What is exactly a coroner,medical examiner and a forensic pathologist?
Answers:
It is a matter of semantics, and what part of the world you live in. From its artistic role in English law, the Coroner has evolved to reasonably establish causes of unnatural death. In Victoria, Australia, the Coroners are magistrates (lesser judges). As others have mentioned above, coroners within different parts of the world may have varying professional backgrounds and are chosen in different ways.
The medical examiner and forensic pathologist are synonymous. They are medical doctors specialised contained by pathology (the study of disease), then further specialised in unnatural causes of demise. In Victoria, Australia, the forensic pathologist provides reports to the coroner, and gives sworn evidence in court (e.g. murder trials), including the Coroner's Court.
Hey,
A coroner is an elected or appointed official who have no background in medical or forensic science. A coroner is a politician who wins adequate votes to become the incumbent. He can be a sheriff, a dentist, a baker, or local pizza shop owner. He will have little or no knowledge of forensic investigation.
During the past quarter century, the rules of the bureau of the coroner have evolved such that many jurisdictions today require the coroner to be a licensed medical doctor. He may be an internist, a gynecologist, or dermatologist but does not necessarily hold to be a pathologist or a forensic pathologist. He may not have the qualifications to perform the duties of a coroner. For this judgment, the medical examiner system has evolved.
A medical examiner (ME) is a doctor of medicine who is licensed to practice medicine. Most ME's are trained surrounded by pathology, particularly forensic pathology. This means they have specialized training surrounded by pathology and training and experience in forensics. A forensic pathologist is a clinical pathologist who has special training in the area of forensics. He is usually the person in charge of a crime lab. He is an overseer of all aspects of destruction and criminal injury. The primary duty of the forensic pathologist is to perform forensic autopsies, which are needed to determine the cause and manner of departure.
Hope this helps, Source(s): Medical School
Mathew is more or less correct. Still, in oodles places, the "coroner" is not medically trained at all. They tend to be persons in the regulation enforcement community, and many are elected officials. The statutory duty of "coroner" is to certify the deaths, which medium to fill out the death certificate that get filed with the Bureau of Vital Statistics.
The definition of a medical examiner depends on the jurisdiction. In some states, there is a state-wide medical examiner system. In a larger number of states, lone the larger cities are the only ones with medical examiner systems, with the "coroner" decide which cases to sent to the medical examiner office for autopsy. In some jurisdictions, the "medical examiner" may be a doctor (family medicine, ophthalmology, pediatrician) of any specialty, and the jurisdiction have some sort of contract with a nearby forensic pathologist. The doctor has more training than lay people in understanding disease processes, and is more accurate in certify the deaths, and deciding which ones to refer.
It gets even more convoluted and complex, within that board certification in clinical pathology is not required to be a forensic pathologist, but board certification within anatomic pathology is required before one is allowed to sit for the boards in forensic pathology. However, many, except most, forensic pathologists are boarded in clinical path also.
There is really only one crucial organization for medical examiners in the US, NAME, or National Association of Medical Examiners. You can go to their website at www.thename.org. They enjoy accreditation standards for medical examiner offices. Most medical examiners who work in accredited office are board certified forensic pathologists.
Almost never is the forensic pathologist in charge of a crime lab, that is up to the PhD types. Source(s): It's what I do. Finaldx = final diagnosis
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