Knowledge and Awareness about Medico-legal Issues in Clinical Setting Among Medical Interns – A Questionnaire-Based Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/Keywords:
Informed consent, Medical ethics, Medical negligence, Record keepingAbstract
The increase in trend of medical negligence lawsuits against doctors due to awareness among general population because of various factors has lead to increase anxiety among medical professionals. Knowledge about medico-legal issues, laws relating to medical practice and medical ethics, which were not taken seriously earlier by the health professionals, has made them more vulnerable to litigations. All these issues are taught to them in their second year of undergraduate training, but the lack of understanding of these issues during their internship training made them inadequate with respect to standards of noble medical profession. Hence, the present study was conducted to evaluate the knowledge and awareness of our interns on handling routine medico-legal issues in the wards and casualty. A total of 100 interns posted in various departments of the institute participated in this research. Data were collected in the form of a self-administered questionnaire comprising close-ended questions related to the topic of the study. The majority of participants had knowledge about bulk of medico-legal issues. However, there was uncertainty regarding preparation of injury certificate, hospital indemnity insurance, medical record preservation and evidence collection in sexual assault and poisoning cases. The knowledge gaps identified through this study on particular topics help us to plan some remedial measures in undergraduate and internship training.
Downloads
References
[1] Unnikrishnan B, Kanchan T, Holla R, Kumar N, Rekha T, Mithra P et al. Medical Students’ Research – Facilitators and Barriers. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research. 2014;8(12):1–4.
[2] Khandekar IL, Tirpude BC, Murkey P, Pawar V. Development of Clinical Forensic Medicine in India: A need of time. Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine. 2010;32(1):85–90.
[3] Ropmay AD, Bhattacharyya H, Slong D, Marak AR, Patowary AJ. A Study to Evaluate Knowledge of Handling Medico-Legal Cases among Interns in a Teaching Institution. Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. 2018;11(2):65–69.
[4] Rai JJ, Acharya RV, Dave D. Knowledge and Awareness among interns and residents about medical law and negligence in a medical college in Vadodara – A Questionnaire Study. Journal of Dental and Medical Sciences. 2013;3(4):32–38.
[5] Dash SK. Medical Ethics, Duties & Medical Negligence Awareness among the Practitioners in a Teaching Medical College Hospital-A Survey. Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine. 2010;32(2):153–56.
[6] Meera T. Medicolegal cases: What every doctor should know. Journal of Medical Society. 2016;30(2):133–34.
[7] Siddaramanna TC, Dileep Kumar R, Yogesh C. Study of awareness of Medico legal aspects among medical professionals. Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. 2016;10(1):18–20.
[8] Mardikar PA, Kasulkar AA. To Assess the Need of Medicolegal Education in Interns and Residents in Medical Institution. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences. 2015;4(17):2885–89.
[9] Venkat Rao G, Hari N. Medico-legal knowledge assessment of interns and post graduate students in a medical institution. International Archives of Integrated Medicine 2016;3(10):105–10.
[10] Giri PA, Chavan KD, Phalake DB. Knowledge about medicolegal problems amongst the interns and resident from rural tertiary care teaching hospital in western Maharashtra-A cross sectional study. Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology. 2010; 3(3):89–93.
[11] Jambure M, Jambure A. A study on Awareness and Knowledge about Medico Legal issues among Interns and Post Graduate students. International Journal of current Medical and Applied Sciences. 2017;17(1):9–12.
[12] Al-Ammar W, Guile EE. A one year survey of dental malpractice claims in Riyadh. The Saudi Dental Journal. 2000; 12(2): 95–9.
[13] Evans A, Refrow-Rutala D. Medico-legal education: A Pilot Curriculum to Fill the Identified Knowledge Gap. Journal of Graduate Medical Education. 2010;2(4):595– 99.
[14] Barnie BA, Forson PK, Opare-Addo MN, Appiah-Poku J, Rhule GP, Oduro G et al. Knowledge and perceptions of health workers’ training on ethics, confidentiality and Medico-Legal issues. Journal of Clinical Research and Bioethics. 2015;6(1):205.
