Awareness of Medicolegal Issues among Interns and Resident Doctors at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Kolar, Karnataka, India: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Medicolegal issues are handled by every doctor in their day-to-day medical practice. However, if they are not well versed in the rules of managing such cases and the law behind them, they often land into criticism and distress in court while dealing with evidence in Medicolegal Cases (MLCs). Aim: To assess the awareness of interns and resident doctors, who are working at RL Jalappa Hospital and Research Centre, regarding the management of MLCs in their day-to-day practices. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnairebased study was conducted to determine the awareness of medicolegal issues among 107 participants, including interns and resident doctors in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology at a tertiary care hospital, Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Tamaka Kolar, Karnataka, India, from January 2022 to October 2022. A prevalidated list of 21 questionnaires, obtained through a pilot study with Cronbach’s alpha=0.78, was used. Numerical data were summarised using mean and standard deviation, while categorical data were expressed using percentages. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 28.6 years. Most of the participants were from Surgery and allied fields (61%), and the majority of the participants (51.4%) had one to two years of experience in the medical field. Among the findings, it was observed that 67.28% of participants had insufficient knowledge about the minimum age requirement for informed consent, 60% of residents had insufficient knowledge of maintaining meticulous medical records, 57% of the participants responded incorrectly regarding the desired way of handling brought dead cases in hospitals, and 63.8% of the participants had poor knowledge of the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (KPME) act and organ transplantation act. Conclusion: The study concluded that while interns and postgraduates showed some level of awareness regarding certain aspects of medicolegal issues, like need for consent, they still lack comprehensive knowledge on subjects like legal requirements of consent, medical records, the KPME act, and organ transplantation act. Therefore, it is necessary to modify the curriculum for students and provide orientation programs, continued medical education, and guest lectures to interns and residents to build fiduciary character in Indian medical graduates.

Keywords

• karnataka private medical establishment act
• medicolegal cases
• medical records
• organ transplantation