Strengths and shortcomings of medico-legal education in Italy: A national multi-centric survey

Recent legal developments regarding the reorganization of and accreditation processes for specialization schools in the healthcare sector has led to a profound didactic transformation that has brought inevitable repercussions on the activities and training of post-graduate doctors. The National Board of Young Medico-legal Experts in Italy (Consulta dei Giovani Medici Legali Italiani) proposed a multi-centric survey of the current state of the profession and on the perceived quality of schools of legal medicine in Italy. Data was collected by means of a dedicated questionnaire in relation to the various areas of the training process, skill-development processes, and the actual didactic activities carried out in legal medicine specialization schools in Italy. The results of the survey have prompted various observations and proposals for improving the quality of forensic and legal medicine programs in Italy.