Medical expertise as a historical phenomenon and academic discipline

Based on secondary literature, a survey of particular forms of medical expertise over history is presented. The state-to-individual interaction in terms of personality and physical integrity protection, health care, etc., was observed. It was only after the 16th century that the development of anatomy was found to have become a decisive argument for convincing expertise in various trials. In Croatia, the course of medical expertise development was comparable to the close settings in the neighboring European countries. Major advances at the legislative, educational and professional levels took place in the second half of the 19th century. The subject of Forensic Medicine was introduced at Royal Academy of Jurisprudence as early as 1861; the book entitled Lecnicka izvesća (visa reperta) za prakticnu porabu lecnikov by Ivan Dezman (1841-1873) from 1868 offered the first systematic form of autopsy reports, whereas Kratka sudska medicina, a handbook in forensic medicine by Niko Selak (1861-1891) from 1889 denoted the beginnings of forensic medicine literature in Croatian language. It has been noted that medical expertise approach perceives man as a social being at the crossing of manifold impacts and influences, thus being always observed by physicians of various specialties. During centuries, medical expertise has been formed in conjunction with advances in medicine and science, and with the development of civil society. Medical expertise had gradually grown into a multidisciplinary field requiring high professionalism, ethical approach, continuous training and collaboration with various professions. This resulted in a compact and polyvalent discipline, in Croatia gradually formed as a special course in medical curriculum.