Daughter wants to go into Forensic Pathology ...

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My daughter is very interested in a career as a Forensic Pathologist. I am trying to convince her that there is a career track as a nurse in forensics, but am finding it difficult to locate any information on education standards as well as scope of practice. Can anyone provide me with some guidance here as I would love to give her some good information on this path for her career.

Thanks for the help.

Specializes in Nursing Education.
Hi there..Im in NYC..As I am a licensed Funeral Director here in this state,my main course of study as a Nurse was to be in Forensics..But,there are no FN in the Medical Examiners Ofiice here,but they are Medical Investigators,which are PA's.They start of at about 60k a yr but with overtime,being paid while on call,city car etc.,the pay jumps to well over 125k a year..

Thank you for your response. I have been giving my daughter much of the information that I have learned from this thread. She is uncertain right now what direction she wants to take. It seems like an awfully morbid type of career, but I do respect those who get involved with it. She has looked at being a PA as well, but at this time, I think she is still somewhat uncertain as to what direction she will go in. Thanks again.

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I am still waiting for news on our seminar, however with the busy schedule that we are seeing it will probably be late Sept or October 2004. I will be letting all know.

My own niece is also interested in Forensics and will be doing her internship with me this summer.

Please keep in touch with me and I will be happy to let you know on any seminars. [email protected]

Mar :p k

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In order to be a Forensic Pathologist, one must be a MD. They have seminars and classes in Forensics all the time and in numerous areas of forensics, but a Forensic Pathologist is a MD and we have 4 that work with us.

The field is amazing and always keeps us on our toes!

Best regards

Mark

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Good reading on the topic can be found in any of the books by Thomas Noguchi MD or Cyril Wecht MD, JD, both world famous forensic pathologists.

The book MD by Benjamin Kean MD is a great autobiography of a pathologist who specializes in parasitology. He has had an amazing life.

There is a series of books for teens with a main character named Jenna who works as a morgue assistant. I forget the author though!

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Yes, I agree. My daughter does not want to be a nurse. Her big concern is that nursing does not offer the career prestige that other careers offer. Of course, I disagree with her, but that is certainly her perception based on all the media attention to the plight of our profession.

Ultimately, she wants to be a forensic pathologist and wants to work with a criminal investigative unit. I explained to her that nursing offers a very similar career track in forensics and that she should explore this avenue before closing out her options as a forensic nurse. She has agreed to explore this option. Perhaps the only reason she is exploring it is because I have asked her too, but I really think forensic nursing is a far better career option that what she has planned.

I will fully support her in whatever career choice she makes, she is a very bright girl, I just don't want her to rule out other options that are available to her.

Thanks for your response, hopefully there is a forensic nurse on this BB that can give me some good information. Patrick

Patrick,

What a great dad!

You might have your daughter look at Johns Hopkins school of nursing. They have a leading forensic scientist on their staff who teaches specific forensic nursing classes. There may be useful info as it pertains to forensic nursing on this site--at the very least, perhaps she can correspond with him and ask questions. HOpe this is helpful, Steph :)

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Specializes in Nursing Education.

Steph - thanks for the compliment and the advice. This thread is a little old and there are some updates on where she is right now in her career choices. She is still very interested in foresnics, but has discovered that a nursing education might suit her well. She has explored the BSN program with Penn State and I will tell her about John Hopkins as well. I was shocked when she told me that she would be interested in getting her BSN. She said, "I am not interested in being a traditional nurse, as I really could not stand taking care of people and cleaning there urine and feces." All this from a girl who would rather work with dead bodies .... go figure. She said she would also be interested in working in the ED as a SANE.

I have to tell you that I have struggled a little with this choice, only because it is such a graphic profession, that it is difficult to introduce her to it, given her age and how morbid it can be. But she loves criminal investigations and she has a great science mind. So, I guess we will move forward with this avenue as she enters high school. She says she wants to get her college plans solidified prior to entering 10th grade. She starts as a freshman in high school this fall, so we still have a little time.

Thanks for your response and I will tell her about the program at John Hopkins.

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Steph - thanks for the compliment and the advice. This thread is a little old and there are some updates on where she is right now in her career choices. She is still very interested in foresnics, but has discovered that a nursing education might suit her well. She has explored the BSN program with Penn State and I will tell her about John Hopkins as well. I was shocked when she told me that she would be interested in getting her BSN. She said, "I am not interested in being a traditional nurse, as I really could not stand taking care of people and cleaning there urine and feces." All this from a girl who would rather work with dead bodies .... go figure. She said she would also be interested in working in the ED as a SANE.

I have to tell you that I have struggled a little with this choice, only because it is such a graphic profession, that it is difficult to introduce her to it, given her age and how morbid it can be. But she loves criminal investigations and she has a great science mind. So, I guess we will move forward with this avenue as she enters high school. She says she wants to get her college plans solidified prior to entering 10th grade. She starts as a freshman in high school this fall, so we still have a little time.

Thanks for your response and I will tell her about the program at John Hopkins.

Patrick,

I commend your daughter for having such focus and investigating her options. BTW--I checked my piles of papers (LOL) and found the name of one of the 'world's' leading forensic nursing authorities--Dan Sheridan, Ph.D., RN. There is a great article on him in the Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine Volume I, Issue I Spring 2003 (page 22). I think if you go to the JH SON website, you will have access to it there. JH hired Sheridan to launch the new forensic science program--it's a master's program in forensic nursing. It sounds pretty remarkable and based on what you have said your daughter finds fascinating, I think she would really enjoy reading more about him and his approach. Steph

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I have an article available regarding the growing field of forensic pathology nursing, recently published. Let me know if you're interested and I'll tell you more...

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Specializes in Nursing Education.
Patrick,

I commend your daughter for having such focus and investigating her options. BTW--I checked my piles of papers (LOL) and found the name of one of the 'world's' leading forensic nursing authorities--Dan Sheridan, Ph.D., RN. There is a great article on him in the Johns Hopkins Nursing magazine Volume I, Issue I Spring 2003 (page 22). I think if you go to the JH SON website, you will have access to it there. JH hired Sheridan to launch the new forensic science program--it's a master's program in forensic nursing. It sounds pretty remarkable and based on what you have said your daughter finds fascinating, I think she would really enjoy reading more about him and his approach. Steph

Thank you so much for this information. I know she is going to be very interested in learning more about this program. Perhaps this is where she will want to be. She is out for the weekend, but I will be sure to share this post and the site with her as soon as she gets home. Thanks again.

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HI I would very much like to go into this aspect of medical field, I am currently a LPN, working in the Washington Dc. area will be moving to Fl in about 2years please i would love to learn work and experince this.

caj

Mark

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I love this topic!!! I currently work in as an Autopsy Tissue Tech in a pathology lab for Kaiser Hospital and I will tell you that pathology is a great profession. I really admire the pathologist that I work with. There is so much to learn and see....

I would encourage your daughter to do what she wants to do... but I would suggest maybe visiting some labs local to you and she can really get a taste of what it's really all about.

We have a lot of high school kids come in and tour our lab here in So Cali....

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Was reading the postings. Seeing the original post was from NC, just a thought. Has your daughter looked at Duke? They have a Pathology Assistant program, that focuses on forensics.

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