Associate Medical Examiner (Principal Physician)

The State of Connecticut, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) is seeking one Associate Medical Examiner (Principal Physician) to join our group of 9 Medical Examiners, in our Statewide Medical Examiner Death Investigator System. The position is 40 hours per week, with rotating weekends, holidays and on-call.

Our free-standing, modern facility located in Farmington, CT, on the campus of the University of Connecticut Health Center and Medical School. The office is a state-wide medical examiner system performing about 3,000 autopsies per year, of which about 150 are homicides. Full-time medicolegal death investigators work 24/7 to investigate reported deaths and attend scenes. Additional support staff include excellent forensic technicians and photographers. The CT OCME has a Forensic Pathology Training Program with 1 to 2 fellows each academic year. Pathology residents from Yale, Hartford Hospital and Danbury Hospital rotate through the office in addition to Pathologists' Assistant students from Quinnipiac University. Histology is done in house, while toxicology is outsourced with an average turn-around-time of 12 days. There is a board-certified forensic anthropologist on staff and the medical examiners have access to consultants in pediatric pathology, neuropathy, cardiac pathology, radiology and odontology. Reports are dictated to an outsourced dictation company with <24 hour turnaround time. An electronic case management system contains all case related information, including all images, radiology, and reports, and has search and management functions for a complete archive of cases.

Sample of duties include:

• Performs autopsies at Office of the Medical Examiner for determination of cause of death, collection trace evidence, establishment of identification and estimation of time of death;
• Makes inquiries into circumstances of death for purposes of establishing cause and manner of death;
• Compares findings at scene of death with results of autopsies to establish cause and time of death;
• Testifies about findings in courts of law;
• Exchanges information and works with municipal and State Police, health departments and other agencies in resolving cases;
• Participates in educational programs for medical and law enforcement students and officials;
• Performs related duties as required

*Salary for this position is prescribed by State of CT schedule and scale. Additional compensation of ~$60,000 annually is provided for weekend, holiday and on-call responsibilities. Comprehensive health and retirement benefits are provided by the State of Connecticut. Life and disability insurance, and other tax deferred programs are also available to State employees. Additionally, CT OCME will cover the expense for each Associate Medical Examiner to attend one scientific meeting annually. Medical licensure and board re-certification examinations are reimbursed.

Incumbents in this class must possess and maintain a license to practice medicine and surgery as issued by the Connecticut Department of Public Health in accordance with the applicable Connecticut General Statutes. A temporary license may be granted for a period not to exceed one (1) year. In addition to the checking of references and facts stated in the application, a thorough background investigation will be completed before the candidate is certified for appointment.

PLEASE NOTE: Physicians (M.D./D.O.) must have completed a pathology residency, be board certified in Anatomic Pathology or AP/CP AND be board certified or board eligible (minimum) in Forensic Pathology at the time of application. CT Medical Licensure is NOT required at the time of application. However, the selected candidate must possess and maintain a CT medical license by the time of matriculation.

In order to comply with Public Act 21-69, the State of Connecticut is no longer asking for resumes during the initial application process. Applicants invited to interview may be required to submit additional documentation, which supports their qualification(s) for this position. These documents may include: a resume, performance reviews, supervisory references, college transcripts, licensure, etc., at the discretion of the hiring agency.

This posting may require completion of additional referral questions (RQs). You can access these RQs via an email that will be sent to you after the posting's closing date or by visiting your JobAps Personal Status Board (Certification Questionnaires section). Your responses to these RQs must be submitted by the question's expiration date. Please regularly check your email and JobAps Personal Status Board for notifications. Please check your SPAM and/or Junk folders on a daily basis in the event an email provider places auto-notification emails in a user's spam.

Although applicants will receive correspondence via email, as a backup they are also encouraged to sign onto their Personal Status Board daily to monitor their status, view all emailed notices and complete tasks required in the recruitment process.

Should you have questions pertaining to any phase of this recruitment, please contact the hiring agency's human resources office: jsanz@ocme.org, 860-679-3982.

NOTE: The immediate vacancy is listed above, however, applications to this recruitment may be used for future vacancies in this job class.

All application materials must be received by the recruiting agency by the time specified on the job opening for the position for which you are applying. Late applications may not be submitted and will not be considered. Exceptions are rare and limited to documented events that incapacitate a candidate during the entire duration of the job posting time period. It is the candidate’s obligation and responsibility to request an exception and provide a legally recognized justification to accommodate such exception. Requests should be made to jsanz@ocme.org.

In a state agency this class is accountable for providing clinical administrative and/or supervisory functions and/or direct care medical services as a board certified physician.

In the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner this class is accountable for performing autopsies and conducting investigations of sudden and medically unattended deaths.

Provides 24 hour medical supervision to specified groups of patients and facility coverage as scheduled including on-call and weekend coverage; makes rounds and provides direct care and clinical oversight of multi-disciplinary treatment teams; coordinates work of medical staff with related programs; reviews treatment plans, medical records, diagnoses and patient discharge plans for adherence to policies and/or The Joint Commission (TJC) and Health Care Financing Authority (HCFA) standards; provides education and training as indicated, e.g. grand rounds and case conferences; assigns, oversees and evaluates work of staff and on-site night duty physicians; conducts and/or participates in meetings on medical and administrative policy, research programs, medical program development and treatment techniques; assesses, examines and evaluates patients for admission or discharge; monitors the use of special treatment procedures; assesses, examines, diagnoses and prescribes appropriate medications and other biologic treatments; consults on difficult and/or complex cases; develops and implements QA/QI process improvement initiatives; prepares and/or reviews reports, medical records and correspondence; perform utilization review and management functions; attends court hearings as a state witness; performs related duties as required.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Performs autopsies at Office of the Medical Examiner or other facilities for determination of cause of death, trace evidence, establishment of identification and estimation of time of death; conducts investigation and examination at scene of sudden or medically unattended death or hospital where a person may have been pronounced dead on arrival or following hospitalization for injury; makes inquiries into circumstances of death for purposes of establishing cause and manner of death; compares findings at scene of death with results of autopsies to establish cause and time of death; testifies about findings in courts of law; exchanges information and works with municipal and State Police, health departments and other agencies in resolving cases; participates in educational programs for medical and law enforcement students and officials; performs related duties as required.

Considerable knowledge of methods and principles of medicine and surgery; considerable knowledge of current principles and methods of assessment and treatment of patients with medical illness, mental illness and substance abuse disorders; considerable knowledge of recent developments in field of medicine and substance abuse including treatment models and best practices; considerable interpersonal skills; considerable oral and written communication skills; considerable ability to examine for, diagnose, assess and treat patients with illnesses and substance abuse disorders; considerable ability to prescribe medications and other treatments specific to medical illness, mental illness and substance abuse disorders; ability to develop a collaborative group practice environment with other physicians, psychiatrists and members of interdisciplinary teams; ability to analyze and interpret laboratory reports, x-ray reports and other medical reports and findings; administrative/supervisory ability.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Considerable knowledge of principles and practices of anatomic pathology; knowledge of forensic pathology; knowledge of principles and practices of general medicine and surgery; considerable skill in pathological technique and determination of cause of death; considerable oral and written communications skills; interpersonal skills; ability to supervise and teach laboratory technicians anatomical pathology techniques; ability to prepare reports of medicolegal autopsies.

Incumbents in this class must possess and retain certification in the field of internal medicine, family medicine, or related specialty, from an appropriate medical specialty board.

OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Incumbents in this class must be certified in anatomic pathology by the American Board of Pathology and board eligible in forensic pathology.

Forensic pathologists with experience teaching forensic pathology fellows as part of a training program and with additional subspecialty experience are strongly encouraged to apply.