AUTOPSY: Knowledge and Perception of undergraduate medical students in current teaching system

Objective: To evaluate their acquaintance about autopsy, appropriate way of teaching and to appraise their views for the procedure of autopsy and recognition of Forensic as profession. Methodology: A cross sectional questionnaire-based study was done in 2015 to 2016, in a public university running modular system. Data were collected by convenient method, from students of 3rd year and ahead. More than 250 forms were distributed and only 193 completed and analyzed by SPSS 17. Results: Out of 193 students, 165 students claimed to recognize the “autopsy” and 28 not understand the procedure. Only 20 students observed more than 4 autopsies. Out of 193, 179 believed that Forensic education should not be scrapped from the medical syllabi. For teaching methodology 123 preferred a live autopsy and 64 students appreciated watching videos and only 6 favoured books. About 167 students stated autopsy as mandatory in all unsuspected deaths, and 172 agreed for usefulness in medical education but 111 found it disrespectful to the dead body. Around 166 students consider forensic not a prospective profession and 93 suggested its limited scope in Pakistan. Conclusion: Students were aware of the value and necessity of autopsy as a medicolegal procedure. Adequate time must be fixed for viewing autopsy procedures to insure their complete competency. There is need for continuing efforts to improve the teaching of autopsy within a modular system.  Keywords:  Autopsy, Undergraduate Medical Education, Forensic Medicine, Forensic Educatio

Sex Determination Using Hand Morphometric Parameters in Individuals from Pakistani Descent

Objective: To identify the presence or absence of sexual dimorphism using hand measurements alone in people from Pakistan. Moreover, to identify the variable that can be better at predicting sex among the rest of hand measurements. Methods: The research involved 122 male and 182 female participants, ranging in age from 18 to 60 years, without any hand deformities or missing fingers. Each participant underwent a set of hand measurements, including hand breadth, which was measured in a linear line from the lateral-most end on the head of the second metacarpal to the medial end on the head of the fifth metacarpal in centimeters. Additionally, hand length measured to be as the direct distance from the midpoint of the distal wrist crease to the top most point of the middle finger in centimeters. Logistic regression was used to analyze six hand measurements on the likelihood of prediction of the male or female gender Results: The logistic regression model showed statistical significance, ÷2 = 19.502, p < .012. The model explained 58.0% (Nagelkerke R2) of the variance in gender and accurately identified 84.2% of cases. A statistically substantial disparity was evident in hand measurements and hand indices across genders. (P-value=.0001). Conclusion: Our study reveals the presence of sexual dimorphism in hand morphometric parameters among the population of Pakistan. Hand measurements prove to be a reliable indicator for predicting gender in the majority of cases. Nevertheless, relying on a single hand measurement may not yield accurate gender predictions. Instead, a combination of various hand measurements can enhance the overall reliability of gender prediction