History and Development of Clinical Forensic Medicine

Abstract

Forensic medicine, forensic pathology, and legal medicine are terms used interchangeably throughout the world. Forensic medicine is now commonly used to describe all aspects of forensic work rather than just forensic pathology, which is the branch of medicine that investigates death. Clinical forensic medicine refers to that branch of medicine that involves an interaction among law, judiciary, and police officials, generally involving living persons. Clinical forensic medicine is a term that has become widely used only in the last two or so decades, although the phrase has been in use at least since 1951 when the Association of Police Surgeons, now known as the Association of Forensic Physicians—a UK-based body— was first established. The practitioners of clinical forensic medicine have been given many different names throughout the years, but the term forensic physician has become more widely accepted. In broad terms, a forensic pathologist generally does not deal with living individuals, and a forensic physician generally does not deal with the deceased. However, worldwide there are doctors who are involved in both the clinical and the pathological aspects of forensic medicine. There are many areas where both clinical and pathological aspects of forensic medicine overlap, and this is reflected in the history and development of the specialty as a whole and its current practice.