Medical Alumni Association of the University of Maryland

By Rita M. Rooney
Forensics
in the Classroom
David Fowler, MD, Maryland’s chief medical examiner
It can be argued that most doctors are part detective. Surely, diagnosis today depends
as much on investigational insight as it does on technology. And for medical students and residents, just
beginning to explore their capacity for investigation, an introduction to forensic medicine is invaluable.
Maryland’s fourth-year medical students have the opportunity to participate in a four-week elective
course at the forensic medical center of the chief medical examiner’s office. Pathology residents benefit
from a mandatory rotation. Following observation and instruction, students have an opportunity to
perform autopsies under supervision—a critical learning experience afforded to very few medical students
throughout the country.
David Fowler, MD, Maryland’s chief medical examiner (CME), heads the most published, and one of
the nation’s leading ME departments. He reports that his office, which has always been on the University
of Maryland campus, has a long, mutually supportive relationship with the school. Many faculty members
share dual appointments.
“The elective in forensic pathology has understandable value for students of pathology,” Fowler says.
“But we have students representing almost every medical specialization as well, and perhaps with the
exception of dermatology, there is something important for all of them to gain from this experience.”
[11] University of Maryland