Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
Comprehensive Autopsy Program for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis
Published on: July 19, 2019
Students who wish to specialize in forensic medicine vs. their fellow students: motivations, attitudes and reactions
Stavroula A Papadodima1, Theodoros N Sergentanis, Roussos G Iliakis
1Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Faculty Of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, M Asias 75, Athens, Greece. stpapd@gmail.com
Purpose:
To investigate the particular features of students who express the desire to follow a forensic career.
Methods And Materials:
Three hundred and four 6th-year students attending the compulsory practice in forensic medicine in the academic year 2005-2006 were asked to fill in a self-administered questionnaire at the end of the course.
Results:
The predominant motivation for following forensics was the scientific interest (39.7%). Gender, marital status, religion, place of residence, number of siblings, father/mother being a health professional, being a religious individual were not associated with forensics. Higher grades were a negative predictor for the forensic specialty. A trend linking rejection of an afterlife and orientation towards forensic medicine was found. The fear of death was more intense in students rejecting forensics. Feelings of fear, aversion and grief during the last day of autopsy seemed to be important negative predictors. Stereotypes about forensic doctors (such as "forensic doctors have a peculiar character") significantly modified the decision of students, but the beliefs about the role of the autopsy practice (cause of anxiety for death, stimulus to live every moment in life) did not.
Conclusion:
Medical students who want to follow forensics present only small differences concerning their inherent features, beliefs, reactions, emotions and attitudes, compared with the rest of their fellow students.
