[The academic discipline 'forensic medicine' as an important component of the training of dental practitioners].

The authors discuss the conceptual issues of the academic program designed to teach forensic medicine to the students of the stomatological faculties of educational medical institutions. The program has been elaborated in conformity with the federal state educational standard of higher professional education in the speciality stomatology'. It defines the goals and objectives of this discipline, the scope of its competences, the subject matter and the content, the requirements to the studies and educational work, control over the level of its success, academic progress, and other aspects of the training activities, with special emphasis being placed on the formation of the general professional competence of the students to enable them to work independently after they graduated from the institute. The program takes into consideration the latest achievements in forensic medical science and their practical applications. Much attention is given to the organizational and processual aspects of forensic medicine, thanatology, general and special traumatology, mechanical asphyxia, effects of the environmental factors, intoxication, forensic medical expertise of living subjects and material evidence.