LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
I”ve heard that rumor too, but I don’t see how it could possibly be true. Cause of death is decided by a myriad of different doctors. Generally it is signed by the doctor who was caring for the patient regarding the condition that led (or at least appeared to lead) to the death. If that is not clear, if the person wasn’t consistently under a doctor’s care or if, say, a cancer patient suffers a traumatic car accident, then cause could be determined by a different doctor. That could be a pathologist at the Medical Examiner’s Office, a cancer patient’s oncologist, an ill person’s regularly-visited doctor, the doctor on staff at a nursing home, a hospital doctor who’s been caring for the patient during a temporary stay, or even an emergency room doctor. In the past few months I’ve been called to a number of deaths and none of them were ruled as COVID cases.
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Probably the most raw was a small plane crash.
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I live in a small, low-crime city so I have no experience with this.
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That’s a tough question. If you want to work crime scenes, then the cs tech major might be better. If you want to work in the lab, it might not be very important. I would advise you to call the forensic units at the agencies you’d like to apply to and ask their opinion. With either degree, they may more likely place more emphasis on whether the courses had a lot of hands-on experience, if you have any work experience in the field, labs, internships, etc. That’s how my agency would feel.
Best of luck to you!
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I try to make them realistic, but they’re not based on real cases. Except for Trail of Blood, which is partly about the unsolved Torso Murders in Cleveland in the 1930s.
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If you’re looking at behavioral psychology, I’m afraid I have no idea what job requirements would be. Try to find the websites of professional organizations, like American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and check their job vacancy postings for job requirements. I’m sure there must be national organizations of behavioral psychology as well, and they should be able to guide you. Best of luck to you.
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I don’t know anything more than you do.
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