Contact Session of Certificate Course in Forensic Odontology-Blended Module -2019

Certificate Course in Forensic Odontology is a blended programme conducted by Centre for Forensic Odontology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. The blended module involves 6 months of online sessions in the form of video lectures, audio content, word documents, links, pdf documents, assignments and online tests. In continuation with the 6 month online module, a contact session was conducted from 2nd December 2019 to 6th December 2019 at the MCODS, Mangalore. Dr. Nitin Agrawal, Forensic Specialist, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Dr. Samarika Dahal presently working Assistant Professor at Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Katmandu, Nepal and a Consultant Forensic Odontologist, INFOdont, International Network for Forensic Odontology, Kathmandu, Nepal were the resource persons for the programme. They are qualified forensic experts trained at University of Dundee and have vast experience in the field of Forensic Odontology by being constantly involved in identification in various air crashes and natural disasters in Nepal and in various other countries. The contact session involved an intensive hands-on training on Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) protocols with a mock crime scene workup. The emphasis was given to the odontological aspects in building the biological profile of skeletal remains recovered for comparative dental identification. The workshop included training on exhumation, extraction of antemortem data from interviews, postmortem dental examination, collection of evidence from the scene of disaster, comparative dental identification etc. Dr. Suresh Shetty, Professor of Forensic Medicine (State Medicolegal consultant) and his team including Dr Jagadish Rao and Dr Pavanchand Shetty, both district Medicolegal consultants where the resource persons from the Department of Forensic Medicine, Kasturba Medical College. Dr. Suresh Shetty conducted a session on the courtroom proceedings, protocols and importance of Legal issues involved in Forensics. Dr. Jagadish Rao conducted an elaborate demonstration and hands-on of Autopsy with special emphasis on oral examination and oral autopsy. Dr. Pavanchand Shetty tutored the candidates on the essentials of evidence processing and report writing. The inhouse resource persons from Centre for Forensic Odontology conducted sessions on -Age estimation using CBCT and radiographs (Dr. Ceena Denny and Dr. Nandita Shenoy) - Sex determination using hand wrist radiographs (Dr. Nidhin Philip Jose), and - Bitemark analysis using overlays (Dr. Nandita KP and Dr. Puneeth Hegde) The Valedictory programme was held on 5th December, 2019 at MCODS, Mangalore. The function began with a welcome note by Dr.Nidhi Manaktala, Associate Professor, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Mangalore. Dr. Srikant N., coordinator of the Centre and Head of Department, Oral Pathology and Microbiology, MCODS, Mangalore presented a brief overview of the aim, activities and progress of the centre. The chief guest Dr. Dilip G Naik, Dean, MCODS, Mangalore, emphasized the importance of the forensic odontology and related fields in dentistry and the need for collaboration between different institutes in research and academia. The resource persons Dr. Nitin Agrawal (introduced by Dr. Ashwin Rao, Associate Professor, Department of Paedodontics) and Dr. Samarika Dahal (introduced by Dr. Nandita KP, Associate Professor in Department of Oral Pathology) were felicitated at the programme. The function ended by distribution of certificates to the candidates enrolled for the batch of 2019. The function ended with the vote of thanks delivered by Dr. Amitha J Lewis, Associate Professor, Department of Oral Pathology. The candidates gave a positive feedback about the online and offline course. About the course The Centre for Forensic Odontology runs an online as well as blended module of the Certificate Course in Forensic Odontology. Interested candidates may contact the coordinator at forensic.odontology@manipal.edu