The noun forensic medicine has one meaning the branch of medicine that

interprets and establishes the medical facts in civil or criminal law cases. Also
called legal medicine or medical jurisprudence.

The branch of medicine that interprets or establishes the facts in civil or
criminal law cases also calledmedical jurisprudence.
Medical jurisprudence is a science of applying medical facts to legal
problems. Routine tasks include filling out birth and death certificates,
deciding insurance eligibility, and reporting infectious disease. Perhaps more
significant is medical testimony in court. When merely relating observations,
doctors are ordinary witnesses; interpreting facts based on medical
knowledge makes them expert witnesses, required to present their opinions
without bias toward the side that called them. Conflicts between medicine and
law can occur, usually over medical confidentiality.
Forensic medicine is one of the largest and most important areas of forensic
science. Also called legal medicine or medical jurisprudence, it applies medical
knowledge to criminal and civil law. Areas of medicine that are commonly
involved in forensic medicine are anatomy, pathology, and psychiatry.
Medical jurisprudence or forensic medicine, the application of medical
science to legal problems. It is typically involved in cases concerning blood
relationship, mental illness, injury, or death resulting from violence. Autopsy
(see post-mortem examination) is often used to determine the cause of
death, particularly in cases where foul play is suspected. Post-mortem
examination can determine not only the immediate agent of death (e.g.
gunshot wound, poison), but may also yield important contextual information,
such as how long the person has been dead, which can help trace the killing.
Forensic medicine has also become increasingly important in cases involving
rape. Modern techniques use such specimens as semen, blood, and hair
samples of the criminal found in the victim's bodies, which can be compared
to the defendant's genetic makeup through a technique known as DNA
fingerprinting; this technique may also be used to identify the body of a
victim. The establishment of serious mental illness by a licensed psychologist
can be used in demonstrating incompetency to stand trial, a technique which
may be used in the insanity defense (see insanity), albeit infrequently. The
synonym of forensic medicine is forensic pathology.


Medical Jurisprudence knowledge of law in relation to the practice of medicine .
Legal medicine application of medicine to legal case
Juris Doctor
The degree awarded to an individual upon the successful completion of law school.
Juris doctor, or doctor of Jurisprudence, commonly abbreviated J.D., is the degree commonly conferred b
y law schools. It is required inall states except California (which includes an option called law office study)
to gain Admission to the
Bar. Gaining admission to the barmeans obtaining a license to practice law in a particular state or in feder
al court.
Until the 1930s and 1940s, many states did not require a person to have a law school degree in order to o
btain a license to practice law.Most lawyers qualified for a license by working as an apprentice for an esta
blished attorney for a specified period. By the 1950s moststates required a law school degree. State legisl
atures established this requirement to raise the standards of practicing attorneys and torestrict the numbe
r of attorneys. The degree offered by most Colleges and
Universities was called a master of laws (L.L.M.) degree. Inthe 1960s, as colleges and universities increa
sed the requirements for a law degree, the J.D. replaced the L.L.M. as the primary degreeawarded by law
schools.
The specific requirements for a J.D. vary from school to school. Generally, the requirements include comp
leting a minimum number ofclass hours each academic period, and taking certain mandatory courses suc
h as contracts, TORTS, Civil Procedure, and Criminal
Law inthe first year of law school. All states require that students pass a course on Professional
Responsibility before receiving a J.D. degree