The authors analyzed foreign experience in the training of forensic experts. This experience is compared with the corresponding training system for forensic doctors that existed in Ukraine until 2022. A comparative analysis of the working curricula of pathologists and forensic doctors was carried out. It is shown that the proposed system of training forensic medical experts based on a three- month specialization of pathologists can potentially lead to a decrease in the qualifi cation level of forensic medical examination in Ukraine, since such a training period is not enough. It is proposed to adjust the training program for pathologists from this year by combining the educational material of pathological anatomy, clinical pathophysiology and certain sections of forensic medicine, with the expansion of the competencies of a pathologist. The authors also propose to change the name of the specialty from «Pathological Anatomy» to «Pathology». The teaching of forensic medical examination during the postgraduate training of pathologists should be carried out by highly qualifi ed teachers in the specialty «Forensic Мedicine».

The existing system of studying forensic medicine in higher medical schools in Ukraine is analyzed by the author. Based on their own experience of scientific and practical work, the authors came to the conclusion that this system needs to be adjusted. According to the authors, the adjustment should include a reorientation of the teaching of forensic medicine to students to study the most necessary amount of theoretical material that is necessary for the practical work of a specialist in the field of forensic medicine during investigative actions. The authors propose to consider mastering these practical skills as the main goal of studying forensic medicine at the undergraduate stage.

The aim of the study is detailed analysis of the literature on the existing methods for determining the lifetime and inflicting of mechanical damage. It was found that the existing methods have very large discrepancies in assessing the infliction of damage. The use of the same research methods by different researchers has lead to results that may differ. This can lead to obtaining insufficiently substantiated or even erroneous conclusions about the infliction of mechanical damage. The authors explain this by the fact that the body reacts to damage by the development of a typical pathological process – inflammation. Forensic methods that exist for determining the age of wound are aimed at obtaining an expert assessment of individual manifestations of the pathogenesis of inflammation by morphological, biochemical and immunological methods. Determination of the age of wound is actually the determination of a specific stage in the pathogenesis of inflammation, which is observed at the time of the examination and the timing of the development, which is known from the literature. Taking into account the stages of the pathogenesis of inflammation as a typical pathological process, in the area of tissue damage makes it possible to more accurately determine the duration of the infliction of mechanical damage. The individual reactivity of the organism, which determines the features of the course of any typical pathological process, will determine the individual timing of the development of certain morphological, biochemical and immunological changes in the area of damage.

The foreign experience in the training of forensic experts is analyzed in the article. This experience is compared with the corresponding training system for forensic doctors that existed in Ukraine until 2022. A reasoned assessment of the reform of the training of forensic medical experts in Ukraine is given. Proposals have been made to change this reform, which consist in the fact that pathologists would be trained instead of pathologist doctors. The proposed concept of a training program for pathologists is a synthesis of training programs for pathologists and forensic medical experts. According to the authors’concept of the pathologist should acquire a sufficient amount of competencies for practical work as a pathologist and a scope of competencies that will be acceptable for training a forensic medical expert on its basis.

The authors conducted a study of the current state of forensic medical examination regarding the identification of persons who died in mass killings. Existing problems of forensic medical identification of persons in difficult conditions were revealed. The authors identified ways to create expert technologies, the development and use of which can significantly improve the state of identification of persons in conditions of mass death.