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About us

The Division of Forensic Medicine and Pathology is tasked with the medicolegal investigation of unnatural deaths (from a clinical service perspective), with its service platform extending across eight (8) Medicolegal Forensic Pathology Service (FPS) Facilities in the Southern Cluster of Gauteng, dealing with ±28% of all the unnatural death investigations in South Africa and ± 80% of the unnatural death investigations in Gauteng – amounting to around 16000 cases per annum.

The Joint Staff, Academic and Registrar training platform extends to three (3) of the eight (8) FPS Medicolegal Mortuaries in Southern Gauteng, viz Johannesburg, Germiston and Diepkloof Forensic Pathology Service Facilities. The Division runs its academic program through mainly the Johannesburg FPS Facility.

Since 2012 the academic program within the Division has expanded to offering a Bachelor of Health Sciences Honours program in Forensic Sciences (modular based) as well as Master of Science (Medicine) in Forensic Medicine (MSc(Med)) and PhD in Forensic Medicine programs.

The Division also teaches actively in two WITS Undergraduate programs, viz. MBBCh GEMP III and IV and the WITS LLB final year program. The Division has also developed a scientific Human Decedent Identification Unit (since 2017).

The Division does research in the following fields: forensic anthropology and taphonomy, forensic entomology, forensic toxicology, forensic and investigative psychology, forensic medicine and pathology, and other general fields of forensic medicine.

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