The department of pathology developed a high-quality forensic pathology fellowship at the western michigan university homer stryker M.D. School of medicine (WMED)

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (CFDA 16.037 - Strengthening the Medical Examiner-Coroner System) provides $145,054 to the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMED) to develop a high-quality forensic pathology fellowship program. The funding will support training additional qualified forensic pathologists and providing resources for WMED's medical examiner's office, which serves 13 counties in Michigan, to achieve and maintain professional accreditation. The fellowship program aims to increase the number of students pursuing careers in forensic pathology, addressing the nationwide shortage of board-certified forensic pathologists. The award period runs from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2027.

At WMED, the medical examiners office serves thirteen counties in michigan, with additional postmortem examination coverage for counties without access to a forensic pathologist. The leadership of this program is comprised of six (seven when fully staffed) forensic pathologists (one of which is also a neuropathologist), two forensic anthropologists, a forensic toxicologist, and several medicolegal death investigators. Fellows are provided with best-practice training and opportunities to become leaders in forensic pathology. In addition to training additional forensic pathologists, access to students and their exposure to forensic pathology will result in a higher-than-average number of students pursuing forensic pathology as their career choice.