1Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine, Chirayu Medical College, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
Toxicological emergencies are considered one among three most common medico-legal emergencies in India which ultimately happens to be a must know subject for medical students.
Present study overviews the weightage given to Toxicology in MBBS curriculum in various universities across India and the attitude among the medical students regarding the curriculum.
Various approaches involved A) Review of profile of poisoning related emergency cases, B) Statistical data from NCRB, C) Analysis of University question papers and D) Interviews with MBBS students.
Percentage of poisoning cases reported to casualty ranges from 12% to 42% and also NCRB data reveals the high incidence of poisoning cases in India. University question papers have topic repetition as well as question repetitions and lack of case-based questions. Almost 82% students reported not reading Toxicology thoroughly.
The present curriculum does not incorporate and doesn't assess enough knowledge of Toxicology to medical students considering the extent of poisoning cases reported at emergency departments.
Emergency, Medico-legal, Toxicology, MBBS curriculum
