MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE MOCK TRIAL COMPETION

During the course of undergraduate medical and dental training; students are fairly exposed to medical ethics and medical jurisprudence, but training in a resource poor country like Nigeria, with an outrageous patient to doctor ratio, and reliance on the ability to improvise whilst still knowing the standard practice; only makes erring more likely. It is possible to be inundated by the workload to the point of making minor human errors, or at worse being on the wrong side of ethical provisions.

Within the past few months, medical and dental students from the University of Calabar had developed an oppurtunity for learning and practical exposure to Medical Jurisprudence. With the growing awareness of patients about their rights and availability of legal services, it has become needful for future doctors to become exposed to medical jurisprudence.

Medical Jurisprudence would loosely mean the branch of law that applies to medicine and the application of law to medical science.
We had opined that there was no better place for medical and dental undergraduates to get this exposure than in the court room.

For the maiden edition of the Medical Jurisprudence Mock Trial, we are partnering with the Moot and Mock Society of the University of Calabar. Two undergraduate legal teams would represent two "medical practitioners" as the court determines their fate.

The Bench would consists of seasoned lawyers, consultant forensic pathologists and medical specialists who have sat on ethical boards.

In Nigeria, criminal cases are tried in the regular courts but the Medical and Dental Disciplinary Tribunal is set up to try specific offences under the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act
.
Although this tribunal has the status of a high court of the federal Republic of Nigeria it has jurisdiction to try civil/tortous matters but however cannot try criminal cases.

Medical and Dental undergraduates are highly encouraged to be in attendance including law students and the general public. While we expect to enjoy the thrill of legal fireworks from both teams of experienced court room advocates, we expect to have a teachable oppurtunity that would leave a lasting impression for the next generation of professionals and probably serve as a catalyst for similar events in other campuses in Nigeria and a possible review of the medical curriculum where necessary.

The event is scheduled to hold as follows;
Thursday: 27th May 2021
Venue: Moot Court, University of Calabar.
Time: 1pm Prompt.

Announcers:
Daniel Faithful Miebaka
President, Rivers State Medical and Dental Students' Association/ Founder, Medical Jurisprudence Advocacy Initiative.
Utang Asuquo
Chairman, Moot and Mock Society, University of Calabar.

The event would be live streamed on Facebook and Zoom, to join kindly register: https:///RBrLrQZPOM