Forensic Path

[allendo]

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Does anyone know the job demand for forensic pathology? And what would be a typical day in the life...

 

[Pingu]

just a hint...dead people smell. Dead people that have been floating in lakes, locked in an car trunk, and laying somewhere in a field for a week smell slightly worse.

That and it pays as good as it smells.

 

[deschutes]

That and it pays as good as it smells.

So... weeelly weeeeelly good, huh? 🙂

 

[yaah]

Seems to me as though there are always job openings in forensic path, although very few of them pay well. Fellowships are abundant, although I believe the most sought after ones are decently competitive, but I should say I don't really know what those are. I would wager big cities with lots of death are popular, like Baltimore or NYC or Cook County. States with a centralized system like New Mexico may also be popular. The day to day job varies I would say. You spend a lot of time in court and on call, and of course work a lot of weekends and have to answer lots of calls at night. But I don't think the actual hours working is that intense - but as I said there are a lot of peripheral and call related issues that cause time commitment.

 

[SLUsagar]

just a hint...dead people smell. Dead people that have been floating in lakes, locked in an car trunk, and laying somewhere in a field for a week smell slightly worse.

That and it pays as good as it smells.

can anyone throw out some realistic #'s in terms of salaries? w/ and w/o fellowships?

 

[fedor]

can anyone throw out some realistic #'s in terms of salaries? w/ and w/o fellowships?

What is the salary of a forensic pathologist?
The salary is variable; a rough estimate is 75,000 to 200,000 dollars per year and probably averages 80,000 to 120,000 per year. Private forensic work may yield a higher paycheck but requires more work and more responsibility.

http://www.forensiconline.com/generallink.htm#a14

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"A few months ago I brought up the fact that salaries in Forensic Path are
inadequate for the training required. This was again brought home when the
Fellow in my Office got a position. Both he and the Fellow from last year
have gone into General Pathology. Their starting salaries are higher than
what I pay my Deputy Chief who has 15+ years experience. Both have been
informed that their salaries will be $225-250,000 in 5 years.
Look at the salaries being offered for ME's now - $85 to $125,000. $125,000
is actually a fair salary to start but 5 yrs from now the salary will be
still $ 125,000. In many areas, the salary is "complemented" by a caseload
of 400+ cases, mediocre working conditions and inadequate support staff.
For those working in a coroner office, in some cases, one has a continuous
struggle to make sure that the deaths are certified as the autopsy indicates
and not what is expedient.

We can train people in FP from now to eternity but if they immediately drop
out what have we accomplished. We want to keep good people in the field.
How do you do that? All organizations with the same problem do it by a
balance of good salaries, perks and good working conditions. Forensic path,
often but not always, wants to retain individuals using mediocre or poor
salaries; no hope of a raise with experience; no perks; too many cases and
lousy working conditions.

Based on the job opportunities that were examined by my two fellows, I think
that they made the right choice."

http://www.ncku.edu.tw/~webfes/wwwboard/message/269.htm

 

[mcfaddens]

PA's here make 80k easily and have no trouble finding a job
Its a shame that ForenPath pays so litttle, is it because its a government/state job I dont know but a PA has 6 years of post High Scool education, and an ForenPath has at least 13 years of post high school and the both make the same in the same field. Kind of stupid if you ask me. May be if you are in your retirement and want to keep busy it might be ok.

 

[deschutes]

Our PD was saying today how he gets these calls and email messages from high-schoolers about wanting to do forensics.

Apparently (and I don't have exact numbers here) a couple of them were even candid enough to say they really didn't want any patient contact.

 

[Megalofyia]

Our PD was saying today how he gets these calls and email messages from high-schoolers about wanting to do forensics.

Apparently (and I don't have exact numbers here) a couple of them were even candid enough to say they really didn't want any patient contact.

Sick people are so germy.

 

[deschutes]

Sick people are so germy.

A thousand comments rush to mind, but I'll restrain myself 😉

 

[yaah]

Our PD was saying today how he gets these calls and email messages from high-schoolers about wanting to do forensics.

Apparently (and I don't have exact numbers here) a couple of them were even candid enough to say they really didn't want any patient contact.

What does he say? Does he direct them to police academy or something? going through 4 years of med school and 3 years of path residency (if AP only) is an awful lot of peripheral stuff to deal with.

 

[deschutes]

What does he say? Does he direct them to police academy or something? going through 4 years of med school and 3 years of path residency (if AP only) is an awful lot of peripheral stuff to deal with.

The slide seminar started so we didn't have a chance to get into it much - but I'm sure he must mention something along the lines of what you've just said about med school/residency (I've said exactly the same thing in the past). And that autopsies don't even comprise 10% of what pathologists do. And perhaps pointed them in the direction of PA school.

The thing is, when we couch things in oh-so-gentle professional factual language to these people, I really wonder if our message gets through.

"Dude, you have NO CLUE." would probably achieve the same effect in a lot fewer words.