Abstract
Objective: Practitioners of forensic medicine assist with medicolegal investigations by providing expert medical advice to law enforcement during pathological investigations. Recent evidence suggests that Saudi medical students attending the College of Medicine at Al-Baha University know little about forensic medicine. The aims of the study to assess awareness of forensic medicine among medical students in the Faculty of Medicine at Umm Al-Qura University and to identify factors that affect their choice to pursue forensic subspecialty as a future career. Methods: The study had a cross-sectional design and was open to all students of medical at Umm Al-Qura University. The study data were collected by self-administered questionnaires distributed via social media. Results: A 298 totally of medical students returned completed questionnaires. Awareness of forensic medicine was poor in 176 students (59%), moderate in 69 (23.2%), and good in 53 (17.8%). The majority of the respondents (65.8%) agreed that there was insufficient information about forensic medicine in the college curriculum. A total of 232 respondents (77.9%) believed that there was a need for more education about forensic science and its subspecialties, and 144 (48.3%) were prepared to consider specialization in forensic as a career option. Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest that a forensic medicine department should be established at Umm Al-Qura University. More research is required to develop an education program on forensic medicine and methods that may be used to determine level of quality, to increase awareness of forensic medicine as a specialty, and to facilitate collaboration with other universities.