Personal Narrative: A Career As A Medical Pathologist

The biggest problem with being a first generation child is living with idea that your parents sacrifice isn’t wasted on your unwillingness to see their dreams come true. Becoming a doctor, lawyer, or an engineer isn’t your dream or goal, it’s theirs’s. As a child growing up, I was pushed towards a medical route by my father, as he had high hopes of me becoming a big name doctor. With the idea of medicine in mind, I really had no idea in what direction I wanted to go. The possibilities of what I wanted to do in life in regards to medicine were endless. So I started to turn towards TV and one of the most influential shows that got me into what I wanted to do is the show Dexter. Dexter’s field of work was not exactly what I had in mind, but it led me to focus on Forensic Science. With a little extra research I found a job that I had my eyes set on, and that was becoming a Medical Examiner.
Forensic Pathologist, more commonly known as

Medical Examiner is a job you don’t hear about every day. As it is also a job that isn’t for everyone, as this job focuses on the morbid aspects of reality which normal people have trouble comprehending. A medical examiners main responsibility is to determine the main cause of death. Being a medical examiner is a very work intensive job where you can end up working 10-12 hour shifts, as the physical and mental labor is demands are extensive throughout. The work done by medical examiners is mostly consisted of lab work; requiring them to stand at extensive periods throughout the day, from in the morgue to a crime scene, their work environment can consist of anything from brutal assault cases that result in death to hot humid or even damp terrain. The mental and physiological stress put on by this job can be foreboding, as they must stay focused and have a strong stomach during a crime scene. Medical examiners may also have to write up police reports, check medical records and toxicology reports, which he then presents to police, investigators and even family members.
Although working with the deceased medical examiners are very impactful towards the community. On a smaller health scale, they can be helpful for investigators, police, and even family by giving them a sense of idea of what happened. As medical examiners, you must be culturally competent as for many cultures death is considered a sad or unpleasant occasion for family, to others death can be considered sacred as a ritual into the next life, and these are things that they must take into consideration when bringing the morbid news to family members of the deceased. On a larger health scale, medical examiners are very important to the cases there involved in. To an investigator a medical examiner is an important expert witness to the cases, as their findings from the autopsy and lab reports can give precedence in the testimony in court.
Medical examiner as though is not an easy job, nor is it an easy job to become.

The education required to become a medical examiner can be extensive and long, as some medical examiners can require from 10-18 years of schooling post high school education. Medical examiners though they work with the deceased they are also considered doctors which require them to complete a 4 year bachelor program and then earn a medical degree from medical school as a physician. This is when they also have to complete a 5-year residency in anatomical and clinical pathology and the complete a 1-year fellowship in forensic pathology. To receive certification they must complete Medical Boards in Anatomic Pathology and the Medical Boards in Forensic Pathology exam. With this certification, they gain the opportunity to be employed in local, state, and government level. To keep their licensing and certification up to date they are required to take a minimum of 20 hours of medical courses to continue his education and to stay up to date on recent

topics.