Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Rural Medical College - Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology

Introduction Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Rural Medical College and the Department of Forensic Medicine came into existence in the year 1984. The department is located in the main building of the College. The department provides educational services for the II year M.B.B.S. students in the subjects of Forensic Medicine. It also offers MCI recognized postgraduate degree in Forensic Medicine since 1991.The Institution is recognized as a Medico-legal centre by the Home Ministry, Government of Maharashtra. Department also provides a favorable environment for conduct of scientific research, which has beneficial practical outcomes.

In addition to teaching and research activities, the department of Forensic Medicine also renders services to the community by conducting different activities like examining and opining on all types of Medico-legal cases.

Our objective is not only to provide the above mentioned services but to exceed expectations of students, patients and law enforcement agencies. An illustrious history of the last 25 years which were devoted to the welfare of the rural populace of Pravara are a benchmark in the Indian healthcare sector and was duly appreciated by none other than honorable His Excellency Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, President of India on his visit to the college on 15 Oct 2005.

Vision

The department strives to fulfill the following vision:

“Promote, Provide and Assist Justice through Knowledge of Medicine”

Mission Statement

• Equip the future doctors with knowledge of ‘Forensic aspects’ of different branches of medicine to enable them to apply the same during their practice.
• Provide world class training to the Under-graduate, Post graduate students & Registered Medical Practitioners on Medico-legal issues and Medical Jurisprudence with emphasis on examination of a Medico-legal case; collection, preservation & dispatch of evidence and General & Medico-legal documentation.
• Relentlessly work to generate world-class research in the subject with beneficial practical outcomes. We endeavor to develop newer techniques of examination of evidences, crime scene etc, with a broader mission to facilitate immaculate forensic examinations for the benefit of law enforcement agencies.
• Utilizing the expertise and authority of our faculty and staff in the field of Forensic Medicine, the department provides comprehensive services to the community, through innovative programs that relate to medico-legal issues.

Objective

• To enable the future healthcare providers to :
• Shoulder the responsibility of providing quality medical care to the society, without infringing the virtuous medical ethics and medical code of conduct.
• Acquire knowledge of law in relation to medical practice.
• They should also be capable of
• Making observations and inferring conclusions by logical deduction.
• Setting enquiries on the right track in criminal matters and associated medico-legal problems.
• Facilitating the Law enforcement agencies and the Judiciary in criminal investigations and implementation of justice.

Programmes Offered

The department offers MD (Forensic Medicine) a post graduate courses recognized by the Medical Council of India.

Courses under planning:

• Orientation Course in Medical Ethics and Medicolegal Practices
• Orientation Course in Analytical Toxicology
• Medico-legal training and Information Centre

Facilities for Teaching Learning Process

A. Infrastructure

The department is well structured and equipped for effective learning of the Undergraduate & Post graduate students.

• Lecture halls: The department has three main lecture halls of the college available for UG teaching. Adequate space is available for conduct of tutorials and seminars.
• Museum: The departmental museum is well planned and stocked. Numerous specimen, bones, skaigrams, photographs, weapons, models, charts, poisons, etc are on display.
• Laboratory: There is a well equipped laboratory as per the curricula for Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses. The department has a fully functional laboratory which offers the facility to conduct following tests which are essential in forensic investigations as well as for academic and research purpose :
  1. Thin layer chromatography & colour test for qualitative assessment of poisons in samples.
  2. Diatom test for drowning cases
  3. Analysis of various stains
  
  
• Major Equipment:
  1. Oven : 01
  2. Analytical Balance : 01
  3. Autopsy Table : 03
  4. Autopsy Saw : 01
  5. Chemical balance : 01
  6. Computer with Printer : 01
  7. Camera (Sony DCR DVD 910) : 01
  8. Cold storage for 3 bodies: 01
  9. Dissection sets : 02
  10. Equipment for reporting height : 02
  11. Digital Weighing Scale No V 100 cap. 150 kg : 01
  12. Alcohol Breath Analyzer : 01
  13. Microscope (Compound) : 01
  14. Binocular microscope : 01
  15. Refrigerator : 02
  16. Instrument sterilizer : 01
  
  
• Departmental Library cum Seminar Room:
  
  There is a well stocked departmental library cum seminar room which is utilized by the staff and PG students alike. The departmental activities like Seminars, Journal club, Case discussion are regularly conducted here.
  
  Following materials are available in the library:
  1. Books- 104
  2. Journals: National & International
  3. Study material (Catalogue etc)
  4. PG Dissertation
  5. UG and PG Question bank

B. Audio-Visual Aids:

• LCD projector
• Over Head Projector
• Slide Projector
• Power point presentations: 100.
• Educational CD’s: 15.
• Departmental desktop with internet facility.

Laboratory Services

The Department has well equipped laboratory as per the curriculum for the Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses. In addition facilities for conducting TLC and Colour test for qualitative analysis of poisons in various samples is available for academic purpose.

Extention Services

• Assisting the Courts of law in disbursement of justice.
• Providing official assistance to the police & investigating authorities in relation to visit to scene of crime
• Providing continuing medic-legal orientation programs to doctors throughout the state of Maharashtra

Teaching Methods

• Undergraduate:
  1. Theory : 100 hrs
  2. Practical : 40 hrs
  3. Teaching-Learning Methods:
     • Didactic lectures
     • Demonstrations
     • Seminars
     • Tutorials
     • Group discussions
     • PBL
  4. Co-curricular activities: Essay, Debate and Quiz competitions
  
  
• Postgraduate:
  Structured learning program like:
  • Journal clubs
  • Seminars
  • Case discussions
  • Teaching UG
  • Conducting medico-legal work and deposing evidence
  • Crime scene visit
  • Allied dept. posting
  • Collaborative & guided research
  • Integrated teaching
  • Teaching methodology
  • Participating in National and International forums

Student Evaluation

• Student evaluation: CPA Card
• PG Log Book
• Bridge Program: Educationally disadvantaged
• Remedial Program: Educationally Weak
• Enrichment courses: Educationally Advanced
• Personal Counselling

Participation Of Teachers In Academic And Personal Counseling Of Students

• 10 Students allotted to each faculty under Mentorship Program to monitor and assist their academic and physical well being.
• Meetings are held regularly

Books & Chapters Authored:
Dr RS Bangal has the distinction of updating a chapter titled : “Medicolegal systems in India, Pakistan and Srilanka” in Forensic Medicine for Lawyers, 4th Edition, J.K. Mason; 2004.

Research
The Departmental faculty has to its credit of having accomplished successfully 36 research projects of great forensic significance, 14 of which have been published in International and 12 in National scientific journals. The departmental faculty regularly guides students for ICMR STS projects. Till date four student projects have been accepted by ICMR under STS scheme.

The department also encourages research collaborations with other institutions.

Thrust Areas of Research
Faculty of the department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Rural Medical College, Loni is actively involved in research. Key areas of research are:

1. Assessment of Age of an Injury: by Morphology, Histology and Enzyme Histochemistry. Till now the age assessment of an injury has been done by analysis of colour change of the injury. However newer modalities to assess age by histological examination and enzyme analysis of the injured tissue, suitable to Indian conditions are being developed.
2. Age determination: Newer modalities Assessment of age of an individual is of prime importance in establishing identity of a person. Assessment of various ossification centers on skiagrams is the practice in vogue. Department endeavors to develop newer modalities of age assessment using modern radiological techniques like CT Scan and MRI.
3. Occupational hazards with emphasis on agri- chemicals. The incidence of accidental, suicidal and homicidal exposure of the population to toxins and poisons is on the rise. Being a tertiary care hospital in rural area, poisoning cases referred to the hospital are usually related to chemicals used in agriculture. To reduce the morbidity and mortality due to these exposures, the Dept. of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Rural Medical College, Loni is devoted to develop analytical techniques for early diagnosis and treatment of these patients.

Extra Curricular Activities

• Essay Writing Competition:
  An essay writing competition was organized by the department on 02 Jan 2010. The topic of the essay was : “Domestic Violence and its Medicolegal Aspects”. The students of II/I and II/II MBBS actively participated in it
• Debate Competition:
  A debate competition was organized by the department titled “Should Euthanasia be legalized in India?” Students of II year MBBS gave an overwhelming response.
• Quiz:
  The department of Forensic medicine had organized a quiz competition on the 11th May 2010 for the students of II/I and II/II MBBS. Questions were based on the Forensic Medicine syllabus for the students. There was an overwhelming response from the students.
• Compos Mentis 2011:
  The Dept. of Forensic Medicine, KMC, Manipal had organized a National Forensic Medicine Quiz titled COMPOS MENTIS 2011. Two students from II/I MBBS, Ms Aihwarya and Ms Amritha Giriraj represented Dr. Balasaheb Vikhe Patil Rural Medical College, Loni. They performed exemplarily and were the finalists from among over forty teams participating in the Quiz.

Future Plans

The department endeavors to provide the following facilities which would be a bench mark for the other institutes to follow. The vision of the department is to establish the following services in the next five years.

• Poison Information Centre
• Forensic Anthropology laboratory
• Diatom Lab
• Toxicological Garden
• Medico-legal Training and Information Centre.