Anatomy is one of the key disciplines in forensic science. The knowledge of anatomy is very important for a medical examiner

or forensic expert. If there is any internal damage in the corpse and the forensic experts have no idea, then they may mistake

it for a normal structure. In Malaysia, forensic anatomy is not included as a subdiscipline in the present preclinical medical

curriculum. A preliminary study was undertaken to assess students knowledge on forensic anatomy and its scope. Primary

data was collected through survey method from 66 students. A structured closed questionnaire was used to collect data from

first year preclinical students of medical programme of International Medical School of Management and Science University.

Majority of the students had knowledge on forensic anatomy and its scope. The students were aware of forensic anatomy

and they had information on this subject from various website sources. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. The

available results are discussed in the light of available literature. The results indicate the students are eager and enthusiastic in

exploring the opportunity on learning more about forensic anatomy and its career prospects

Kastury Gohain,

Manah Chandra Changmai,

Anatomy is one of the key disciplines in forensic science. The knowledge of anatomy is very important for a medical examiner or forensic expert. If there is any internal damage in the corpse and the forensic experts have no idea, then they may mistake it for a normal structure. In Malaysia, forensic anatomy is not included as a subdiscipline in the present preclinical medical curriculum. A preliminary study was undertaken to assess students knowledge on forensic anatomy and its scope. Primary data was collected through survey method from 66 students. A structured closed questionnaire was used to collect data from first year preclinical students of medical programme of International Medical School of Management and Science University. Majority of the students had knowledge on forensic anatomy and its scope. The students were aware of forensic anatomy and they had information on this subject from various website sources. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. The available results are discussed in the light of available literature. The results indicate the students are eager and enthusiastic in exploring the opportunity on learning more about forensic anatomy and its career prospects.</p

Changmai, Manah Chandra

Gohain, Kastury

University of Dundee Online Publications

Assessment of knowledge on forensic anatomy among preclinical medical students

UKM Journal Article Repository

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.Malays. Appl. Biol. (2016) 45(2): 51–55ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE ON FORENSIC ANATOMYAMONG PRECLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTSMANAH CHANDRA CHANGMAI1* and KASTURY GOHAIN 21International Medical School, Management and Science University,40100 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia2Faculty of Business Management and Professional Studies, Management and Science University,40100 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia*E-mail: manahchangmai@gmail.com & dr_manah@msu.edu.my;  HP: +60163684375Accepted 28 October 2016, Published online 21 December 2016ABSTRACTAnatomy is one of the key disciplines in forensic science. The knowledge of anatomy is very important for a medical examineror forensic expert. If there is any internal damage in the corpse and the forensic experts have no idea, then they may mistakeit for a normal structure. In Malaysia, forensic anatomy is not included as a subdiscipline in the present preclinical medicalcurriculum. A preliminary study was undertaken to assess students knowledge on forensic anatomy and its scope. Primarydata was collected through survey method from 66 students. A structured closed questionnaire was used to collect data fromfirst year preclinical students of medical programme of International Medical School of Management and Science University.Majority of the students had knowledge on forensic anatomy and its scope. The students were aware of forensic anatomyand they had information on this subject from various website sources. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Theavailable results are discussed in the light of available literature. The results indicate the students are eager and enthusiastic inexploring the opportunity on learning more about forensic anatomy and its career prospects.Key words: Forensic anatomy, students assessment, awareness, knowledge, forensic expertsINTRODUCTIONForensic science is a multidisciplinary subject withvarious sub disciplines. Forensic team are consultedin crime scene to investigate the case often medicolegal. This forensic experts team consists ofspecialists from different disciplines. To investigatethe crime scene, proper knowledge of theirparticular subject is essential. Anatomy is one of thekey disciplines in forensic science and adequateknowledge of anatomy is very important for aforensic expert (Finnerty, 2010). In the presence ofany internal damage in the corpse, forensic expertsmust have adequate knowledge of anatomy,otherwise may be mistaken for a normal structure.Forensic anatomy is one of the upcoming sub-disciplines in anatomy. As a subdiscipline it isnot included in the present preclinical medicalcurriculum.In the recent times, there is career prospect inthe field of forensic sciences. According to theUnited States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the careeropportunities for forensic anatomy (anthropology)is expected to grow by about 21 percent between2010 and 2020 (American Board of ForensicAnthropology). Forensic anthropology alsounderwent progressive changes before emerging aslegitimate discipline (Golda, 2010). Advances inscientific technology in examining crime sceneshave turned forensic science into a high demand andrapidly growing career field. In Malaysia, only thepolice, health ministry forensic experts andchemistry department are involved in assisting thecourt with expert testimony and forensic reports(Forensic Science Society of Malaysia). At present,the number of available skilled and experiencedforensic experts is low. This means that those whoare working for government departments are likelyto receive positive employment prospects andbenefits. The present study was undertaken to assessknowledge of preclinical medical program studentson forensic anatomy.52 ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE ON FORENSIC ANATOMY AMONG PRECLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTSMETHODOLOGYThe study population consists of students fromBachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery(MBBS) programme studying in InternationalMedical School, Management and ScienceUniversity, Malaysia. A total of 66 studentsparticipated in the study. The purpose of this studywas to find out the awareness and knowledge offorensic anatomy. A structured closed questionnairewas used to collect data from first year preclinicalstudents of MBBS programme using convenientsampling technique. The obtained data was analyzedby using SPSS version 20.RESULTSOf the 66 respondents, 14 were males (21%) and52 females (79%). The age of the first year MBBSstudents range in between 20 to 25 years. Thefindings indicated that 62% of the students haveslight knowledge on forensic anatomy. But it hasbeen also seen in the findings that sufficientknowledge on forensic anatomy lacks among thestudents (Figure 1). This may be due to noninclusion of forensic anatomy in preclinical medicalprogram curriculum.About 88% (Figure 2) of the students haveagreed to the opinion of reinforcing forensicanatomy in the beginning of the medical programme.That shows high interest of the students to go intothe depth of forensic anatomy. Majority of therespondents (89%) considered research opportunitiesare high with forensic anatomy discipline. Most ofthe participants (82%) were enthusiastic to chooseforensic anatomy as a career in future.DISCUSSIONThe findings of majority of respondents (62%)having slight knowledge and only 8% had sufficientknowledge on forensic anatomy, may be due tonon-inclusion of forensic anatomy in the preclinicalmedical curriculum. Drake (1998) emphasized theneed for an integrated model in curriculum. Thebasic concepts, connection between basicknowledge and the clinical setting should beclarified by dissemination of knowledge by theinstructors of anatomy and other disciplines.Johnson et al (2012) revised their curriculum inanatomy with the current thinking in medicaleducation into a more interactive and clinicallyrelevant class. Zaid et al., 2010, commented thatsurgical skills training in preclinical years inmedical curriculum will improve the confidence andgenerates curiosity in learning skills of surgeryamong the students. This will have profound impacton quality of patient care and safety. Fauzia et al(2016), reported that California University ofScience and Medicine, School of Medicine(CalMed-SOM) has changed their way of teachinganatomy with a new curriculum that will help thestudents during discussion of clinical cases. Theseindicate similar changes in relation to forensicanatomy in curriculum may benefit the students. Oneof the studies indicated that teaching of anatomyfacilitated by surgeon improved long-term retentionof surface anatomy (Sarkis et al., 2014). Accordingto Raftery (2007) one should come up with a corecurriculum approved at national level giving morepreferences to different basic clinical skills forundergraduate medical programme. Sugand et al(2010) commented that the students will bebenefited when they are exposed to cadavers whoFig. 1. Awareness of forensic anatomy.ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE ON FORENSIC ANATOMY AMONG PRECLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTS 53recently died accompanied by their medicalhistories, diagnosis supported by histopathology forlearning anatomy. This is also applicable to enhancetheir knowledge in forensic anatomy.According to Egwu et al (2014), many sciencedepartments have changed their structural andtechnical establishment to accommodate recentadvances in modern anatomy. Anatomy as a majordiscipline in biomedical science is incorporated withexperimental and clinical science not limited togross anatomy and histology but also to cellular andmolecular biology. The inclusion of forensicanatomy in preclinical curriculum is likely toincrease their interest in learning this discipline andtherefore to develop as their specialty in future. Thiswas indicated as 88% of the students have agreedto the opinion of reinforcing anatomy with forensicanatomy in the beginning of the medical programme.This can help the students to go into the depth offorensic anatomy. A multidisciplinary approach hasbeen advocated in teaching ethics involvingpreclinical, medical education unit and clinicaldisciplines as per WHO/SEARO facilitators’ guide(Anshu, 2011). New strategies have been proposedin recent years for the improvement of quality inteaching anatomy to undergraduate students byfocusing on the multimedia-assisted learning, using3D computer simulations, medical imaging anddissection videos (Ahmed et al., 2010). Evans &Watt (2005) recommended that during specialistrotations relevant anatomy topic should be taughtwhich will help the students during clinical training.Emphasis should be given to integrate basic scienceand clinical anatomy to have great motivation inunderstanding the topic and relate it with clinicalcondition.In the present study, the research opportunitiesin forensic anatomy are considerably high, as89% of the respondents were interested in furtherstudy. According to Desai (1976), there should benew ways introduced in learning anatomy. Newinnovative techniques inculcating clinical subjectswith anatomy should be implemented in the clinicaldepartments, autopsy room and the hospitals apartfrom dissection hall. Brenton et al (2007) reportsthat there are significant changes in teachinganatomy due to technological developments in theareas of three-dimensional modelling and computerassisted learning. McCuskey et al (2005), in hisstudy suggested that the institute should lookupon researchers and postdoctoral fellow byproviding financial support required for teachingactivities. According to Durosaro et al (2008), studyopportunities in microscopic anatomy and geneticshas gained importance and advanced with thearrival of multimedia through virtual microscopy.Forensic anthropology discipline highlights thesignificant role of physical anthropologists in thecriminal justice system. This discipline hasestablished as a complete professional course (Snow,1982). Overall, 82% of the respondents were verymuch enthusiastic to choose forensic anatomy as acareer in future. The results indicate that thestudents are eager and enthusiastic in exploring theopportunity on learning more about forensicanatomy and its scope. The application of forensicanatomy in forensic anthropology was wellhighlighted by Dirkmaat et al (2008), wherein itaids in the identification of human remains inforensic contexts. Mustapha et al (2012) suggestedthat the students should know the sub-disciplinesof anatomy and marking out those which they areFig. 2. Students perception on Forensic anatomy and its scope.54 ASSESSMENT OF KNOWLEDGE ON FORENSIC ANATOMY AMONG PRECLINICAL MEDICAL STUDENTSconfident before taking it as a career. The presentgeneration has shown immense interest in forensicanatomy discipline as reflected in this study.CONCLUSIONThe findings of the study clearly indicated that,preclinical students are interested to know moreabout forensic anatomy. As this discipline generatesinterest and scope for research opportunities, theparticipant students are interested in selectingforensic anatomy for their future studies to developit as their specialty. Placing forensic anatomy in themainstream of curriculum broadens the scope.Forensic anatomy has a role in developing theapplied aspects of medical anatomy, extending itinto the forensic science.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe research was supported by management andscience university. We are very thankful speciallyto the preclinical year students of internationalMedical school under management and scienceuniversity who participated in our research. Oursincere thanks to Dr Durgadass Govind Naik,Associate professor, International Medical Schoolfor his valuable comments which has improved ourmanuscript. We are also grateful to Dr Ashok KumarJeppu, Associate Professor and Dr Vijaya Markalafrom International Medical School as the reviewersof our manuscript.REFERENCESAnshu. 2011. Inclusion of ethics matters in theundergraduate medical curriculum. IndianJournal of Medical Ethics, 8(3): 135-138.Ahmed, K., Rowland, S., Patel, V., Khan, R.S.,Ashrafian, H., Davies, D.C. & Paraskeva, P.A.(2010). Is the structure of anatomy curriculumadequate for safe medical practice? TheSurgeon, 8(6): 318-324.Brenton, H., Hernandez, J., Bello, F., Strutton, P.,Purkayastha, S., Firth, T. & Darzi, A. 2007.Using multimedia and Web3D to enhanceanatomy teaching. Computers & Education,49(1): 32-53.Dirkmaat, D.C., Cabo, L.L., Ousley, S.D. & Symes,S.A. 2008. New perspectives in forensicanthropology. American Journal of PhysicalAnthropology, 137: 33-52.Durosaro, O., Lachman, N. & Pawlina, W. 2008. Useof knowledge-sharing web based portal in grossand microscopic anatomy. Annals Academy ofMedicine Singapore, 37: 998-1001.Drake, R.L. 1998. Anatomy education in a changingmedical curriculum. The Anatomical Record,253(1): 28-31.Desai, K.D. 1976. The scope of modern anatomy.Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, 22(3): 103.Egwu, O.A., Akunna, G.G. & Egwu, J.A. 2014.Assessing students knowledge of sub-disciplines in anatomy: A pilot study.International Journal of Medicine and MedicalSciences, 6(10): 224-229.Evans, D.J & Watt, D.J. 2005. Provision ofanatomical teaching in a new British medicalschool getting the right mix. The AnatomicalRecord, 284: 22-27.Fauzia, N., Ghaith, A., Robert, S., Alfred, T. &Mohsin, Y. 2016. Integration of clinicalanatomy labs in a clinical presentation-basedcurriculum: A tool to improve long-termretention of anatomy. FASEB Journal, 30(1):232-239.Finnerty, E.P., Chauvin, S., Bonaminio, G., Andrews,M., Carroll, R.G. & Pangaro, L.N. 2010.  Flexnerrevisited: the role and value of the basicsciences in medical education. AcademicMedicine, 85(2): 349-355.Golda, S.D. 2010. 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Assessment of knowledge on forensic anatomy among preclinical medical students

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