Attitudes and confidence in the medico-legal work of general practitioners in upper southern region of Thailand

Authors

  • Surasak Vijitpongjinda School of Medicine, Walailak University
  • Apichai Wattanapisit School of Medicine, Walailak University
  • Udomsak Saengow School of Medicine, Walailak University

Keywords:

forensic medicine, attitudes, confidence, general practitioner

Abstract

Performing medico-legal work requires skilled personnel. Because of an insufficient number of forensic doctors in Thailand, general practitioners play a major role in medico-legal work and have become the main group of doctors to provide medico-legal work for the public. The Medical Council of Thailand introduced the Standards for Practice in the Medical Profession 2012 with regard to medico-legal cases. This study aimed to assess the confidence and work attitudes of general practitioners in medico-legal work to study the problems, obstacles, and factors related to their confidence, work attitudes and proposal of solutions. The target population of the survey comprised 256 individuals in the upper southern region of Thailand. The data were collected through survey questionnaires and analyzed using logistic regression statistics. The survey results showed that 132 physicians (51.6%) had a moderate level of confidence in medico-legal work. A total of 83.6% had work attitudes in medico-legal work at the moderate to the highest level of agreement. Gender, age, workplace Characteristics, and teaching and learning of forensic medicine courses were factors associated with confidence in medico-legal work by general practitioners; challenging topics of practice included sexual abuse, writing death certificates, and being an expert witness in court. Therefore, they ensure that general practitioners perform work is involving the judicial process.

References

The Medical Council of Thailand. Number

of specialists in each branch (approved

for certificate) from 2005 to 2016.

Report of information on the number of

doctors, dentists, by certification of

expertise of government officers under

health region 11 (December 30, 2016).

Office of Public Health Administration.

Forensic operation situation. Knowledge

management. http://kmops.moph.go.th/

index.php/km-test/2012-09-19-04-17-00/

-2013-07-24-07-19-31#_ftn6; Accessed

December 2020.

The criminal procedure code B.E. 2477

(1934).

Act on the assignment of officers to the

autopsy according to section 148 (3) (4)

and (5) of the Criminal Procedure Code,

Royal decree to extend the period of

enforcement of section 7 of the criminal

procedure code amendment act (No. 21)

B.E. 2542, (2007).

Royal decree to extend the period of

enforcement of Section 7 of the criminal

procedure code amendment act (No. 21)

B.E. 2542, 2012.

The Medical Council of Thailand.

Information of doctors who have been

approved - Certificate from the Medical

Council 1964-2016.

Boonsak H. Level of confidence and

difficulty from medical student’

perspective to practice forensic medicine:

Pre- and post- class evaluation. TCA

;39:24-9. (In Thai)

Tansrisawad N, Vongpaisarnsin K,

Jongprasartsuk K, et al. Forensic

performance of medical intern. Forensic

Leg Med 2007;6:11-14.

Sithicharoon W. The medicolegal workload

of interns graduating from faculty of

medicine, Srinakharinwirot University in

the first year internship training program.

J Med Health Sci 2011;18:68-77. (In Thai)

Suwanchasri P, Choosakoonkriang S,

Supaluknari S, et al. Understanding of

ambulatory and emergency room nurses

at Phramongkutklao hospital on forensic

and forensic evidence. Veridian E Journal

;3:1-12. (In Thai)

Mokhtar M, Azab SM, Hassan S, et al. Study

of handling of medico-legal cases in

governmental hospitals in Cairo. J Forensic

Leg Med 2018;60:15-24.

Nusri-un N, Khunkitti W. Attitude of

undergraduate medical students (6th year)

Faculty of Medicine. Srinagarind Med J

;29:401-8.

Jones RM. Getting to the core of medicine:

Developing undergraduate forensic medicine

and pathology teaching. J Forensic Leg

Med 2017:52:245-51.

Mardikar PA, Kasulkar AA. To assess the

need of medicolegal education in interns

and residents in medical institution. J Evol

Med Dent Sci 2015:4:2885-90.

Kuchewar SV, Puppalwar PV, Vagha J.

Effectiveness of didactic lecture and

demonstration in improving the competency

interns in writing injury certificate. IOSR

;15:125-9.

Raharjanti NW, Purwadianto A, Soemantri

D, et al. Self-confidence in conducting

forensic psychiatric evaluations among

general psychiatrists in Indonesia. Heliyon

;7:e08045.

Dursun OB, Demirgören BS, Gökcen C, et

al. Forensic child and adolescent

psychiatry: From field experiences to

education standards. J Forensic Leg Med

;21:17-21.

Abdalla-Filho E, Bertolote JM. Forensic

psychiatric systems in the world. Braz J

Psychiatry 2006;28:s56-s61.

Downloads

Published

2023-04-28

How to Cite

1.
Vijitpongjinda S, Wattanapisit A, Saengow U. Attitudes and confidence in the medico-legal work of general practitioners in upper southern region of Thailand. J Med Health Sci [Internet]. 2023 Apr. 28 [cited 2024 Dec. 19];30(1):65-78. Available from: https://he01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jmhs/article/view/263323

Issue

Section

Original article (บทความวิจัย)