Across the country, medical examiner’s offices are facing a shortage of forensic pathologists. These are the people performing autopsies to determine the cause of a death. And there aren’t enough of them, at a time when caseloads are rising, in part due to the opioid epidemic.
The Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner came up with one solution to this shortage— one they believe has not been tried before anywhere else. They’re going to help medical examiners pay off their student loans. The average forensic pathologist graduates with close to $200,000 in loan debt.
Dr. Jeff Johnston is the county’s chief medical examiner, and he joins us now, welcome to the program.
