delicious, the thousands of references curated via Connotea, the Twitter feed, and now forensic-related boards on Pinterest.
The main aim of this site, and its related resources is to provide a reliable means for public engagement and education in forensic medicine. Due to the popularity of these resources, the web hosting costs have increased.
If you have found the resources useful, and would like to help keep them 'add free', please consider paying a small amount via PayPal.
what is forensic pathology?
Source: National Pathology Week
Forensic pathology is a sub-specialty of histopathology, and is concerned with the application of pathological principles to the investigation of the medico-legal aspects of death.
Forensic pathologists are medically qualified doctors who perform autopsies (postmortem examinations) on those who have died suddenly, unexpectedly, or as a result of trauma or poisoning.
Read more about forensic pathology here ...
Forensic or legal medicine has been described as a key to the past, the explanation of the present and to some extent a signpost to the future.
Goode AW and Cameron JM. Medicine, Science, and the Law 2000; 40:2-3
Read about the role of the forensic pathologist in a new leaflet produced for the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine (UK Royal College of Physicians).
Forensic pathology/ medicine and science literature references (connotea)
Forensic pathology/ medicine and science links (delicious)
Out now ...
Simpson's Forensic Medicine 13th Edition, Arnold Publishing 2011
As the forensic pathology contributor to this textbook, I can confidently say that it will not disappoint those who want a compact overview of forensic medicine and science.
At present, Amazon are heavily discounting the hardback version, and now would be an ideal time to buy it here ...
death investigation in America - PBS investigates
Popular television shows portray death investigators as high-tech sleuths wielding the most sophisticated tools of 21st century science. An unprecedented collaborative investigation by FRONTLINE, ProPublica and NPR found a very different reality: A dysfunctional system in which there are few standards, little oversight, and the mistakes are literally buried.
Post mortem - documentary airing from Tuesday 1st February 2011 on PBS
Forensic pathology for police, death investigators, attorneys and forensic scientists, Prahlow J (2009)
Read a review of this book here ...
Buy it here
Sample pages (on forensic science) here
Also available to read online at Scribd
Hear an abridged version of 'The invention of murder', read by Robert Glenister, at the author's website
Buy the hardback book here ...
Buy the paperback book here ...
Current Practice in Forensic Medicine, Gall J, Payne-James J (Ed), Wiley Blackwell 2011
Read a sample chapter here ... (Expert evidence and health professionals)
'Look inside' this book here ...
Buy this book here ...
forensic defined
forensic [fəˈrɛnsɪk]
adj
(Law) relating to, used in, or connected with a court of law forensic science
[from Latin forēnsis public, from forum]
forensicality [fəˌrɛnsɪˈkælɪtɪ] n
forensically adv
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition 2003. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
Roman forum (Wikipedia)
forensic medicine/ medical jurisprudence
that branch of State medicine which treats of the application of medical knowledge to certain questions of civil and criminal law. The term 'medical jurisprudence', though sanctioned by long usage, is not really appropriate, since the subject is strictly a branch of medicine, rather than of jurisprudence; it does not properly include sanitation or hygiene, both this and medical jurisprudence being distinct branches of State medicine.
Encyclopedia Brittania Vol 18 p.30 (1911 Edition) For the rest of the entry, read here...
This website is authored by Dr Richard Jones, a forensic pathologist in the UK.
Any views expressed by the author in this website are personal views.
Requests for professional forensic pathology opinions may be directed to the Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine, Cardiff, Wales UK (www.wifm.org.uk).
iPhone Apps for forensic pathologists
- Shadow Lite - time of death estimation based on Henssge's formula and anthropological stature estimation from long bone length (more functions to follow, but likely to be in paid versions)
Oxford Handbook of Forensic Medicine. Wyatt J, Squires T, Norfolk G, Payne-James J. 2011
Buy it here ...