r/ForensicPathology

Hello!

I’m about to enter my senior year of high school and am very excited for the upcoming year. All my life I’ve had an interest in forensic pathology and death care fields. I’ve participated in forensic science summer programs and different medical volunteering opportunities so it safe to say this is the path I want to take. Part of the senior year my school we do something called “externships” where senior students basically are able to leave the school in order to do an internship program at a career dedicated organization. I’ve been looking at different forensic science internship programs, funeral homes, medical examiner offices and death care fields to see if I could internship with them. Although most are geared towards college students and fully deny high school students.

I live in the Virginia area and I wanted to see if anyone had any advice or suggestions for forensic pathology internships for high schoolers students or programs/places I could go to in the meantime.

Thank you all and have a lovely day. 🦇

It appears that the police do not suspect foul play. I was told he was "mummified" as we live in a very dry climate. Some type of autopsy was done, and now I have to wait up to 14 weeks for toxicology to come back. What kind of tox can be done after so long? Can they figure out if he committed suicide with pills or some other means?

I would be surprised if it's suicide because he was a Catholic with negative views on that subject. He was very, very sad, though, and demanded complete solitude starting three years ago. The police on scene guessed that he had a sudden medical event such as a heart attack (He was found on his kitchen floor.)

I guess I just want to know what information the coroner can really obtain on a body after 2 years in this situation. Thanks everyone.

P.s. In case you're wondering how it played out, I was the last person in his life before his isolation began. I was not surprised not to hear from him. Neighbors thought he skipped town. Welfare checks were called in, but police never busted down the door. I Googled his name and address a couple of weeks ago and found out that his HOA was suing for nonpayment and that he had not been paying taxes. Because police were useless, I took matters into my own hands and entered the house...

Hello! I’m 18 and just about to start my freshman year in college! I’ve known I wanted to work in the forensics field since I was younger (I discovered it from watching the tv show Bones LOL). I’m majoring in forensic biology to start with. If anyone has any tips or anything helpful, I’d really appreciate it. :)

Im curious about peoples reasons for choosing to be a medical examiner. Please give your most honest answer!

Did anything influence your decision?

What’s your reason for choosing a job centered around death when most people avoid it or choose jobs attempting to prevent it?

This has been a lifelong question about my life, so I joined Reddit just to ask it! So I broke my shoulder when I was about 6/7…. With no memory of it!!! My dad said I was sleep walking and he saw me and put me on the bunk bed ladder (I slept on the top bunk) and that I fell backwards off the ladder! He said he thought I was faking the sleep walking so he put me on the ladder… Mind you I am not a sleep walker I have never done it in my life. I did not even wake up after allegedly falling off the ladder and breaking my shoulder.

All I remember is waking up tossing and turning in bed later that night as my shoulder was hurting, but fell back asleep. It gets weirder. The next morning when I woke up, I could not even sit up to get out of bed. My dad had to remove the whole railing on the side of the bed. He tried to pick me off the top bunk, but could not do so alone, so he called my uncle and together they lifted me off the top bunk. So if my dad couldn’t get me off the bed alone, then how did I get up there?!? The day went on and my dad did not take me to the hospital, and I was walking around with absolutely no idea that my shoulder was even broken! About a week later, my mom picked me up from school (I did not live with her) and she immediately noticed that my whole arm was blue and took me to the hospital where they said I had a broken shoulder.

I am now 25 and the story has always been fishy to me. I have asked my dad many times throughout my life what happened as it makes no sense to me. He has told me different versions of the story. Last night, we were talking about it and I asked him was I really sleepwalking do you promise? And he said he doesn’t remember exactly what happened. My dad is a good person as far as I know but the story is very concerning to me and he doesn’t like when I bring it up and his answers and reactions to my questions are very suspicious. How does one break a bone and not wake up? Please if anyone has any explanations I would love to hear them, or do you think my dad is telling the truth? It is a big question I would love to know the answer to. Thank you!!

Edit:
It is also the only bone I have ever broken.
I do not think I broke it while awake. I remember mostly everything about my whole life. I remember the whole aftermath of the next morning to my mom’s reaction to seeing my arm to being at the hospital, and all the details. I think I would know I broke a bone if it happened while I was conscious, or at least be in pain. I would know. It must have happened while I was unconscious. I have never taken medications (which could have explained not waking up) and I do not have any medical conditions. Can someone sleep walk just one time and never again? And if not what could have happened. I just do not understand. And may never know which is chilling

Reviewing a cold case raised an interesting question for me on the biological breakdown of osseous structures.

Given the fragile nature and size of the hyoid bone, for example, how likely might it be to obtain any diagnostic findings after 15 years of interment? Would the likelihood be lessened if it was fractured versus intact at the time of interment?

TIA!

Edit: spelling

I am a 20 year old female in a Californian community college. I’ve never taken school seriously, and I am very low on credits. I went to an alternative school for my last couple years of high school so I also have a lot of general ed classes to catch up on. I’m a third year student but to be honest I have wasted the last two previous years. However, I’ve decided what I finally want to do or wish to do. I want to be a forensic pathologist. I have very weak math skills, and like I have already stated I am very behind. Given my weak math skills and age, is it too late for me to pursue this? Should I look into a different career?

I recently watched a TV series where they were able to rehydrate the hand of a charred body to obtain fingerprints and identify it. I looked it up online to see if it was just fiction, and I found out it really is possible—using specific necro-papilloscopy techniques that vary depending on the severity of the burns. I found myself wondering why that wasn't done for Oliver, too... I know there's no point in asking, since he was identified through dental records, but it made me think of him... The days go by, and I still miss him so much.

Hi everyone! I tried making a discord for the r/ForensicPathology community.

We can try it. I am relatively new to discord so hopefully this proves useful. If not (or if the community ends up being unhappy with it overall) then I can dump it.

Here's the link:

https://discord.gg/3pQttxe25

Current MS4 applying for pathology with plans to go into forensics. I've heard from various pathologists that adcoms might read that and think, "they'd just be taking a spot from a real doctor" and pass on my application. Do you think this is true?

I've been planning on applying into psychiatry and my CV is certainly stronger for psych than pathology. I feel like if I had more of a background in path, it would be easier to gloss over my motivations for pivoting at the final hour. I don't want to lie in my personal statement but I also don't want to shoot myself in the foot here.

Any advice is appreciated, thanks!

Pretty much per title... would an average ME see one such case in a career, a decade, a year? Also would they typically be caused by MVA, falls, failed hanging attmpt or what? Fascinating topic.

I was under the impression that ERAS for 2028 FP fellowship opened later in the fall, but found out it opened this summer and that apparently programs can already view the apps? Can someone confirm this? I was recovering from surgery so I wouldn’t have been able to get everything done on time anyways but I feel like it’s been radio silence. My program coordinator and my coresident also applying for FP 2028 didn’t know stuff was open and thought it would be like September.

Hi,

So I’ve recently taken the leap to go back to school to get my BS in forensic science focusing on death investigations. I already have a BA but I decided I’ll need some science background too. I do know I want to work in that related field of forensics and was thinking of aiming to be a forensic pathologist. I do volunteer work at my county’s OME and heard mixed things from everyone on what I should pursue after I graduate such as “be an embalmer”, “don’t work as an mdi they do the dirty work”, or “go the full mile and be a doctor.”

I know medical school will be a lot and not sure how I’ll feel about more school on top of more school. I realize everyone’s path is different and I am up for a challange seeing this will be my second bachelors in getting. I don’t care about the money either I just really want to be able to help people on one of their worst days and give them answers. This stuff is also just such an interest of mine.

I was hoping to ask what are some pros and cons between each of the three related positions of Death investigator, Forensic Pathologist, and Medical Examiner. What do you love/hate about what you do? Do you wish you would’ve pursued a further education? Things like that. -thanks for any feedback I get!

Hello! I am currently 18 and looking into either doing forensic pathology or surgical pathology and I would like to hear someone’s story of how they got into it or if they just knew that they wanted to do forensic pathology the minute they graduated high school or college? I am thinking of getting a transfer degree at a CC and then going to a 4 year to get a degree focusing on biology or chemistry but for the people that are already in that line of work was it worth it? Do you regret anything or wish you picked another line of work? Anything really helps!