What Is Forensic Pathology?
Forensic pathology is a field that stretches into both the medical and legal arenas. As such, it is important to know how these different aspects create a unique set of responsibilities for the forensic pathologist. Professionals in this field can be considered both doctors and investigators.
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Function
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Forensic pathology is a specialized area within the overall field of pathology concerned with determining the cause and manner of death. Cause of death involves determining what led to the death of an individual. Manner of death relates to the circumstances involved. That means determining whether the death was the result of suicide, accident, homicide, or natural causes. Forensic pathologists are medical doctors who have completed undergraduate degrees, medical school and a residency program. They will then complete a forensic pathology training program with a medical examiner's office.
Features
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Forensic pathologists are an integral part of death investigation in the legal sense. The information discovered through an autopsy provides police investigators with vital pieces of the puzzle when it comes to determining how someone died and who might be responsible. For this reason, forensic pathologists are often called upon to testify in a court of law in both criminal and civil cases about their findings during examinations. This places an important emphasis on the need to follow set guidelines for both medical, ethical and legal standards.
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Misconceptions
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People often assume that forensic pathologists only deal with cases of homicide or suspicious deaths. This is not the case, however. Often times the cause and circumstances of a person's death is not immediately obvious. After an autopsy, it may be revealed that the death was due to natural causes or the result of an accident. This means that a large percentage, if not the majority of cases handled by forensic pathologists, are not homicides.
Significance
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Without the dedication of trained forensic pathologists, many death investigations would go unsolved. Families of those who have died often seek an explanation and hope for some sort of closure. The findings offered through forensic pathology can provide them with many of those answers. In the case of homicides or accidents due to negligence, they can provide investigators with the information needed to find those responsible.
Warning
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Forensic pathology is a field of study and practice that can be wrought with emotional obstacles. Professionals deal with death on a regular basis and witness the effects it can have on those who lose loved ones. The added stress of being under constant scrutiny and the responsibility of being a reliable expert witness in a court of law is something many other professions do not entail. It is important for people looking into a career in forensic pathology to understand the psychological and emotional strain that the job may place on them. An individual should be sure that he can handle it. Inability to deal with these stress factors can result in inefficiency, and it can compromise legal death investigations.
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