Forensic Medicine: Foundations and Core Vocabulary

This easy-level mock covers the foundational vocabulary, core concepts, and essential principles of forensic medicine that every NFSU MSc and FACT candidate must master. All thirty questions are pitched at the definitional level.

Questions cover: definition and scope of forensic medicine (medicine + law; living and dead; injuries + court testimony), cause of death and its documentation in the MCCD (Part I causal chain; Part II contributory conditions), post-mortem lividity/livor mortis (gravitational blood settling; fixed at 6–12 hours), rigor mortis onset sequence (Nysten's law: face and jaw first, lower limbs last), post-mortem interval definition (time since death; estimated from multiple methods; always a range), algor mortis (body cools ~1°C per hour; Rule of Thumb; Henssge nomogram), manner of death classification (homicide + suicide + accident + natural + undetermined), asphyxia definition and signs (oxygen deficiency; petechiae + cyanosis + congestion + right heart dilatation), Tardieu spots location (conjunctivae + pleura + pericardium + facial skin), strangulation types (ligature strangulation vs manual/throttling), hanging definition (body weight as constricting force; angled ligature mark), hanging vs strangulation ligature mark differences (oblique + gap vs horizontal + complete), drowning autopsy findings (frothy fluid + emphysema aquosum + diatom test + Paltauf haemorrhages), vital reaction (ante-mortem tissue response; haemorrhage + inflammation + healing), incised wound features (sharp edge; longer than deep; clean margins; no bridges), laceration vs incised wound (blunt force; irregular margins; tissue bridges; abrasion), contusion mechanism (blunt force; ruptured vessels; intact skin; extravasated blood), abrasion features (friction removes epidermis; serum; debris; direction shown), decomposition stages (fresh → bloat → active decay → advanced decay → skeletal), adipocere formation (wet + warm + anaerobic → fat saponification → grave wax), defence wound (hands + forearms; victim blocks weapon; alive and conscious), hesitation wound (shallow parallel cuts near deeper wound; suggests self-infliction), hyoid bone fracture significance (compressive neck force; occurs in strangulation + hanging + direct blow), carbon monoxide poisoning appearance (cherry-red skin from carboxyhaemoglobin), MCCD structure and purpose (Part I causal chain; Part II contributory; death registration), forensic entomology for PMI (blow fly developmental stages + temperature = minimum PMI), mummification (dry heat + circulating air = desiccation; shape preserved), inquest under Section 176 BNSS 2023 (Executive Magistrate inquiry; suspicious death; can order PM), stab wound features (deeper than wide; pointed instrument; external size ≠ depth), and medico-legal autopsy indications (ordered by police/magistrate; sudden + unnatural + suspicious + custodial).

Topics covered:

• Core definitions: forensic medicine scope, cause vs manner vs mechanism of death, MCCD
• Post-mortem changes: livor mortis, rigor mortis, algor mortis, decomposition, adipocere, mummification
• Asphyxia: types, signs, petechiae, strangulation, hanging, drowning, CO poisoning
• Mechanical injuries: incised wounds, lacerations, contusions, abrasions, stab wounds, defence wounds, hesitation wounds
• PMI estimation: all methods including forensic entomology
• Legal framework: inquest (BNSS 2023), medico-legal autopsy indications, MCCD

Each question cites Nandy's Principles of Forensic Medicine. Allow 30 minutes.