Start steep to court new forensic docs
- Miss Mej
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
In the conference, we were mentioned about a CAP grant opportunity given to pathology residents who can spend a month in a forensic pathology office so as to be engaged enough early to consider being one someday. Meant to draw interested foreign applicants where there is no infrastructure to train, let alone practice forensic pathology, it nonetheless gets majority of grantees from the US, says my colleague-proponent. Which makes me wonder if this grant really will achieve its objective.
Because pathology residency has two electives in their final year where they can get pretty much trained in whatever subspecialty they want. They can use their salary to travel and be housed as I had in my time, choosing as I said the most advanced, most heavy teaching and most interesting heavy duty casework to get exposed. I mentioned that because there was no infrastructure in the Philippines for forensics I had to get my Masters in Forensic Medicine in Scotland to be part of the community. For US graduates who are interested in forensics they can get the elective in their area whether or not they are affiliated with the CAP program. They, more than anybody, will be invested in getting local people interested and supportive of what they do.
As to the larger community, while there is a dearth in forensic staff, God always provide, and it truly as I find, becomes a calling. Not everybody can be willing to work less and in more challenging situations as well as be a beacon for justice and prevention. But this is served by exposing the young medical mind to the intense diversity of cases and the rigor and engagement of offices with an existing forensic pathology training program--and that is not in our office which is suburban and less busy. Yes, an anomaly within forensic offices, says the colleague.
So let them apply to Chicago, Newark or Miami, where there are ten complicated cases a day. You don't understand. These kids will not get the training, as if we will give them the magic ticket and aha moment to get into forensics when the colorful cases are much less here, being a safe area. It's to train them to know such offices exist and to consider a career like ours or like here, says the other one again.
There are few and far between offices like this. It will be a disservice to tell the trainee as well as give him less material to learn from. It's not worth it--the month long rotation will require vetting, security issues, trust, and for someone who will not go into forensics. (And I realize just drawn to the $5000-a-month stipend which residents do not get.) This is where the money becomes simply a honeypot to possibly opportunist (because they can get training without this anywhere in the US by simply writing from abroad or US--Fortun and the former MEs who didn't have a fellowship training program in existence did this apprenticeship) but where CAP is acting in faith, hoping that people will come both to volunteer to teach and trust newbies, and then in their kindness enjoin young minds to enter forensics, I stand my ground that while we can provide time, the busier offices can provide the community and the interesting cases.
And for interesting cases a curriculum shorthand
407 episodes are also in the same channel--99.99% accurate and used by FBI to train
From the National Academy of Medical Examiners
with microscope levels too here Educational Activities Committee
And our textbook
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