Forensic pathologists
Forensic pathologists are highly specialised medical doctors with specific requirements to practice.
As a forensic pathologist at Coronial and Public Health Sciences (CPHS) you'll be involved in medico-legal investigations of deaths reported to the Qld coroner or coronial registrars. A major part of the role is performing post-mortem examinations to determine the cause of death, and correlating post-mortem findings with the circumstances of the death.
Qualification and registration requirements
To practice as a forensic pathologist in Queensland you must be a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA).
If you're a current registrar or trainee we may consider you for a forensic pathology position if you're expecting to successfully complete either a:
- RCPA Fellowship in Forensic Pathology
- post fellowship Certificate of Forensic Pathology.
If you're a doctor considering a career in forensic pathology, you'll need to undertake at least 5 years specialist training to become a Fellow of RCPA.
Read about our Pathology training programs.
Opportunities
We advertise our forensic pathologist vacancies on SmartJobs and Seek. While we employ forensic pathologists, we don't employ coroners. Coroners work within the Department of Justice.
What duties you'll undertake
Working in a CPHS role, you'll perform coronial autopsies, prepare reports for the Coroner and testify in court.
You'll also:
- attend death scenes to contribute to the investigation of the death
- actively participate in the coronial death investigation team with the State Coroner, police and other specialist agencies
- participate in Disaster Victim Identification
- collaborate with other forensic units, for example Forensic Toxicology
- participate in on-call and duty rosters
- supervise and train registrars and other forensic pathology trainees
- participate in continuing education and research activities
- adhere to defined service quality standards, health and safety policies and procedures
- participate in audits and quality assurance activities
- contribute to the maintenance and development of autopsy and forensic technical procedures
More information
You can find out about forensic pathology on the RCPA website.