Mock court: a valuable tool to teach legal procedures to undergraduate medical students.

BACKGROUND: Teaching through role-plays is a preferred modality when certain behaviours or skills need to be taught. They provide a risk-free environment that simulates a real-life scenario. For a clinician, appearance in a Court of Law as an expert witness is a part of his/her legal obligation. OBJECTIVE: To explore the utility of Mock Court as an additional teaching tool for undergraduate medical students, in understanding and familiarizing with legal procedures, specifically the courtroom procedures. METHODOLOGY: We conducted Mock Court sessions with the students playing various roles, following which feedback was collected from the students, teachers and guest assessors. The data was statistically analysed by comparison of frequencies and paired t-test (pre- and post-session comparison). RESULTS: The study revealed a positive effect of the Mock Court sessions on the students, based on their increased confidence, motivation and a better grasp of legal procedures. There was a statistically significant (p < 0.001) improvement in the understanding of specific aspects of courtroom procedures after the session. CONCLUSION: The authors recommend the active implementation of Mock Court as a teaching aid for undergraduate medical students, and the use of PDSA (Deming) cycle as a tool for quality-checks and self-improvement in subsequent sessions.

Forensic Microbiology in India: A missing piece in the puzzle of criminal investigation system.

BACKGROUND: Forensic Microbiology is an emerging branch of science that has great potential to assist criminal investigations. Having said that, microbial analysis is not performed routinely during forensic investigations in India. This could be attributed to lack of specific training and lack of evidence-based standard protocol. OBJECTIVES: The authors attempt to highlight the key areas in forensic microbiology that need to be explored in a developing nation like India. CONTENT: Forensic microbiology could help in linking a person to a crime, determining the cause of death, estimating postmortem interval (PMI), etc. Additionally, applications are being developed by forensic microbiologists across the globe to investigate the coordinated and dynamic changes in microbial activity which occur after the death of a human host. Such evidence from the human postmortem microbiome can aid in criminal investigations and administration of justice. These recent advances and developments have the potential to transform the field of forensic microbiology in a developing country.

Linking inflammatory mediators and indicators of insulin resistance in anthropometry specified type 2 diabetic males.

Inflammation associated with insulin resistance is a risk factor in the development of complications in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The study was conducted to assess the relationship between inflammatory mediators and insulin resistance, independent of lipid profile in anthropometry specified male Type 2 diabetics. 180 males having T2DM for more than 5yrs and on diabetic medication were chosen for the study and categorized into obese and overweight. Patients with thyroid or other endocrine disorders, kidney, muscle, liver, systemic, and inflammatory diseases were excluded from the study. Blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, plasma insulin, and the inflammatory biomarkers namely hs-CRP, ferritin, haptoglobin, and adiponectin were evaluated. HOMA-IR and QUICKI were computed to assess insulin resistance. The study demonstrated significant changes in adiponectin and hsCRP in obese and overweight T2DM. However, Ferritin and Haptoglobin were insignificant. The entire biochemical study was carried out to demonstrate lipid profile independent associations. The significant insulin resistance associated with a substantial increase in hs-CRP levels and a pronounced decrease in the adiponectin levels suggests impending diabetic complications in anthropometry specified male T2DM. This could promote the use of personalised medicine to regulate levels of hs-CRP or to improve the secretion of adiponectin thereby countering insulin resistance in T2DM, independent of the lipid profile which is the novelty of our study.