How to become an M.D. specialized in Forensic Medicine

Graduation as Medical Doctor (M.D.) (duration: six years)

A six-year course to become a Forensic Medical Specialist, broken down into:

• Basic training (acquisition of basic skills for all physicians after graduation) for 9 months, which takes place in hospitals: three months of surgical specialties plus six months of conservative subjects serve as the basis for postgraduate education (emergency competencies, primary care measures, recognition of the most common diseases)

• thereafter specific training to become a Forensic Medical Specialist for another 63 months, comprising two parts:

  • Special subject-specific basic training lasting 36 months: Basic skills throughout the specialized field of Forensic Medicine
  • Special subject-specific specialization in modules lasting 27 months: In-depth training in sub-areas of the specialized field of Forensic Medicine

The degree is completed by sitting the specialist examination

• Knowledge of classical forensic medicine (death, physical changes, external examination, injuries, types of injuries and how they occur);

• Knowledge of normal and pathological anatomy (natural death); training in post-mortem examinations and special post-mortem techniques (embryo, newborns, toddlers, road traffic accidents, mors in tabula);

• Identification (disaster medicine);

• Traffic-related medicine (examination of corpses and living people, special post-mortem techniques, biomechanics, fitness to drive, suitability to drive);

• Termination of pregnancy, criminal abortions;

• Ancestry issues, fertility, paternity serology, hereditary biology, human genetics, examinations associated with sexual crimes, child abuse, examining sex offenders;

• Knowledge of toxicology, in particular identification of poisoning cases with typical changes and morphology of poisoning;

• Training in alcohol-related medicine (detection, effects, assessment);

• Training related to addictive drugs (detection, effects, assessment);

• Biological trace analysis (blood, semen, sweat, hair, urine, stool); chemical, physical, microscopic and DNA methods of detection;

• Knowledge of occupational and environmental diseases;

• Documentation (findings and expert opinions, description and storage of evidence, photographs, special microscopy, collection and preservation of bodies and body parts);

• Knowledge of the legislation applicable to the practice of medicine, in particular criminal and civil law, as well as health-related legislation;

• Assessments, in particular expert opinions; evaluating invalidity, ability to work and stand trial, suitability for detention, injuries and the effects of injuries for living people; how injuries occur; assessing medical malpractice, in particular mors in tabula, anaesthetic and transfusion accidents.

According to Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, an expert witness is a “person who on the basis of the evidence and his:her expertise, is in a position to establish fascts or to draw and substantiate legally relevant conclusions.” An expert witness is therefore a person who has above-average expertise, usually acquired through university education and corresponding experience in a field.

An expert is appointed by the relevant court when specialist knowledge is needed to investigate or take evidence and to clarify the facts. They must remain completely objective and unbiased at all times and are only there to assist in the decision-making process – not to actually make the decision. Expert witnesses carry a great deal of responsibility and have a considerable influence on judicial decisions.

Their work is regulated by the Austrian Act on Expert Witnesses and Interpreters (Sachverständigen- und Dolmetschengesetz) and registration as an expert witness in a particular field on a so-called list of experts which is carried out by the Federal Ministry of Justice. To become an expert witness, you must have at least five years' experience in the relevant position and field, and pass an examination before a board of examiners. Inclusion on the list of experts is limited to a period of five years and may be extended for a further five years upon application. Remuneration for expert work is regulated by the Law on Entitlement to Fees (Gebührenanspruchgesetz).