Coroners

Also Called:

Autopsy Facilities Manager,

Coroner,

MDI (Medicolegal Death Investigator),

Medical Examiner

What they do: Direct activities such as autopsies, pathological and toxicological analyses, and inquests relating to the investigation of deaths occurring within a legal jurisdiction to determine cause of death or to fix responsibility for accidental, violent, or unexplained deaths.

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Government & Public Administration

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • Complete death certificates, including the assignment of cause and manner of death.
  • Perform medicolegal examinations and autopsies, conducting preliminary examinations of the body to identify victims, locate signs of trauma, and identify factors that would indicate time of death.
  • Interview persons present at death scenes to obtain information useful in determining the manner of death.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

Integrity

Attention to Detail

Stress Tolerance

Adaptability/Flexibility

Dependability

Concern for Others

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Conventional

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Investigative

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Realistic

Knowledge

People who want to pursue this career have knowledge in these areas.

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Health

  • Medicine and dentistry

  • Therapy and counseling

Business

  • Customer service

  • Management

Safety and Government

  • Law and government

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Listen and understand what people say

  • Read and understand what is written

Ideas and Logic

  • Make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

  • Use rules to solve problems

Visual Understanding

  • See hidden patterns

  • Quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things

Hand and Finger Use

  • Hold or move items with your hands

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Talking to others

  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Social

  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions

  • Understanding people's reactions

Work Values

Work values describe how your core beliefs align with those commonly needed for this career.

Independence

Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions. Corresponding needs are Creativity, Responsibility and Autonomy.

Achievement

Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment. Corresponding needs are Ability Utilization and Achievement.

Support

Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical.

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research
  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career
2. Plan your next move

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop