A new degree designed to equip doctors and scientists with the expertise needed to investigate deaths resulting from acts of genocide, terrorism, natural disasters such as Tsunami, transport accidents and drug abuse will be launched this week at an international Forensic Science conference in Hong Kong.
The post-graduate qualification will help counter a world-wide shortage of forensic medicine experts by equipping graduates with the range of interdisciplinary skills needed to counter changing world threats.
The University of Edinburgh has linked with the Universities of Florida, and Canberra in this first such on-line global collaboration, to share expertise and deliver courses via the internet. Topics including forensic science, human identification, chemical and trace evidence and the legal aspects of forensic practice. The degree course will also train its graduates to investigate and report on cases of physical and sexual abuse of children and on sudden unexpected death in infancy cases. Training in autopsy science will be run from Edinburgh, which is a world-renowned forensic centre.
The Masters Degree in Legal Medicine, only open to qualified doctors and dentists, will involve three years of part-time study and the first group of students will begin the course in January.