What is a medical examiner?

A medical examiner is a physician who is trained in forensic pathology, the branch of medicine that is involved with the investigation of potentially violent, suspicious or unnatural deaths. A board certified forensic pathologist has completed a training program in forensic pathology approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and has successfully passed a written and practical examination administered by the American Board of Pathology.

The role of the medical examiner is to determine objectively the cause and manner of death in such cases, often in collaboration with law enforcement and other investigative agencies. The types of deaths that fall under Medical Examiner jurisdiction are specified by Florida Statute 406.11. A medical examiner has no jurisdiction over deaths other than those specified by the statute.

In the state of Florida, each District Medical Examiner is appointed by the Governor. He or she then appoints Associate Medical Examiners. The medical examiners are assisted by trained medicolegal death investigators.

What is a coroner?

There is another type of governmental systems for the investigation of unnatural deaths in some parts of the United States. Under a coroner’s system, the official in charge is chosen by popular election. Some states require that a coroner be a licensed physician, while other states require no specialized training. Many modern coroners are funeral directors.

There are no coroners in the state of Florida, which has a statewide medical examiner system.

What is a medicolegal death investigator?

Many medical examiners’ offices employ specially trained medicolegal death investigators who assist in screening the cases reported to the office and in scene investigations. An investigator from the District 5 Medical Examiner’s Office typically responds to a death scene before the body is removed from the scene.

The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI) registers death investigators based on training, experience and written examinations. All of the medicolegal death investigators employed by the District 5 Medical Examiner’s Office have successful passed the ABMDI registry examinations.

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