Does a medical examiner do autopsies?

A Forensic Pathologist does the autopsy. Medical examiners and coroners (ME/Cs) are responsible for investigating sudden or violent deaths and for providing accurate, legally defensible determinations of the causes of these deaths. The information provided by ME/Cs plays a critical role in the judicial system and in decisions made by public safety and public health agencies. The records of ME/Cs, which provide vital information about patterns and trends of mortality in the United States, are also an excellent source of data for public health studies and surveillance. Some of the more specific tasks you'd do are direct activities of physicians and technologists and investigations into circumstances of deaths to fix responsibility for accidental, violent, or unexplained death. They may confer with officials of public health and law enforcement agencies to coordinate interdepartmental activities and testify at inquests, hearings, and court trials. Death investigation practices often ...  more