Forensic medicine is a rare speciality that attracts very few dedicated doctors.

All it requires to understand what forensic medicine is to watch people waiting outside a hospital morgue. There will be policemen, sometimes magistrates and curious onlookers. Only a few realise the hard work that a police surgeon is delegated.

Unlike other fields of medicine, forensic medicine is one where the doctor or surgeon never comes across a living person.

They are relegated to the rear end of the hospital, and they are constantly trying to find clues by examining the cadaver to learn the cause of death. This is what makes forensic medicine one of those rare specialities that attract very few students.

Working with police

Those who have entered the field either by choice or because of interest and have opted to work for the government have earned the respect of the police and the judiciary by working with them in unravelling mysteries and ensuring justice to the wronged person.

Senior forensic medicine experts routinely conduct classes for the police and the judiciary. The experts share their observations with undergraduate medical students, teaching them about medical ethics and the nuances of treating a patient.

PG course

Yet, there was a time in Tamil Nadu when MBBS graduates shunned the speciality since it was not as lucrative as surgery or other super specialities. For several years in a row there were no takers for the MD in Forensic Medicine course.

An MD in Forensic Medicine takes three years to complete. At present, there are nine students undergoing the course at the Madras Medical College, an institution which has the distinction of having women as the head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

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Few takers for forensic medicine?