Postgraduate - UnitFOR4004 - Elements of the forensic sciences

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine
Offered	Southbank First semester 2014 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Mrs Katherine Davey

Quota applies

This unit is quota restricted. Selection is on a first-in, first enrolled basis. For further information please contact the Postgraduate Course Administrator via email postgrad.courses@vifm.org or phone 03 9684 4115.

Synopsis

Practitioners need to be familiar with the scope and limitations of the various branches of forensic science to know when and how they may assist in particular cases. Topics to be covered include the principles of forensic science, forensic biology, forensic botany, crime scene examination, specimen collections, forensic anthropology, forensic odontology and forensic entomology.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit the student is expected to:

show familiarity with the principles of forensic science generally and its scope;
comprehend the scope and limitations of forensic science generally and its subsections in particular;
understand the tests and analyses used in braches of forensic science to assist in the proper application of their results in particular cases;
know what specimens would be applicable for forensic science analysis in particular cases;
demonstrate competence in the collection storage and security of forensic specimens;
evaluate results of forensic scientific analysis meaningfully.

Assessment

Case report from the literature (1500 words) (25%)
Case report provided by the Unit Coordinator (1500 words) (25%)
Case study sourced from VIFM case (1500 words) (25%)
Assignment (1500 words) (25%)