Background: Students find it difficult to retain knowledge given during lectures. Tests should be given frequently to increase retention of information. An open book examination is one where the students can give answers using their textbooks. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of 'Exam Derived Learning' in the form of an 'Online Open Book Examination' as a revision tool in the subject of Forensic Medicine among second-year MBBS students at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad. Materials and methods: An online open book examination was conducted in the form of pretested and validated MCQs after the regular interactive lecture classes on the topic of drowning but before the revision exercise on the same. Feedback from the students was taken on an online open book examination via pretested and validated Likert-scale-type perceptions. The median score of the online open book test was calculated. The perceptions of students' toward online open book examination were assessed via the median score. Results: The median score of the online open book test was nine out of 10, 34.7% of the students secured full marks, and 97.4% of the students secured more than 50% of the score. Students gave favorable feedback for the online open book examination. Conclusion: Open-book tests must be practiced as one of the assessment modules in medical education to enhance retention of knowledge and encourage critical thinking.

From the British era, regular medico-legal autopsies have never been done in India after sunset, except for those specially permitted by the law enforcement agencies. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, issued a notification on November 15, 2021, regarding the “Conduct of post-mortem in hospitals after sunset”. This has given rise to much debate on whether post-mortems can be conducted after sunset in an ethical manner. Here, we briefly discuss the various issues related to the carrying out of post-mortems after sunset in India.

Background Undergraduate medical students in India participate in various research activities However, plagiarism is rampant, and we hypothesize that it is the lack of knowledge on how to avoid plagiarism. This study’s objective was to measure the extent of knowledge and attitudes towards plagiarism among undergraduate medical students in India. Methods It was a multicentre, cross-sectional study conducted over a two-year period (January 2018 – December 2019). Undergraduate medical students were given a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire which contained: (a) Demographic details; (b) A quiz developed by Indiana University, USA to assess knowledge; and (c) Attitudes towards Plagiarism (ATP) questionnaire. Results Eleven medical colleges ( n = 4 government medical colleges [GMCs] and n = 7 private medical colleges [PMCs]) participated. A total of N = 4183 students consented. The mean (SD) knowledge score was 4.54 (1.78) out of 10. The factors (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]; 95% Confidence interval [CI]; p value) that emerged as significant predictors of poor knowledge score were early years of medical education (0.110; 0.063, 0.156; < 0.001) and being enrolled in a GMC (0.348; 0.233, 0.463; < 0.001).The overall mean (SD) scores of the three attitude components namely permissive, critical and submissive norms were 37.56 (5.25), 20.35 (4.20) and 31.20 (4.28) respectively, corresponding to the moderate category. Conclusion The overall knowledge score was poor. A vast majority of study participants fell in the moderate category of attitude score. These findings warrant the need for incorporating formal training in the medical education curriculum.

Sudden death (SD) is described as “death within 24 hours from the earliest manifestation, without any proof of violence and with no pre-existing disease, where no cause of death can be identified clinically”. In about 5%–10% of cases of sudden cardiac death (SCD), no underlying heart disease can be found at autopsy. Mostly these are the arrhythmic SCD and have a morphologically normal heart. There is a scope for uncertainty among relatives and/or investigating authorities regarding the cause & manner of death specifically in unattended sudden cardiac death. The postmortem examination must include detailed history or clinically relevant information of the deceased, his/her family members, macroscopic, microscopic, toxicological & molecular examination.

Introduction: The evidence for a relationship between dietary patterns and uric acid concentrations is scanty.In the state of Assam, a diverse group of the community lives with different food habit.This study has aimed to evaluate and compare a relationship between Serum Uric Acid level in relation to dietary intake and alcohol consumption among the different community of Kamrup district of Assam.Materials and methods: The present study was conducted among Ahom, Adivasi, Bodo, Bengali, Karbi, Manipuri and Marwari communities in Greater Kamrup District of Assam.Samples were collected by stratified random sampling technique.Serum uric acid level in relation to dietary intake and alcohol consumption were evaluated and compared.Results: Uric acid level of Bodo and Ahom community is found higher in comparison to Manipuri, Bengali, Adivasi and Marwari.High Uric acid level is absent among of vegetarian category whereas nonvegetarian who take alcohol have significant high uric acid level.Conclusion: Balance dietary habits need to be placed in the context of overall health promotion; disease prevention and disease treatment with appropriate attention to nutritional needs.

Introduction: There is an increasing demand upon medical school faculty to be effective teachers. Faculty development is an important component in medical education, for the institutes to excel. Pre test/post-test evaluation is one of the assessment tools commonly used in many educational workshops. Aim: To conduct a faculty development workshop for two days, and to test the improvement in knowledge of the participants by using pre test and post-test evaluation. Materials and Methods: A two day teacher training workshop was conducted in January 2017. A total of 29 faculty participated in the workshop. The sessions were interactive with several group activities. A pre test with 15 questions was given before the sessions, and the same questions were repeated after the sessions, to test the participants improvement in knowledge. The mean test scores for both pre test and post-test were compared using a Paired t-test. Results: The mean post-test scores (12.552+/-2.080) showed significant improvement (p<0.001) compared to the mean pre test score (3.655+/-1.798), using a Paired t-test. The number of incorrect responses per question showed considerable drop: 6.138+/-2.199 in the pre test and 1.448+/-1.270 in the post-test. The number of not attempted questions also showed a decrease in the post-test (1+/-1.414) compared to pre test (5.207+/-2.896). Conclusion: There was an improvement in the faculty knowledge, as seen on comparison of the pre-test (3.655+/-1.798) scores with that of the post-test (12.552+/-2.080) scores. Regular faculty development programs should be conducted.

Drug induced rash is one of the most commonest type of adverse reaction to a drug therapy. There are different presentation types of drug-induced eruptions. The severe forms are easy to diagnose. But milder is a little difficult both clinically as well as at autopsy. Bleomycin-induced rash poses difficulties during gross examination, which can be interpreted as contusions. We highlight the importance of history of the case and suspicion of spurious contusions in the form of drug-induced eruptions.

Here we report about a male corpse aged 32 years, which was actually brought to the mortuary as death due to accidental traumatic asphyxia. Asphyxia was the definitive mode of death in this case, but trauma was not the cause for the asphyxia instead, by the presence of electrical injury. The different types of lesions were caused due to struggle to get down together with the electrocution. Of all the lesions diagnosed at post mortem examination, one needs a special mention, the subarachnoid hemorrhage, which resulted due to electrocution. Based on postmortem finding, the time since death was given as 12 -24 hours prior to the post mortem examination and the Cause of death was given as "ELECTROCUTION".

Congenital absence of tibia is a rare anomaly and may be total or partial, unilateral or bilateral. Total absence is more frequent than partial. Unilateral absence occurs more often than bilateral, with right limb more commonly affected than the left. In partial defect, almost always the distal end of the bone is affected. In the bilateral cases, there may be total absence on both sides, or total on one side and partial on the other. Males are slightly more commonly affected than the females. Though, the family history is usually negative for congenital abnormalities and other diseases, there is a considerable chance of occurrence of congenital defect of the tibia or of other abnormalities, in near or remote relatives. We report a case of newborn having unilateral tibial hemimelia type 3 with radial club hand and contracture band on the hand.

Homicide is a serious crime committed against humans and its detection, solution and adjudication are important to the entire society. This study was therefore taken up, to estimate the incidence of homicides and to determine the trends in committing homicide. This was a prospective, observational study done on alleged homicide cases autopsied between July 2007 and July 2009. All alleged cases of homicides, other than those in which death was caused by rash and negligent act, were included. Data collected was expressed as proportions and/or percentages. Total autopsies done were 9248, of which 300 were alleged homicide autopsies (3.24%). Highest number of homicide victims was in the age group of 21–30 years (42.33%). In 69% & 61.3% of homicides, the assailant was a known person & blunt or sharp weapons caused injuries respectively. As most of the homicides were family centered, early detection and prevention is important.