“Forensic pathologist vs pathologist”

A forensic pathologist is a pathologist who has done a fellowship (one year training) in forensic. All general pathologists do forensic pathology in their training but a forensic pathologist do a fellowship and only work in forensic. Thank you.

A forensic pathologist is an expert who determines the cause of death of someone who may have died under suspicious circumstances. They are able to determine entrance and exit wounds of bullets; the angles of those bullets or knife wounds; whether someone was poisoned or overdosed; if someone was murdered before being burned or drowned; use details from the scene; whether someone died by homicide, suicide or accident; etc. They usually undergo a fellowship in the field and are usually called upon by prosecutors to discuss their findings and answer questions from those who doubt their findings, such as a defense attorney. All pathologists are trained to do autopsies, but those without forensic training primarily do autopsies to determine a cause of death that is generally medical and does not constitute foul play.

Renee Thomas, MD

Fellowship in forensic pathology + special board test

A forensic pathologist is a pathologist that has, in addition to basic pathology training, expertise in evaluation of death where the cause of death is not evident or has occurred under unusual circumstances (e.g., violence, poisoning, suicide, etc.).

Forensic pathology is a branch of anatomic pathology that is concerned with determining the cause of death, by examination of tissues, corpses and evidence due to unatural causes of death, including crime, accidents or negligence. This branch deals with medicolegal issues and is closely associated with the law.

Pathology is divided into two broad categories, anatomic pathology and clinical pathology. Most pathologists train in both fields. Anatomic pathology includes autopsy pathology or post-mortem examination. Forensic pathology is a subspeciality of anatomic pathology which requires a year or more additional training. A forensic pathologist determines a cause of death, mostly by an autopsy, but may also involve crime scene investigation, like the character "Duckie" on NCIS. Most forensic pathologists serve a state appointed position as Medical Examiner. Although most of their cases are criminal, they sometimes are involved with civil cases too. A general pathologist usually works in a hospital based setting and performs autopsies on hospital patients who die of natural causes. However, this is a minor part of their duties which predominantly involve directorship of the hospital labs and diagnosing biopsy and surgical specimens.