Autopsy Technician Job Description
If you are making your career plans and do not mind working with the deceased, there could be a good future ahead if you become an autopsy technician. There is quite a bit of room for advancement with this career choice. With the proper experience, an autopsy technician can move on to become a pathologist, which is a very lucrative career.
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Considerations
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If the thought of studying the human body while an autopsy is being conducted appeals, autopsy technician might be the job for you. Pathologists actually perform an autopsy, but autopsy techs assist the entire process. Together with the pathologist, you would analyze all data and determine the cause and time of death from the information obtained from the autopsy.
Medical History
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It is the job of the autopsy technician to gather all of the patient's medical history prior to the autopsy, as well as getting all proper legal authorization and preparing any specimen requests that might help in the post-mortem examination.
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Administrative Duties
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During the post-mortem examination, it is the responsibility of the autopsy tech to take any necessary photos of the body and record any relevant information that can be used when composing the autopsy report. Other administrative duties that are part of the job include filing the reports, coding and billing.
Funeral Home
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The autopsy technician must also get in touch with the funeral home and prepare the body for release to the funeral home once the autopsy is complete. If organ donation was requested, the autopsy technician takes care of this. Autopsy technicians are in charge of maintaining and cleaning all of the clinical equipment. They might also be asked to work with undergraduate students pursuing the same career path.
Required Skills
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An autopsy tech should possess great problem-solving skills. They should be proficient in both math and science, and should not be put off by working with dead bodies. An autopsy tech must be organized and have excellent communication skills.
Education & Employment
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Autopsy technicians will usually find employment in laboratories, hospitals, funeral homes or morgues. Some of these jobs could be in the education arena, and government as well. Autopsy technicians must possess a bachelor of science degree in either biology or nursing. The entry-level salary is around $40,000 as of 2010, according to Schools of the USA.
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References
- Photo Credit birth marriage and death image by Warren Millar from Fotolia.com
