Knowledge and Attitude of Current Medico-Legal Practices: A Study among Medical Students, Interns, and Resident Doctors In a Tertiary Care Hospital

Despite being a vital part of clinical practice, medico-legal responsibilities remain overlooked in both undergraduate and postgraduate training. This may compromise both, the safety of patient and legal accountability. This study aimed to assess awareness and attitudes toward medico-legal issues among medical students, interns, and post graduate residents.

This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study, was conducted at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana. Medical students, interns, and residents completed a validated questionnaire consisting of 11 awareness items and 5 attitude items related to medico legal issues. Data were collected anonymously and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 26.0) and R software (version 4.4), applying descriptive statistics and chisquare tests. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Females had a higher representation in our study (57.5%) compared to male participants. Moderate awareness was seen in 52.9% of participants, while 27.1% had high and 20% had low awareness. Attitudes were mainly positive (85%), followed by neutral (10%) and negative (5%). Female participants showed higher awareness and more positive attitudes than males (p < 0.05). Qualification levels and awareness levels did not show significant correlation (p = 0.289). Awareness and attitude depicted a strong association (p < 0.001).

While attitude levels were mostly positive, moderate awareness predominated and negative attitude was associated with less medicolegal knowledge. These findings highlight the need for structured, experience based learning related to medico-legal matters through workshops, case-based discussions, and simulated court settings. The strong association found in this study between knowledge and attitude indicates that improved knowledge can lead to a more positive attitude towards medico legal aspects of healthcare.