I'm a forensic pathologist - AMA

[slightlybrownbanana]

I do autopsies every week on a range of different type of deaths, not just homicides. People are often fascinated when I tell them what I do and it is very interesting but not like on the telly.

Worst thing you’ve ever seen?

Is there any body you've refused to perform an autopsy on? If so why?

What happens if the body is to badly decomposed? Do you still have to do some kind of autopsy?

Wow, loads of great questions thank you. I'm out tonight but will answer all later/tomorrow.

I too am envious of your role, as it's exactly what I wanted to do. Didn't really quite pursue it properly though, so sadly it wasn't to be.

What is the hardest part of a job like that?

Can you effectively remove yourself from the victim as a live person and the corpse?

Do the police come in to witness autopsies, like they do in novels?

What’s the most interesting PM you’ve done and why?

Interesting about the smell.

I go to the 'business end' of our local crematorium for my job.

The smell in there is unlike anything I have ever experienced and I am sure it stays in my nostrils for hours.

Do you often dream about your work?

Can you stay emotionally detached. Do you find having a child is emotionally harder.

Does your job make it easier/harder to face your own mortality? Or of your loved ones?

Also, is there anything that drives you crazy every time you see it on TV and know it's false?

What a fascinating AMA!

This would be my dream job had circumstances been different. I studied anatomy at university and was looking to do post-grad medicine but life happened instead.

What's the biggest surprise (maybe finding something in a body, strange medical condition etc.) you've ever come across?

When I was a student nurse, I took the opportunity to observe two PM’s. It was the without a doubt, the most fascinating time of my training. Best anatomy and physiology lesson I’ll ever have. And the smell really does stay, in my experience, for at least two days after.

What cause of death do you see most often?

How did you learn to be emotionally detached, especially if dealing with a child or young person? Do you get special training on that, or is it necessary to have therapy to avoid burn out?

I was really hoping to read the update OP

Apologies! Was entertaining my children and also was in work for a murder yesterday. I hope to answer all your questions now.

another one: what do you think about 'fast tracking' post mortems in case of certain religions? is it problematic time wise? i.e. do the tests get done in time?

Do you believe in an afterlife?

No, and I'm not religious but I like to think I keep an open mind. A person who has just died is different to bodies that come out of the fridge, like there is a spirit still there. If I was certifying someone dead when I was a doctor on the ward I would always stroke their hair and speak gently to them. So I guess that means I must believe in a person's soul, spirit or essence I guess. Also death is a process not a single event. The heart stops beating but a lot of cells are still alive and then fade out one by one.

do you get many 'regular' deaths?
my gran died at home and was referred to pathology by the gp who signed the death certificate (different country). I was shocked to hear that only a tiny proportion goes for a post mortem examination. there must be some murders that will never be recorded correctly.

Yes, lots of "regular" cases - people with no significant past medical history but also suspected drugs deaths, alcohol related deaths, accidents and suicides. I agree that some murders must be missed. It would be very easy to smother an old person with heart disease and leave no trace - even if the person had a post mortem examination most likely the cause of death would be given as the heart disease. In certain parts of England they only do CT scans and a pathologist doesn't even look at the body unless it is overtly suspicious which I find highly disturbing, but there is a shortage of pathologists to do PMs so this problem isn't going to go away.

Do you feel you’ve become less sympathetic towards minor injuries when you must see some horrible human inflicted pain?

Not really; paper cuts still hurt like buggery!

And I’ve always wanted to know, can you completely separate your emotions if you see a mother / child and not feel sorry or affected? (I’m struggling to control my feelings now I’ve got a child to leave behind)

Not really, we are humans too. It has got harder to see dead children now that I have kids of my own.

Ooops two "not really"s in last post - should have read that back more closely

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job? And what do you dread doing?

Providing families with answers which hopefully gives them closure and helps them grieve. Also seeing justice done when someone has been murdered, even though my work is often just a small part of that.

Difficult to answer what do I dread...I dread getting a traumatic subarachnoid haemorrhage case because its technically tricky to prove a tear in the vertebral artery. Also when you get a really complicated case which is going to take hours to do (for example 50 stab wounds and millions of bruises), you just have take a deep breath and get on with it. I also dread child murders for obvious reasons. Thankfully they are rare.