The duties of the successful applicant will include conducting forensic autopsies; providing clear verbal communication as expert testimony in criminal or civil proceedings; conducting or participating in in-service training for law enforcement or other agencies as needed; consulting from a pathology perspective on emergency response, and assisting as a liaison with organ and tissue procurement organizations. Some individual teaching of staff investigators and technicians and occasional individual teaching of family practice resident physicians and pre-medicine students in summer training programs is expected. Since this is also a management position the duties may include employee supervision and management of day to day office functions.
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Copyright 1996-2013
American Academy of Forensic Sciences |
The Ventura County Medical Examiner Office is currently seeking forensic pathologist applicants for the position of Assistant Chief Medical Examiner. The position is available ASAP, though some flexibility is possible. The position is vacant due to the retirement of the previous Chief ME on July 1, 2012 and the appointment of the current Assistant Chief ME (Jon Smith, MD) as the next Chief ME, effective July 1. The position is full-time, salaried with benefits and is classified as management.
Ventura County is located on the south-central coast of California, between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. The office is in the city of Ventura, a beach front city of 110,000 which is home to the County’s central government offices and courthouse. Ventura is blessed with the mild “Mediterranean” climate that makes coastal Southern California living so comfortable. The medical examiner office and morgue facility is located on the Ventura County Medical Center campus. The facility is a fairly new, free standing, one story building at the base of local foothills. It was designed by the Medical Examiner for functionality and aesthetics. It has an ocean and island view from all offices and the autopsy suites in the morgue portion of the building.
Ventura County has a population of approximately 840,000. Geographically, the northern half of the land area is sparsely populated and mountainous. The southern and coastal parts are agricultural, suburban and urban. The largest city is Oxnard, with a population of close to 200,000.
The Medical Examiner investigates approximately 30% of the county deaths and conducts approximately 430 autopsies each year. The office employs two forensic pathologists (the Chief and the Assistant Chief Medical Examiner). Traditionally, the autopsy work and other case related work has been split between the two physicians with approximately 45% of cases handled by the Chief ME and 55% by the Assistant Chief ME.
The office employs five experienced deputy ME investigators who provide 24 hour death investigation coverage. A management assistant and a forensic pathology technician complete the full-time staff. Histology slides are prepared on campus by the pathology department of the County Hospital. The hospital lab also provides access to other routine laboratory testing. Toxicology services are provided by the County Crime Lab located less than ten minutes from the ME office. The toxicology lab is dually accredited and sends specimens to referral laboratories when they do not have the resources available to conduct these tests in-house.
The Chief Medical Examiner is appointed by the elected County Board of Supervisors. The Ventura County Medical Examiner Office was created by the County in 1974 when the elected coroner office was abolished. It is one of only four medical examiner counties in California. Those four counties contain about 40% of the State’s population. The Medical Examiner’s office is a division within the Ventura County Heath Care Agency. The administrative support from the Health Care Agency is considerable and has worked to the advantage of the Medical Examiner allowing more time to focus on service rather than process.
Salary: $144,831 to $202,764
Benefits: Pension with vesting at five years and only 4% employee paid contribution; optional 401k with up to 3% County match and 457 deferred compensation plans; heath care cafeteria plan, and generous vacation/sick leave combined as “annual leave”.
Closing date for applications: When filled
What to do if you are interested:
To apply, please do one of the following:
Recruitment contact information:
Email: Sam.maynard@ventura.org
Phone: 805-654-2640
Mail: Sam Maynard
County of Ventura Human Resources
800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970
Ventura CA 93009
Ventura County is an equal opportunity employer.