Death investigators are professionals with skills and extensive training in determining the cause of death of an individual. They are trained to establish and understand clues that will help in answering questions related to the death. Additionally, they have training in homicide terminologies and can work with medical examiners to assist them know the causes of death of the deceased. This makes their job to be of importance since their robust expertise in the field helps in providing the victim’s families with answers to the answered questions surrounding the death of a loved one. It also enables the prosecutor or defense to build a case based on the answers found by the investigator. There are several types of death investigation professionals.
Although there are some differences between the specialists, one crucial similarity between the various experts is they have been trained to help in legal investigation of crimes. One of the types is forensic pathologist. These professionals are trained doctors with a major in examining dead bodies. Sometimes, they are referred to as medical examiners or coroners. However, coroners are individuals that are elected and do not need online professional training to work with dead bodies. On the other hand, medical examiners require training and board certification and they work with the living and deceased. Forensic pathologists examine the victim’s body to determine the cause of death. Since they are also licensed physicians, they can establish the cause of injuries or diseases of the deceased. They are extensively trained to conduct autopsies that ensure the body is closely examined to assisting law enforcement to close a case.
If you are interested to get into this field, you should be fond of sciences like chemistry and biology. You will also have to get an undergraduate degree and go to a medical school to attain a medical doctor degree. Furthermore, you will have to take pathology specialization courses and pass board exams to get a license. Another type of death investigator is forensic entomologist. Their area of expertise is studying insects on a body that is dead and decomposed. When referring to forensic entomology, it involves a science applied in solving homicide crimes. Immediately after death, insects begin to crop from a dead body and feed on them. The insects also lay eggs inside or on the dead body after a period of time.
The professional spends their time examining the different stages of insect growth to establish facts about the deceased. Forensic entomologists not only to determine victim’s time of death but also the death cause and whether the body was moved from one point to another. If one is interested in becoming a forensic entomologist, you should get an undergraduate degree in any of the physical sciences. Attaining a medical graduate degree will also open more opportunities for you. Apart from that, you should also get board certification from the relevant bodies. Death investigation takes time and therefore a death investigation specialist should be adequately trained and have vast expertise in the field.