The medicolegal death investigation (MDI) workforce is experiencing a national shortage of practicing board-certified forensic pathologists. Furthermore, there is variability in the practice of death investigation across the United States, resulting in an inconsistent provision of MDI services. This program was initiated in 2017 to help address MDI workforce needs to increase the number of practicing board-certified forensic pathologists, as well as to support medical examiner-coroner (ME/C) offices’ needs to implement and follow quality standards and performance criteria in an effort to provide consistent and equitable application of death investigation services.
The goals of this program are the following:
- Increase the supply of qualified forensic pathology practitioners.
- Strengthen the quality and consistency of ME/C services.
In collaboration with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Forensics Training and Technical Assistance (Forensics TTA) Program, led by RTI International, offers a team of subject matter experts who provide expertise and assistance to grantees in support of BJA’s overall mission to strengthen America’s criminal justice system. For more information on the ME/C program, as well as the services the Forensics TTA program offers, please visit the Forensics TTA Program website.
Visit the Forensic Sciences page for additional resources and to learn more about how BJA supports this topical area.
Why This Matters
This program helps address the extreme shortage of board-certified forensic pathologists in the United States, as underscored in the 2019 Report to Congress: Needs Assessment of Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices on strengthening forensic science in the United States. It also provides ME/C offices with the resources to become accredited and maintain that accreditation. Accreditation provides an independent measure of quality assurance by assessing that an office maintains written policies and procedures and adequate staff, equipment, training, and suitable physical facilities to produce a forensically documented, accurate, and credible death investigation product. Further, this program helps to address the increasing workloads experienced at ME/C offices, which have been exacerbated by the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Grantee Spotlight and Program Highlights
Marion County Coroner’s Office, IN
The Marion County Coroner’s Office has a unique fellowship program through their partnership with Indiana University School of Medicine which significantly enhances the education, training, and experience of forensic pathologists. This partnership is being utilized to develop a pipeline of future forensic pathologists by encouraging undergraduate and medical students to consider the area of forensic pathology as they make career decisions. Marion County’s efforts are critical to addressing the national shortage of forensic pathologists by not only focusing on training fellows but also recruiting students into the field.
Furthermore, Marion County is the only county in Indiana that has an accredited forensic fellowship program. The Marion County Coroner’s Office was awarded funds through the BJA Strengthening the ME/C System Program to support the training of a forensic pathology fellow in their office. The office was awarded BJA fellowship funding at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. COVID significantly impacted the case load and the office’s ability to conduct investigations, creating a challenge for the office’s operation. During that time, county death investigations increased, and the office lost several critical staff including pathologists and investigators. Internally, the office also faced a lack of funding from the county to keep up with staffing needed to adequately conduct death investigations. The BJA-funded fellow performed 250 autopsies, which greatly assisted the staff forensic pathologists with the increased autopsy case load. The fellow graduated the program, became board certified, and now works in a coroner’s office in Ohio.
Office of the Medical Examiner, District 19, Florida
On November 18, 2022, in conjunction with the BJA Strengthening the ME/C System Program grant, the Office of the Medical Examiner, District 19 (OME-19), Florida, became a fully accredited agency by the National Association of Medical Examiner’s (NAME). Only 12 of the 25 districts in the state are NAME accredited, so the OME-19 is particularly proud of this accomplishment. In a short period of time and through hard work, dedication, planning, and the assistance of this grant, the OME-19 was able to turn what was thought to be something unachievable (due to building and financial constraints) into something successfully achieved.
Program Accomplishments
Please visit the Forensics TTA Program website for program accomplishments and respective performance metrics.