Title: (Optional) Compare the coroner and medical examiner systems and responsibilities.
Course: Forensic Technology (15055) > Section: Investigating Medicolegal Death

Comparison should include the following:

- Coroner—roles and requirements to become a coroner vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, with some requiring the same qualifications as a medical examiner and others requiring no medical training. The coroner’s chief functions are to confirm, certify, and pronounce deaths.
- Medical examiner—appointed or hired, required to have significant training in medicine from an accredited institution and typically trained as a pathologist. The medical examiner’s chief functions include
  - investigation of human deaths
  - determination of the cause of death
  - issuance of death certificates
  - maintenance of death records
  - response to deaths in mass disasters
  - identification of unknown dead.

Process/Skill Questions:

- What are the major differences between a coroner and medical examiner?
- Which responsibilities do coroners and medical examiners share?
- What are the state requirements for medical examiners?