Medicolegal Death Investigation

Catalog description

This course will introduce students to the concepts of medicolegal death investigation and the operations of a medical examiner or coroner's office. Topics will include determining cause and manner of death, issuing a death certificate, making death notification, forensic autopsy, typical postmortem findings in common natural and unnatural deaths, mortuary procedures, cultural differences in death rituals, mass casualty events, and others. Relevant learning objectives will be in alignment with the training standards of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI). An optional Saturday field exercise will be conducted in which students can have the opportunity to practice many of the skills learned in class including scene assessment, witness interviewing, family death notification, and transport of the body to the morgue. This may also include a visit to the morgue and/or funeral home. The course will involve much active learning, group activities/discussions, and both individual and group quizzes. Students will be expected to prepare for class by completing assigned readings and pre-lecture activities. Instructor lecturing will be limited to approximately 30% of class time.