SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

Page 1 

SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee’s 

Report of the Minimal Educational Requirements for 

Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Introduction 

The National Academy of Science’s (NAS) “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United 

States: A Path Forward” report stresses the need for accreditation, certification, education and 

training for forensic practitioners and facilities. 1 Given the context of this report, one must 

assume there is an identified deficiency, or lack of standardized academic rigor associated with 

employment in the forensic science community. To better understand the education currently 

required to hold employment in the broad field of forensic science, a cursory literature review 

was done to identify common “job titles” that exist nationally for forensic practitioners. The 

literature review produced a list of 38 job titles for forensic positions that participate in overall 

death investigation. A survey was developed to assess the minimum educational requirements 

for each job title found. 

Background 

Medicolegal death investigation jurisdictions include medical examiner (county, state or district), 

coroner (appointed or elected), Justice of the Peace, and sheriff-coroner systems. Statutes define 

authority in each jurisdiction. Many systems are fraught with inconsistent practices associated 

with leadership changes (i.e., elections), have budget restrictions, are oftentimes underfunded 

and oftentimes understaffed. 

Accreditation establishes minimum standards for improving the quality of medicolegal death 

investigation and applies to systems, offices, and agencies that certify individuals, but not to 

individual practitioners. Medicolegal system or office accreditation is achieved after a thorough 

review of published office policies and procedures, observed office practices, review of 

credentials held by forensic practitioners and quality assurance verifications provided by 

laboratory and ancillary disciplines that provide services to forensic systems. Initial 

accreditation is established through on-site inspection, followed by annual reporting 

requirements and fees. Accreditation also incorporates adherence to a code of ethics. 

Certification is achieved after an independent professional certification body recognizes that a 

practitioner has acquired specialized knowledge and demonstrated proficiency in the standards 

and practice necessary to properly perform job duties.2 Certification provides general confidence 

by identifying individuals who comply with established professional requirements. Certification 

includes assessment of education, training and experience; written and/or practical testing in 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

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validated domains of knowledge and skill; adherence to a code of ethics; and continuing 

education requirements. 

Forensic education includes formal training offered within various undergraduate and graduate 

programs. The content, length and quality of programs vary. Because of this, the Forensic 

Education Programs Accreditation Council (FEPAC) was established in 2000 to promote 

academic quality through formal accreditation of forensic science programs in the United States.3

All programs that FEPAC accredits are located within institutions that are accredited by a 

regional accreditation organization.3

 The FEPAC accreditation process and policies employ 

rigorous consensus standards that assure and advance academic quality at accredited 

institutions.3 

There are many training courses available in forensic science; from basic informational training 

offered on the job within agencies that investigate death to specialized training of skills needed 

to perform specific tasks (i.e., bloodstain pattern analysis; trace, hair or fiber analysis; 

entomology, etc.) Training is delivered through various methods, including online or traditional 

classroom, and through job shadowing and mentorship programs, which may include hands on 

and field experience. Training is offered by colleges, universities, consultants and forensic 

systems (medical examiner/coroner offices) by individuals qualified to teach a particular topic. 

The length and style of training is dependent upon the institution, agency and in many cases, the 

individual trainer. 

Methodology 

To better understand the formal education currently required to work as a forensic practitioner 

and the knowledge requirements a single job title may draw from other specific domains of 

knowledge, it was determined a survey might produce the “best” snapshot of the current 

educational landscape. The simple survey asked respondents to identify their jurisdictional size 

served (by population range), the medicolegal administrative title (i.e., coroner or medical 

examiner) and the job title from the list of 38 that “best” described their own job title. These 

demographic items would be used to categorize response by job title and determine if population 

size and administrative title might play a role in the application of educational requirements for 

employment as a forensic practitioner. The first major item on the survey was designed to 

identify skill combinations required by forensic practitioners and the estimated amount of time 

spent applying those skills annually. The second major item asked respondents to indicate the 

current level of formal educational required to hold each of the 38 identified job titles within the 

jurisdiction or office. The final question attempted to identify changes in employment 

requirements by asking respondents to indicate if they would qualify for their current job 

“today”? 

MDI Organization Sample 

Survey respondents were selected from three organizations identified as primary employers and 

certifiers of medicolegal death investigators in the United States: the American Board of 

Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI), the International Association of Coroners and 

Medical Examiners (IAC&ME) and the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME). 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

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Mailing lists of active members with email addresses was obtained from each of the 

organizations and a 20% random sample was drawn. A total of five hundred thirty one (531) 

surveys were deployed using the Survey Monkey online service yielding 182 responses (35%). 

The survey distribution by organization is as follows: 

 American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigations (212) 

 International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners (110) 

 National Association of Medical Examiners (209) 

Results 

Nearly two-thirds of respondents were employed in medical examiner jurisdictions (63%) while 

(34%) were employed in coroner jurisdictions (appointed and elected). The population of the 

jurisdiction served varied in size with the largest majority serving populations less than 2 million 

(85%). 

Small 0 – 250,000 (44/37%) 

Medium 250,000 – 500,000 (17/14%) 

Large 500,000 – 1.5M (36/31%) 

Extra Large Greater than 1.5M (21/18%) 

Many forensic positions encompass numerous duties, requiring a combination of skills as 

depicted in the following chart. 

Table 1: “Average” amount of time spent performing each task annually 

Job Title <5% 10% 25% 50% 75% 100% Response 

Count 

Administrator/Manager 15.8% 15% 20.8% 24.2% 20% 4.2% 120 

Autopsy Technician 62.7% 21.6% 9.8% 5.9% 0% 0% 51 

Bloodstain Pattern Analyst 75.0% 16.7% 4.2% 4.2% 0% 0% 24 

Body Transport 59.2% 14.8% 7.4% 3.7% 7.4% 7.4% 27 

Crime Scene Investigator 31.8% 22.7% 25.8% 7.6% 4.5% 7.6% 66 

Digital and Multimedia 

Analyst 

83.3% 16.7% 0% 0% 0% 0% 18 

DNA Analyst 90% 0% 5% 0% 0% 5% 20 

EMS/EMT 81% 9.5% 0% 0% 0% 9./5% 21 

Epidemiologist 88.2% 11.8% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

Evidence Technician 52.6% 31.6% 5.3% 5.3% 2.6% 2.6% 38 

Firearms Examiner 88.9% 11.1% 9% 0% 0% 0% 18 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

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Footwear Examiner 94.1% 5.9% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

Forensic Anthropologist 77.4% 19.4% 3.2% 0% 0% 0% 31 

Forensic Artist 94.1% 5.9% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

Forensic Engineer 94.1% 5.9% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

Forensic Entomologist 94.1% 5.9% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

Forensic Nurse 72.2% 13.6% 4.5% 0% 4.5% 4.5% 22 

Forensic Odontologist 90.0% 5.0% 0% 0% 5.0% 0% 20 

Forensic Pathologist 21.2% 1.5% 4.5% 9.1% 37.9% 25.8% 66 

Forensic Photographer 70.3% 16.2% 2.7% 2.7% 5.4% 2.7% 37 

Forensic Psychiatrist 94.4% 5.6% 0% 0% 0% 0% 18 

Forensic Radiologist 92.0% 8.0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 25 

Forensic Toxicologist 85.7% 14.3% 0% 0% 0% 0% 21 

Forensic Veterinarian 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 18 

Jurisprudence 

(Defense/DA) 

88.2% 11.8% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

Latent Print Examiner 75.0% 15% 0% 10% 0% 0% 20 

Medicolegal Death 

Investigator 

6.9% 11.5% 16% 22.9% 16.8% 26% 131 

Mortician 87% 0% 0% 4.3% 4.3% 4.3% 23 

Questioned Document 

Examiner 

100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 19 

Social Worker 75% 12.5% 12.5% 0% 0% 0% 24 

Toolmark Examiner 94.1% 5.9% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

Trace, Hair and Fiber 

Examiner 

94.1% 5.9% 0% 0% 0% 0% 17 

X-ray/CT Technician 86.4% 0% 9.1% 4.5% 0% 0% 22 

Table 2: Job Titles Identified

Job Title Response Percent Response Count 

Administrator/Manager 9.0% 16 

Autopsy Technician 0.6% 1 

Bloodstain Pattern Analyst 0.0% 0 

Coroner (appointed) 2.8% 5 

Coroner (elected) 15.2% 27 

Crime Scene Investigator 0/0% 0 

Criminalistic (state/county crime lab) 0.0% 0 

Criminalistic (consultant) 0.6% 1 

Digital and Multimedia Analyst 0/0% 0 

DNA Analyst 0.6% 1 

EMT/EMS 0/0% 0 

Epidemiologist 0/0% 0 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

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Evidence Technician 0.6% 1 

Firearms Examiner 0/0% 0 

Footwear Examiner 0.0% 0 

Forensic Anthropologist 0.0% 0 

Forensic Artist 0.0% 0 

Forensic Engineer 0.0% 0 

Forensic Entomologist 0.0% 0 

Forensic Nurse 0.0% 0 

Forensic Odontologist 0.0% 0 

Forensic Pathologist 19.1% 34 

Forensic Photographer 0.6% 1 

Forensic Psychiatrist 0.0% 0 

Forensic Radiologist 0.0% 0 

Forensic Toxicologist 0.0% 0 

Forensic Veterinarian 0.0% 0 

Funeral Director 0.0% 0 

Jurisprudence (Defense/PA) 0.0% 0 

Latent Print Examiner 0.0% 0 

Medical Examiner 10.7% 19 

Medicolegal Death Investigator (full-time) 33.7% 60 

Medicolegal Death Investigator (part-time) 6.7% 12 

Mortician 0.0% 0 

Questioned Document Examiner 0.0% 0 

Toolmark Examiner 0.0% 0 

Trace Hair and Fiber Examiner 0.0% 0 

X-ray/CT Technician 0.0% 0 

Other (please specify) 0.0% 0.0% 

 

Table 3: Minimum requirement(s) for each job title 

Job Title HS 1 Yr 

Cert

ifica

tion 

AS BA/

BS 

MA/

MS 

PhD MD/

DO 

JD DDS/

DDM 

Forsic 

Cert 

Board 

Cert 

Response 

Count 

Administrator/

Manager 

24 2 9 31 12 0 4 0 0 3 8 84 

Autopsy 

Practitioner 

8 2 3 4 0 0 20 0 0 4 13 43 

Autopsy 

Technician 

46 4 17 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 79 

Bloodstain 

Pattern 

Analyst 

1 3 1 7 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 18 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

Page 6 

Coroner 

(appointed) 

8 2 0 2 0 0 10 0 0 1 5 22 

Coroner 

(elected) 

27 3 3 5 0 0 11 0 0 3 6 47 

Crime Scene 

Investigator 

10 3 9 15 2 0 0 0 0 6 6 47 

Criminalist 2 0 1 11 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 19 

Digital and 

Multimedia 

Analyst 

1 0 1 11 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 14 

DNA Analyst 0 0 1 13 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 

EMT/EMS 9 7 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 25 

Epidemiologist 0 0 1 5 5 7 2 0 0 0 0 20 

Evidence 

Technician 

10 1 9 7 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 30 

Firearms 

Examiner 

2 1 2 9 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 19 

Footwear 

Examiner 

2 1 2 9 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 18 

Forensic 

Anthropologist 

0 2 2 2 12 17 1 0 0 0 3 37 

Forensic Artist 2 1 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 

Forensic 

Engineer 

0 0 2 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 12 

Forensic 

Entomologist 

0 0 2 2 4 9 1 0 0 0 0 18 

Forensic Nurse 0 1 6 8 2 1 0 0 1 1 2 19 

Forensic 

Odontologist 

0 0 2 1 1 3 3 0 15 1 8 29 

Forensic 

Pathologist 

0 0 0 2 0 3 52 0 0 5 33 71 

Forensic 

Photographer 

10 2 7 8 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 28 

Forensic 

Psychiatrist 

0 0 2 1 0 5 9 0 0 1 1 16 

Forensic 

Radiologist 

1 0 2 2 0 3 5 0 0 1 3 14 

Forensic 

Toxicologist 

0 0 2 10 3 9 3 0 0 2 1 27 

Forensic 

Veterinarian 

1 0 2 2 0 3 2 0 0 2 1 10 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

Page 7 

Funeral 

Director 

8 5 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 27 

Jurisprudence 

(Defense/PA) 

1 0 2 3 1 0 0 9 0 0 0 16 

Latent Print 

Examiner 

2 0 2 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 16 

Medical 

Examiner 

2 0 3 0 0 4 43 0 0 1 25 62 

Medicolegal 

Death 

Investigator 

(full-time) 

26 7 17 32 1 0 0 0 0 6 43 104 

Medicolegal 

Death 

Investigator 

(part-time) 

22 5 15 17 0 0 0 0 0 5 24 76 

Mortician 7 1 13 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 24 

Questioned 

Document 

Examiner 

1 0 2 8 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 13 

Toolmark 

Examiner 

1 0 2 9 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 15 

Trace Hair and 

Fiber 

Examiner 

1 0 2 9 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 14 

X-ray/CT 

Technician 

4 5 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 21 

 

Discussion 

Facilities are often accredited by the American Society of Crime Lab Directors (ASCLD), 

NAME or IAC&ME. Accreditation requires that personnel be trained and certified in their 

respective field, thus increasing the education of forensic personnel. It is difficult to identify all 

forensic service providers because of the multifaceted systems which exist across the country. 

For example, forensic units consist of 1-2 people within a police department while forensic labs 

are large entities typically funded by state governments. Forensic labs are easier to identify and 

monitor. The estimated number of publicly funded crime labs is 600, with approximately 9,000 

forensic scientists working in the labs.4

 The estimated number of forensic units is 6,900, 

employing approximately 34,500 forensic scientists.4 

The IAC&ME lists 15 accredited offices on their website and NAME lists 60 accredited offices. 

. 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

Page 8 

Best practices and guidelines have been published by the National Institutes of Justice (NIJ) for 

most forensic disciplines. A literature review produced multiple certifications that could be held 

by individuals who play a role in medicolegal death investigation, including, but not limited to, 

the following: 

 American Board of Criminalistics (ABC) 

 American Board of Forensic Anthropology (ABFA) 

 American Board of Forensic Document Examiners (ABFDE) 

 American Board of Forensic Entomology (ABFE) 

 American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) 

 American Board of Forensic Toxicologist (ABFT) 

 American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI) 

 American Board of Pathology (ABP) 

 American Board of Radiologists (ABR) 

 Association of Firearm and Toolmark Examiners (AFTE) 

 International Association for Identification (IAI) 

 International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) 

 International Association of Property and Evidence (IAPE) 

Because of the variability and complexity of medicolegal death investigation systems, education 

requirements range from a high school diploma coupled with on-the-job training to post graduate 

degrees. The survey revealed that most job titles require a minimum of a baccalaureate degree. 

However, the minimum educational requirement sought may actually be a high school diploma 

with a preference for a secondary degree as multiple candidates apply for the same position. 

Agencies often use the educational requirement to weed out applicants from the pool in an effort 

to seek the best qualified candidate for the position. Certification is often encouraged and must 

be obtained with a specified time period after hiring to enhance professional qualifications, 

growth and career progression. 

 It is expected that larger jurisdictions seek individuals with higher educational backgrounds 

and/or certifications for specific skills. Forensic certifications exist for all disciplines, with the 

exception of autopsy technicians, forensic artists and epidemiologists, although epidemiologists 

have an advanced degree. Jurisdictions that have larger budgets based on larger populations may 

be better able to choose the type of applicant they specifically desire. Rural jurisdictions tend 

to have smaller budgets and draw from a narrower applicant pool, prompting their personnel to 

lack certification and most likely receive their education through on the job training experience 

in a variety of forensic skills, possibly by individuals who themselves lack formal forensic 

certification. Numerous undergraduate and graduate forensic science programs exist across the 

country, although there are no programs specifically for medicolegal death investigation. Course 

delivery is readily available online but most institutions still deliver content via traditional 

classroom learning. Curriculum content varies and there is criticism among the forensic science 

community that many of the programs do not have enough science classes.3 As of February 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

Page 9 

2012, 18 undergraduate and 20 graduate forensic science programs have been accredited by the 

FEPAC.3 

Training courses exist for each of the forensic science disciplines, but there is an absence of 

criteria to establish the content and quality of training conducted. Training is dependent upon the 

competency of the trainer; an experienced trainer may not necessarily be a good educator. 

References

1. National Research Council. “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A 

Path Forward.” National Research Council. National Academies Press. Washington, 

DC. 2009. 

2. Howe, J. Professional Certification for Medicolegal Death Investigators – ABMDI. 

Acad Forensic Pathol. 2011: 1(4): 348-355. 

3. http://www.aafs.org/fepac. .Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation 

Accreditation [Internet] cited July 13, 2012. 

4. Forensic Death Investigation Symposium. Certification, Accreditation, Proficiency 

Testing Presentation. Scottsdale, AZ. June 2010. 

5. http://thefsab.org/. Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board [Internet] cited July 13, 

2012. 

6. Nolte, , K. Opportunities and Challenges for the Implementation and Transformative 

Imaging lecture. National Association of Medical Examiners Annual Meeting October 8, 

2012. Baltimore, MD. 

The SWGMDI ACET Committee members who participated in the preparation of this report include: 

Julie Howe, Committee Chair 

Steve Clark, Ph.D. 

Laura Grimes 

Amy Wyman 

This document was approved for final publication by the SWGMDI Board on November 30, 2012. 

At that time, the SWGMDI Board Members were: 

Barbara Butcher 

Steve Clark, PhD 

Laura Crandall 

Tim Davidson 

John Fudenberg 

Roberta Geiselhart 

Laura Grimes 

Randy Hanzlick, MD 

Marie Herrmann, MD 

Julie Howe 
SWGMDI’s Accreditation, Certification, Education and Training Committee: Report of the 

Minimal Educational Requirements for Medicolegal Death Investigation System Personnel 

Published 11/30/12 

Page 10 

Bruce Hyma, MD 

Hannah Kinney, MD, PhD 

Donald Jason, MD, JD 

David (Zeb) Johnson 

Danielle McLeod-Henning 

R. Gibson Parrish, MD 

Keith Pinckard, MD 

Lakshmanan Sathyavagiswaran, MD 

Mary Ann Sens, MD 

Lindsey Thomas, MD 

Frederick Upchurch 

Amy Wyman 

Dawn Zulauf