Increasing the Supply of Forensic Pathologists in Los Angeles County

There is a nationwide shortage of trained forensic pathologists in the United States. The National Academy of Sciences found in 2009 that only about 70% of job openings for forensic pathologists are filled annually. The shortfall in pathologists is attributed to manpower shortages and/or insufficient funding.

Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner (DMEC) is one of the largest medical examiner's offices in the United States. Since 1965, the office has had an ACGME-accredited forensic pathology fellowship program. In the past 30 years the program has trained 60 forensic pathology fellows, most of whom are currently in practice. The office is provisionally accredited by the National Association of Medical Examiners.

Funding this proposal will allow Los Angeles DMEC to train one additional forensic pathology fellow in 2020-21. CA/NCF