54: What a Shortage of Forensic Pathologists Means for Public Health

Public Health Review

Forensic pathologists investigate deaths to serve the living, but what are the implications for public health when we do not have a viable forensic pathology workforce? State medicolegal death investigation systems currently lack a capacity to respond to major public health crises, and the surge of overdose deaths over the past decade have only exacerbated this workforce shortage.

Today’s guests discuss the critical need to find new recruits in forensic pathology and urge state health officials to consider reforms that could help bring reinforcement to a vital yet often neglected profession with a huge impact on public health.

Guests:

Tracie Collins, MD, MPH, Secretary, New Mexico Department of Health

Kurt Nolte, MD, Professor of Pathology and Radiology, University of New Mexico, Former Chief Medical Investigator for the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator

Resources:

Forensic Pathologist Shortages: Context and Considerations for State Public Health Agencies (ASTHO)

Increasing the Number, Retention, and Quality of Board-Certified Forensic Pathologists (The National Institute of Standards and Technology)

Reclaiming the Autopsy as the Practice of Medicine (National Association of Medical Examiners)

Needs Assessment of Forensic Laboratories and Medical Examiner/Coroner Offices (The National Institute of Justice)