FY 21 Forensic Fellowship Grant Program

The Montgomery County Coroner's Office (MCCO) provides professional autopsy services to 36 counties in Ohio and 1 county in Indiana.  Over 7400 deaths were reported to the MCCO in 2020.  Complete forensic postmortem examinations were conducted on 2263 cases.  The problem to be addressed is the dramatic increase in the number of autopsies since 2017 due in large part to an "opiate crisis" involving heroin, fentanyl, and fentanyl analogues affecting our area of responsibility.  The MCCO had a record-setting year in 2017, with over 6,200 deaths reported, which was surpassed in 2019 with 6492 deaths reported and surpassed again in 2020 with 7444 deaths reported.  There is a nation-wide shortage of forensic pathologists and it is critical to train new doctors in forensic pathology to fill those vacancies.  In addition, the MCCO has a critical need in training a fellow to perform forensic postmortem examinations due to the number of autopsies projected.  The MCCO offers an overall program consisting of diversified, comprehensive training that affords trainees extensive hands-on experience in all aspects of forensic pathology.  The resident's anticipated outcome/major deliverables include successful completion of 200-250 autopsies, demonstrating significant scholarly activity as defined by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and successfully demonstrating the six ACGME competencies which are patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and system-based practice.  Grant funding is vital to accomplish this mission and to provide continued support to the 37 counties we serve and to address the nationwide shortage of forensic pathologists, requiring the creation of a pipeline of forensically trained doctors through forensic pathology fellowship programs.  Our goals and objectives include training a doctor in forensic pathology through the MCCO ACGME accredited fellowship program.