What is a Medical Examiner?

I am in secondary school and we are choosing our options soon, but for this job I have no idea what to choose. Any advice would be well appreciated.

I am super confused about if I want to be a forensic pathologist or not but I love the idea of it. I just don't know if I have the guts for it. I get good grades and am two years ahead of average. Any ideas for working up the guts to get the job?

I'm a 13 year old girl and I find Medical Examiners fascinating. This has interested me for the longest time.

I'm a junior in high school, enrolled in a dual enrollment program. My classmates and I have a project in our criminal justice class. Each student was assigned a role for a court case. I was assigned the medical examiner, and I do not have much of an idea of what I should do. Any advice?

I am a high school senior taking my second semester of classes at college. I dual enroll and once I graduate I plan on going to a local school " Wayne State University," because they are said to have the best mortuary science program around. I really want to know as much about this as possible.

I would absolutely love to hear from a certified medical examiner. Guidance is always helpful. I want to perform autopsies. This I know. I want to make good money too. I have had my eye on this job since I was like five, I swear.

If you are an ME or coroner, please post. I want to hear from you.

i am a 12 year girl who is interested in becoming a medical examiner. yes i have the guts to do it.

@anon157669: An autopsy report lists all relevant information about a body. It will list all fresh scars, bruises and other marks, such as birthmarks. Whether it lists old, faded scars, as from a childhood bike accident, say, is up to the individual M.E.

The report will also list the size, weight and condition of all the internal organs, what any X-rays showed (like if the person had an artificial knee or hip) and the body's height, weight and general condition, as well as hair and eye color, the clothing that was on the body when it was received, and any jewelry or other items that came with the body.

A cause of death may be difficult to determine exactly, depending on the person's age and health at the time of death. If several conditions were present, it may be difficult for the M.E. to determine which condition was the primary cause. Sometimes, on the death certificate (separate from the autopsy report), you'll see the primary cause of death and contributing causes. In my dad's case, for instance, the primary cause of death was bacterial pneumonia. Contributing causes were diabetes and end-stage renal failure.

Saying the "probable" cause of death was natural causes means there are no other obvious causes, like bleeding out from a wound or blow to the head or something similar. An experienced M.E. can usually tell fairly quickly if foul play was involved, and if it wasn't, then "natural causes" is the common cause listed. They've just done the job long enough that they can tell.

The autopsy report will also include a toxicology report, if one was requested by the police, the family, or the M.E. personally. Tox screens often come back several weeks or months after the autopsy report is complete.

I hope this helps.

I really need to know what all the me reports about on a dead person. what do they put down, like any sores, scars, marks, bruising? i mean, is that what they report or if they see things on a body like sores, scars or bruising do they note in in the investigation report? and what is probable cause? saying they think they died from natural causes or they're not sure of the cause of death. Please, I need to know asap. thank you so much.

Cool article. My dad is a mortician and I am very interested in medicine. I love the autopsy part, but 10 percent? that seems like very little. what do ME's do for the rest of the time?

I'm Clara and I've wanted to be a Medical Examiner for as long as i can remember. I'm what some people like to call nerds or geeks so I have a bit more information. I hope that this can help aspiring medical examiners:

Description: They are medical doctors that are responsible for the investigation and examination of the decedent and determining the manner of death.

Salary: The average summary for a medical examiner is a little low (however I hope nobody is doing it for the money). A recent salary average said around $45,000 to $50,000. Though there are advancements were the salary starts at $200,000 and goes up according to location (they are called Chief Medical Examiners and the work load is huge. They perform about 250 autopsies per year; review around 1,450 filed medical examiner cases per year; and finally provide instruction in Forensic Pathology).

Education: The average college education required is 15 to 16 years! Because after a bachelor’s degree in Natural Science they must enter Medical School (by taking the MCAT, only about 30 percent of students enter medical school so have a back up plan). After medical school they must get certified in Pathology; there are several different ways to do training in Pathology so I'm not going to talk about that.

So there you have it! A brief (I mean really brief) overview of medical examiners. I hope this helps some of you out there.

However, not to sound depressing, but have a back up plan. I'm a senior this year and have been talking college courses, therefore, I'll be graduating with most of my credits for an Associates Degree and even I have a back up plan.

Medical school is hard and not for everybody. Good luck! I hope we all get into the field of our dreams and meet :)

Wishing you all luck! (Just not as much as me!)

I'm a 15 year old girl and I've always found medical examiners fascinating and have done two papers on it an am working on a third. i love this field and hope to become one.

To all those who want to go into the field of forensics or becoming an M.E., there is a college called Mount Ida college in Massachusetts and there are two different fields you can go into. There are forensic biology and forensic chemistry. both are highly esteemed, even if they may not be specifically geared to those who want to become an M.E. it will give great insight and help push the dedicated student towards their goals! hope this helped.

For every one who is asking for a M.E. program in school, there is no such thing. You must first get your bachelor's degree, then go to a four year med school. You can have either an MD (Doctor of Medicine) or a DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine).

After that, you must do a four year residency in general pathology, then a one year residency in forensic pathology. If you want to save time (and stress) look for 3+4 programs. These programs allow you to do your bachelor's in three years and be guaranteed to be accepted into a predetermined four year med school, provided your grades are kept above a certain level. You must then go on to do your residencies.

I'm 16 and I really want to be an M.E. What are the right colleges and majors to take?

I'm a 15 year old female and since I was 13 I've wanted to be a M.E. When people ask me if I know what I want to be when I grow up or what I'm interested in doing and I say I'm interested in being a Medical Examiner and they look at me like I'm crazy, but I don't mind because maybe I am.

i am 11 and i want to be an m.e. people think it's disgusting. it's really not!

I'm 14 and highly interested in becoming a medical examiner. i was wondering where might be some good universities for me to take my courses.

I'm 16 year old and I'm interested in an M.E school. I'm searching for the right one. can somebody help to find the right jobs?

I am interested in becoming an m.e but am clueless. i don't know which career i should follow.

I am going to college this fall and want to be a medical examiner, but I do not know what to major in?

so any medical examiners that can help me out there. i really need to find some more information! and if anyone knows any other articles or websites please post your suggestions!

thanks guys!

hey guys i love this article!

i was wondering if their are any schools that offered a good medical examiner program and if anyone could recommend them to me

I have been reading the article again and i have a question for any medical examiners out there. i know this article says that a medical examiner averages only about 10 percent of their time doing autopsies and i wanted to know if that is 100 percent true because i figure they might be doing a little more time in the lab.

thanks to all who answer, sky.

i am 14 and am doing a career project on being a medical examiner. I've wanted to be this for a long time and i am now realizing that being a medical examiner is definitely what i want to do, thanks to all the info i am finding out.

When my friends tell me i am crazy for wanting to be a medical examiner, I smile because this is truly the greatest job on the face of this earth. thanks for all this great info!

I'm 15 and i have been interested in being a medical examiner for a while. i just have a little trouble finding the right school but I'm looking though, but still, I'm continuing my search.

Hello my name is Jessica J. I wish I could say that I have wanted to be an M.E for as long as I can remember but I can't. I have always loved crime and medical stuff on T.V. and gross stuff that would make other people sick, fascinates me.

Just last year I got the chance to go on a trip with my best friend's mom to Atlanta, Georgia to a body exhibit. I think that may have been the best experience of my life. That's when I started wanting to be an M.E.

I've always wanted excitement in my life and M.E's have the best job ever! I'm 17 and still in high school, so I thought starting on my way to becoming an M.E would be perfect! Thanks for the info. Dr. G rocks!

I'm 14 years old and i'm very interested in being a medical examiner. I'm really thinking about going to college and majoring in becoming a medical examiner.

I'm fifteen and I've always wanted to be a medical examiner. i do realize i can't be flunking out of school like i am now, but this inspires me to turn it around. i can't wait to start my future. :)

I'm 15 and i already love this line of work. I've been obsessing over doing this since i was seven and I'm finally getting help to pick my classes so i can become a medical examiner.

i love this line of work. i would love to work in cases in which i may help find justice for the deceased in any way, and doing this is amazing.

i am 17 and I want to be a medical examiner or paramedic but i want to know how much you make a year if you are a medical examiner?

i am 14 and at first i thought that i wanted to be a mortician but after my mother told me what they do, i realized that their job is kind of boring, so i want to be a medical examiner like Dr.G

I'm 14 and for a long time have been interested in becoming a ME. This article was very interesting, and it was nice to hear from others who are also interested in becoming a medical examiner.

i'm going to be a medical examiner!(:

I love it! My favorite Medical Examiner is Dr. G. I've always wanted to be a Medical Examiner. the only thing is: I'm scared of dead people!

A medical examiner: Everything about this job is

something I've wanted to do for as long as i can remember. this job has a thrill and i can't

put it into words but this is a great career.

This is a wonderful job that i am very interested in. this is great.

i am 17 and i have been to one autopsy already and am going to two more, i love all of it although i don't want to become a medical examiner.

This is a really good website on info about a medical examiner. I really want to be one.

well i am 15, about to be 16 and as long as i can remember i've wanted to be a medical examiner. Everything about it exites me! Being able to find out how the person died and all that is really interesting. My favorit m.e is Dr. G.

i am 14. thanks for all the information. i have wanted to be a medical examiner since when i was 8. i really do like this job. i want to know: what do we need to be a medical examiner so i can get prepared? my favorite medical examiner is Dr. Micheal baden. i love all his books about being a medical examiner.

i am a 17 year old junior in high school and since i was like 9 or 10, i have wanted to be just like alex on "csi: miami" and now that i am old enough to make up my mind and know what i want to do, i am sure i want to do it.

My Mom is a forensic pathologist in San Diego, after 20 years of full time study which involved a number of degrees, including law, which was vital for her career choice. She loves her job and is always telling us stories about her fascinating day at work. I am currently at medical school earning my MD but don't really know what I'm going to do with it?

i am 15 years old and i want to be a medical examiner. i am very interested in becoming a medical examiner. my mom knows that i want to become a medical examiner and i think they make a lot of money. i want to go to college an study medical examining. how many years will it take to become a medical examiner?

i'm looking to be a medical examiner when i get out of high school and begin college. i've done my reseach of the profession and this article happened to be the most helpful to me.

How do i become a medical examiner?

I like this medical examiner thing.

i'm 15 years old and i want to get all of my college plans ready for when the time comes. i decided i wanted to be a medical examiner because i want to be in the medical field but i don't want ruin someone's life by making a mistake and i don't like seeing people in pain. but that's a bummer that they only spend 10 percent of their time time preforming autopsies because i was looking forward to that.

What field would a ME major in while attending college? One suggestion I've gathered is getting a B.A. in biology, then in medical school focusing on pathology. Is there a better path than that?

i'm 17 and i really wanted this kind of info to help me focus on medical field studies. and i hope everything goes easy because i will be stuyding to be a medical examiner.

I am a 20 year old and I am starting school in the fall and I do not know what my major will be. I love the interesting work that an ME does but I wonder if I can do it? My father says it's just a pipe dream. *I don't know anymore.*

How many years will it take to become an examiner?

What is the average salary of a medical examiner?

I am 16 and at the point where I must decide what I want to do with my life, so that I can go about the business of doing it. I've considered medical/ criminal work in the past but I wasn't sure. Medical school and practice is a difficult and expensive way of life. Only those most dedicated need apply.

I asked my mom if she thought I could do it. She said yes without hesitation, then leveled one of her patented 'Mom' looks at me and said, "...but you've got to want it." From my research, including this article, I think I do.

I'm 14 years old and for the longest time I wanted to a criminalist. My parents and I sat down and talked about the chance that I wouldn't like being a criminalist. So we decided on Medical Examiner. That way I still do science and I'm not confined to one work environment. I'm glad I found this article! It really helped me understand what I needed to get the job, as far as requirements.

I am recently graduated from high school and i have never really knew what exactly i wanted to seek my future career in until the last year..and i wanted to be a ME. So a very helpful teacher had helped me look up information in the steps to seek this career further. And some of the information we had found had said and i quote "you have to be an overachiever throughout your junior high, and high school."

That where i kind of found a problem, because i slacked and got by as little as possible, and looking back now i regret it. i wish i had paid a lot more attention, and worried more about my future education than who was having a party on friday night.

So all im trying to say is please take your education seriously and pay plenty of attention...

Thanks...

I am 13 years old and my mom was talking to me about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I knew it was something within the medical field but I didn't know the term for it. Now I know its a medical examiner which is what I want to be. This article helped a lot thanks!

my name is megan, im 17 years old, and planning on going into the medical field when i reach college. thank you for this article, it really helped with my decision.

My name is Emmaline Brooks I'm 13 years old and I've wanted to be this since I was about 8 years old, but i'm not sure which term it is. I'd always called it a Forensic Anatomist, but what you described in the article is Exactly what i've always talked about. So what is the proper term?

Im 12 years old I really think that this job is very exciting and i think im really interested in it! :) Thanks for the article. It helped me on my school project! :-)

I'm reading this book called "Dead Center" and the narrator is a physician assistant who went on to become a ME. Is that still possible, or is a M.D. absolutely required to be a ME?

Well, not really 10%, but you're right. About not spending all my time doing autopsies, I mean. But you're not right about "Crossing Jordan." :) It's a great show (not 100% accurate, though) and they're not autopsying somebody all the time.

Otherwise, an excellent article! Regards from an ME! :)) P.S. I really hate when people call me "coroner." It... I don't know... makes me feel like a creep. :)

im going into the medical field and i was hoping to be a medical examiner and i found this article very interesting!

Great info. I'm doing a report on careers in chemistry that has to do with crime. Every bit of info in this article helped me with what I need to find. My partner will be happy I did some extra research! Hopefully my teacher will too!