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Program Goals:
Upon completion of the program, fellows will be able to perform a competent medicolegal investigation from start to finish on cases of homicide, suicide, accident, and natural causes; in addition, they will be able to conduct the professional and administrative operations required of a forensic pathologist and medical examiner. This program meets the training requirements for the American Board of Pathology's certification examination in Forensic Pathology.
Faculty:
The Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center employs an outstanding staff of American Board of Pathology-qualified forensic pathologists. There are three such professionals on the faculty, all of whom are assigned to the Pathology Department's Autopsy Service. As primarily academic pathologists, they are particularly qualified to train a forensic fellow.
- Prior to joining the faculty in 1992, program director Dr. Donald Jason worked for 18 years as a full-time forensic pathologist; this portion of his career culminated in ten years spent as County Medical Examiner of Atlantic County, New Jersey (which includes Atlantic City), where he ran an office covering a county the size of Forsyth County.
- Dr. Patrick Lantz is well known in the forensic pathology community, having been chairman of the Pathology-Biology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Medical Examiners. In addition to forensic pathology, Dr. Lantz has special interests and training in photography and pediatric pathology.
- Dr. Ellen Riemer joined the Forensic Pathology staff in 2003. Her interests include atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, non-neoplastic lung disease, and pulmonary pathology.
Program Details:
Each forensic fellow handles 250 to 300 medicolegal autopsies in his or her year of training, and will experience on-scene investigations, including examination of the body before it has been disturbed. The Medical Center has a remarkably rich variety of cases referred from about 20 of the 100 counties of North Carolina. The office autopsy caseload includes about 15% homicides, 10% suicides, 30% accidents and 1% undetermined manner. The remaining 44% are ruled to be of natural causes.
In addition to training in the autopsy suite, the forensic fellow will receive instruction in the various branches of criminalistics and toxicology either at the NC State Bureau of Investigation, and the NC Office of Chief Medical Examiner or the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine. The fellow will also train in forensic anthropology, odontology, molecular biology, and clinical evaluation of child abuse.
The forensic fellow will attend regular weekly conferences in which recent cases are reviewed; in-hospital deaths that are medical examiner cases are presented at pediatric, general surgical and cardiothoracic surgical mortality conferences. In addition, he or she will present a lecture at the annual medicolegal death investigation seminar, attended by local medical examiners, law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, and defense attorneys.
The 2005-06 academic year's base salary for this fellowship is $44,000. Fellows receive, in addition, malpractice insurance coverage, life insurance, long-term disability insurance, and hospital insurance.
Community:
Winston-Salem, founded in 1766, began as a religious community of Moravians who emigrated from Europe. Their traditions are strong in the present industrial community and are particularly reflected in the considerable emphasis on the arts in community life. The city proper has 150,000 people; the county 265,000. There are four institutions of higher learning (Wake Forest University, Salem College, Winston-Salem State University and North Carolina School of the Arts), a symphony orchestra, opera and theater companies, and numerous art galleries. The area offers a variety of outdoor sporting activities, including golf, bicycling, fishing, hiking, and skiing, and Wake Forest University provides major college sports events of all types. Housing is available near the medical school, and the cost of living in the area is relatively low. Click here for more information about Winston-Salem.
Evaluation:
Formal written evaluations of fellows by the teaching staff are completed and discussed with the fellow at least once every six months. In addition, fellows are expected to submit written evaluations of the program.
Application Information:
Forensic Pathology Fellowship Applications* will be accepted from MDs and DOs who will have valid medical licensure in North Carolina by the start of their fellowship year. Fellows are expected to receive appointment as a county medical examiner and designated pathologist by the North Carolina OCME.
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Additional Requirements:
Additional prerequisites include:
- At least 2 years experience in anatomic pathology in an accredited residency program;
- Acceptability as a resident in the pathology department at NCBH;
- Competence in the English Language;
- Availability for night and weekend calls;
- Ability to spend one unbroken year in the program;
- Ability to meet the requirements of the American Board of Pathology for examination in forensic pathology at the end of the year; and
- Ability to perform an uncomplicated postmortem examination, gross dissection, and diagnosis in two hours' time.
Contact Information:
For more information about the Forensic Pathology Fellowship, contact the program director:
Donald Jason, MD JD
Forensic Pathology Fellowship
Department of Pathology
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1072
Tel: (336) 716-2637
Fax: (336) 716-7595
E-Mail: djason@wfubmc.edu
Pathology Fellowships:
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