Description
Coroners oversee the examination of deceased individuals in order to determine the cause of death in uncommon circumstances. They ensure records are maintained of the deaths within their jurisdiction, and facilitate communication with other officials to ensure the investigation is complete.
Other titles
The following job titles also refer to coroner:
chief coroner
forensic medical examiner
pathologist
medical examiner
chief medical examiner
Minimum qualifications
Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as coroner. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.
ISCO skill level
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
- the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
- the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
- the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
Coroner is a Skill level 4 occupation.
Coroner career path
Similar occupations
These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to coroner.
court jury coordinator
polygraph examiner
probation officer
prosecutor
intelligence officer
Long term prospects
These occupations require some skills and knowledge of coroner. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of coroner with a significant experience and/or extensive training.
Essential knowledge and skills
Essential knowledge
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of coroner.
Human anatomy: The dynamic relationship of human structure and function and the muscosceletal, cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, endocrine, urinary, reproductive, integumentary and nervous systems; normal and altered anatomy and physiology throughout the human lifespan.
Essential skills and competences
These skills are necessary for the role of coroner.
Perform forensic examinations: Perform forensic examinations on a scene or in a laboratory of gathered data, in a manner compliant with forensic procedures, and to analyse the data using forensic methods.
Compile legal documents: Compile and collect legal documents from a specific case in order to aid an investigation or for a court hearing, in a manner compliant with legal regulations and ensuring records are properly maintained.
Comply with legal regulations: Ensure you are properly informed of the legal regulations that govern a specific activity and adhere to its rules, policies and laws.
Provide testimony in court hearings: Provide testimony in court hearings regarding a variety of social matters and other events.
Maintain work area cleanliness: Keep the working area and equipment clean and orderly.
Document evidence: Document all evidence found on a crime scene, during an investigation, or when presented in a hearing, in a manner compliant with regulations, to ensure that no piece of evidence is left out of the case and that records are maintained.
Carry out an autopsy: Open the deceased person`s body and remove the organs for examination, interpreting the findings in the context of the clinical history.
Determine cause of death: Determine the cause of death of a recently deceased individual in order to assess whether the death was from natural or abnormal causes, and to aid government officials in investigations related to the individual or circumstances of their death.
Optional knowledge and skills
Optional knowledge
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of coroner. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Diagnostic methods in medical laboratory: The various types of diagnostic methods in the medical laboratory such as clinical-chemical methods, haematological methods, immune-haematological methods, histological methods, cytological methods and micro-biological methods.
Investigation research methods: The methods and strategies used to conduct police, government intelligence or military investigation research, as well as the research regulations specific to the operation.
Crime scene preservation: The methods involved in the preservation of a crime scene so that the evidence and information that can be gathered from it for an investigation is uninfluenced by outside factors.
Court procedures: The regulations which are in place during the investigation of a court case and during a court hearing, and of how these events occur.
Pathology: The components of a disease, the cause, mechanisms of development, morphologic changes, and the clinical consequences of those changes.
Evidence-based approach in general practice: The general principles, methods and concepts of scientific research and the fundamentals of statistics in medical care. The scientific background of pathology and theories about the forming of hypotheses and problem-solving.
Optional skills and competences
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of coroner. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Perform toxicological studies: Perform tests to detect poisons or drug misuse and help to monitor therapy by using chemical reagents, enzymes, radioisotopes and antibodies to detect abnormal chemical concentrations in the body.
Analyse legal evidence: Analyse evidence, such as evidence in criminal cases, legal documentation regarding a case, or other documentation that can be regarded as evidence, in order to obtain a clear image of the case and reach resolutions.
Think analytically: Produce thoughts using logic and reasoning in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Examine crime scenes: Examine crime scenes upon arrival to ensure they are not tampered with, and to perform the initial assessments and analyses of what may have occurred, as well as examining the nature of the evidence present.
Assist police investigations: Assist in police investigations by providing them with specialised information as a professional involved in the case, or by providing witness accounts, in order to ensure the police have all relevant information for the case.
Follow clinical guidelines: Follow agreed protocols and guidelines in support of healthcare practice which are provided by healthcare institutions, professional associations, or authorities and also scientific organisations.
Apply scientific methods: Apply scientific methods and techniques to investigate phenomena, by acquiring new knowledge or correcting and integrating previous knowledge.
Keep up to date with diagnostic innovations: Keep up to date with diagnostic innovations and apply newest methods of examination.
Write work-related reports: Compose work-related reports that support effective relationship management and a high standard of documentation and record keeping. Write and present results and conclusions in a clear and intelligible way so they are comprehensible to a non-expert audience.
Advise on legal decisions: Advise judges, or other officials in legal decision-making positions, on which decision would be right, compliant with the law and with moral considerations, or most advantageous for the adviser’s client, in a specific case.
Conduct health related research: Conduct research in health related topics and communicate findings orally, through public presentations or by writing reports and other publications.
Maintain operational communications: Maintain communications between different departments of an organisation, between the staff, or during specific operations or missions, to ensure that the operation or mission is successful, or that the organisation functions smoothly.
ISCO group and title
2619 – Legal professionals not elsewhere classified
References
- Coroner – ESCO