Senior Medical Examiner Job Description

The Senior Medical Examiner does general supervision over the performance of the work of the medical examiners and medical investigators.

Primary Objectives:

• The Senior Medical Examiner directs the performance of the work of the medical examiners.
• The Senior Medical Examiner provides training to medical examiners on how they should conduct investigations of suicides, homicides and deaths caused by undetermined and suspicious root causes.
• The Senior Medical Examiner takes part in interviewing the witnesses to get useful information that will aid in the investigation.

A Senior Medical Examiner must have specialized knowledge on the scientific and technical aspects to be able to conduct analysis and provide guidance to others. The Senior Medical Examiner must be able to use computer applications such as e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and database software used in accomplishing the work assignments. The Senior Medical Examiner must also keep abreast of new improvements in existing or published methods. One way of doing so is by attending conferences, meetings and workshops.

A Senior Medical Examiner oversees the performance of the personnel working for the Medical Investigator Office. He is responsible for the technical training of his subordinate personnel by giving them instruction and professional guidance. A Senior Medical Examiner takes charge of the investigations of deaths with undetermined or suspicious causes. The specific jobs of a Senior Medical Officer include the responsibility to record and prepare reports which give detailed descriptions of the crime scene and the relevant facts surrounding the suspicious deaths. It is also the task of the Senior Medical Officer to group and label the specimens and communicate the test results.

The Senior Medical Examiner must release, remove, record and secure the personal effects found with the deceased at the time of death. So in the death scene, the Senior Medical Examiner must gather samples of all the materials he finds relevant and utilize them through toxicological examination. If the evidence at hand remains insufficient, then it is also the Senior Medical Examiner who leads additional interviews and investigations that need to be carried out.

Degrees and Training to Become a Senior Medical Examiner

• Medical and Health – Administration Degree