Yes, I want to be a Medical Examiner . It's an outrageous job and is quite abnormal but I like the craziness. I'm still at the beginning of my career route but I think I have a better lead than other future medical examiners. I got my interest in forensics because of Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) . This club really opened my eyes and helped choose a right career for me. I started the program 2008 and placed 3rd in Arizona State and qualified for nationals. In 2009 I placed 3rd in Arizona State again and went to Nationals for my first time. I placed 3rd in the Nation. Forensic Medicine Competitions is what I have been good at for a couple years and I want to expand those competitions into a career. I had an amazing burst of energy at the Tennessee Nationals and the close win and big reward has given me a huge burst of confidence.
Becoming a Medical Examiner is a really tough job and it’s a long journey to get there. The first step to becoming a Medical Examiner is to complete a 4 year Bachelor Degree program. After the Bachelor Degree program they must complete Medical school and get a Medical Degree. After the Medical degree the journey still isn’t over, there is also a required internship for the field of forensics before someone can start their career.
Even though the path to becoming a Medical examiner is long and time consuming the job is well worth the eight plus years of college. The day to day duties a Medical Examiner does often is autopsies, interviews, and serving as witnesses in court. The purpose of the job is to declare cause of death. Cause of death is very important in crime cases because it can solve a case. There are many causes of death but another problem medical examiners have to solve is the manner of death. Manner and cause of death may seem very similar but aren’t. The causes of death are problems such as strangulation, heart attack, or thick abrasions. There aren’t as many manners of death as there is cause. The main four manners of death are natural, homicide, accidental, and suicide.
I have come across several controversies and the main one would be loss of job because of false interpretation. The wrong cause of death can ruin a medical examiners career because their observations are mostly for families and the law. Lawsuits are a major stressor on medical examiners and make the job a burden. Not a lot of people get interested in losing careers and it’s common for medical examiners.
Despite the probability of losing my career because of a mistake I’m still willing to try. As of right now, becoming a medical examiner is the only thing I have going for me. Maybe with a couple more years of prerequisites I will change my mind.