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Diploma course in Forensic Medical Sciences

About The Course

The Academy of Forensic Medical Sciences, is holding its next online Diploma Course Forensic Medical Sciences (forensic medicine, forensic science and the law as applicable to the forensic sciences) in October 2024.

 

The Course comprises over 50 two-hour sessions covering a broad range of subjects, delivered by recognized forensic specialists and starting in October 2024 and ending in April 2025. Students who successfully complete the course will be eligible to take the Diploma in Forensic Medical Sciences, which is offered by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.

 

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Aims

The course has been designed by the Academy of Forensic Medical Sciences, which runs a number of courses encompassing various aspects of Forensic Medical Sciences.

The course aims to offer participants an understanding and core knowledge in forensic medicine, as well as toxicology, forensic science, and the law. All topics mentioned will be thoroughly covered by the high standard of teaching from active practitioners.

The course itself will enable students to attain 60 Continuing Professional Development Credits (CPD) regardless of whether the examination is taken.

Eligibility

The standard of admission to the course will be a relevant University degree in medicine, law, science, social science or a related subject. Alternatively, other professionals with appropriate experience and/or bona fide interest in forensic medicine and science will also be considered.

 

The course will be of interest to:

  • Forensic medical examiners, general practitioners, emergency medicine staff, pathologists, dentists, anatomical pathology technicians, nurses, and other health professionals
  • Solicitors and barristers
  • Members of HM Coroners office, police officers, and support staff
  • Paramedics and others in the emergency services
  • Forensic scientists and toxicologists

Course Structure

The course will run from October 2024 to April 2025 with a break for Christmas and Easter.

Draft timetable can be
Downloaded Here

Satisfactory completion of the course (completion of at least 80% of the course assignments) will lead to the award of a Certificate of Completion. Candidates may then wish to sit for the examination leading to the award of Diploma of Forensic Medical Sciences.

Lectures will include the following topics:

  • Medico-legal aspects of disease
  • Essential forensic pathology and clinical forensic medicine to include recognition and interpretation of wounds and other injuries
  • Medical and scientific investigation of fires
  • Explosions and similar causes of non-natural deaths
  • Child deaths and child abuse
  • Investigation of sexual offences
  • The role of the police in investigation and their relationship to other professions
  • Comparative legal systems, court procedure, principles of law of evidence
  • The Coroner and Procurator Fiscal
  • Coroner's Inquests and Fatal Accident Inquiries
  • The role of the Judge, of the defence, and of the expert witness
  • Principles of forensic toxicology
  • Drugs and poisons including drugs of abuse and the related law
  • Alcohol-scientific and legal aspects
  • Forensic DNA
  • Forensic Odontology
  • Investigation of mass disasters
  • Human Rights and torture investigation
  • Forensic psychiatry

Teaching Method and Assessment 

The DipFMS course will run as a distance learning programme. The online learning can be accessed anytime and anywhere in the world.

The course will be delivered in the form of scheduled live Zoom sessions taking place during the week on Wednesday and Friday afternoon, normally at 3-5pm. Some lectures will be delivered as a pre-recorded session. Students are encouraged to join live lectures, however this is not compulsory as the sessions will be recorded and made available via the online learning platform Moodle if students are not able to join live lectures. The recordings and supplemental documentation will remain accessible until the date of the Diploma examination following the course. We also encourage students to send us questions via email or Moodle, which will be answered by the relevant lecturers.

Students' participation will be tracked for the purposes of accomplishing the required 80% of the course by attandance taken during Zoom sessions and course site participation.

Satisfactory completion of at least 80% of the course will lead to the award of a Certificate of Completion. Candidates may then wish to sit for the examination leading to the award of Diploma of Forensic Medical Sciences.

Course Syllabus

The full course syllabus can be
Downloaded Here

Course Fees for 2024-2025:

The course fee is £1000, payable prior to the commencement of the course.

Enrolling in the Course

Candidates must submit a formal application for admission, electronic copy of an application can be

Downloaded Here

There is an additional fee for undertaking the examination. The details for this, including additional information regarding the examination, can be obtained from the Apothecaries website.

Testimonials

‘I found the topics really interesting and they appear to align well with the curriculum for the DipFMS exam which I intend to sit this year. Blackboard was a very useful portal to access all the course content and the extra resources were very useful. Easy to navigate and contained all the information I required. I found the course assignments challenging and engaging and found the timeliness manageable which aligned well with the lectures. There was no problems getting my questions answered in an informative and timely manner’.

‘I did enjoy the course, especially the wide variety of subjects covered. I appreciated your support in getting it all to work’.

‘I found the course very interesting and what I have learned should prove very useful in the coming months and years. Lecturers appeared enthusiastic about their subjects. The blackboard website was easy to use and maintained in a very organised way which I appreciated a lot’.

‘I greatly enjoyed the course and learned a lot through the lectures as well as the assignments’.

‘The range of topics covered in the course was highly relevant to my daily practice. The Blackboard interface was easy to use and I really appreciate the efficiency. The assignment questions were very relevant and encouraged me to read more about the topics. I learned a lot researching for the questions. The workload was acceptable’.

‘In my opinion, the course was awesome and I enjoyed it very much. I particularly like the questions following each lecture (assignments) since I found them very helpful in learning more about the topics’.

‘I enjoyed the course and it was very well organised. The level of communication was very good. The standard of lectures was also high. It was helpful to complete the question assignments as they helped bring out some important points from the lectures’.

For further details regarding the examination please contact:

Society of Apothecaries of London

Bootstrap Media Previewexamoffice@apothecaries.org
For further details and application form please contact:

Mr Adam Konstanciak

Telephone: +44(0)20 7525 6030
 
Email: info@afms.org.uk
Academy of Forensic Medical Sciences
Miller House, 3 Devonshire Drive, London SE10 8LP
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Academy of Forensic Medical Sciences

Registered Address:
Miller House, 3 Devonshire Drive, London SE10 8LP

Email:
info@afms.org.uk

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