Board Certification (advanced)

Board Certification is available to experienced Registered Diplomate medicolegal death investigators who prove their mastery of all aspects of medicolegal death investigation. In order to be eligible to apply, you must:

• Currently be certified at the ABMDI Registry Diplomate Level and in good standing for a minimum of six months.
• Have at least an Associates degree from a post secondary institution recognized by a national educational accrediting agency.
• Must currently be employed by a Medical Examiner/Coroner jurisdiction or equivalent federal authority and have the experience and responsibility to independently conduct medicolegal death scene investigations or supervise such investigations at time of application and examination.
  1. For applicants to "independently conduct a medicolegal death scene investigation," as referenced above, refers to the death investigator performing death scene investigations in person on location at the death scene. This includes but is not limited to completing a body examination (e.g., document injuries and personally assess postmortem changes), photographing the scene, completing an investigative report, etc.
  2. For applicants to “supervise such investigations" means that the applicant must have prior experience independently conducting medicolegal death scene investigations, as referenced in this document.
  3. Applicants in reserve positions would not qualify as being currently employed as defined above unless they are currently activated.
• Have a minimum of 4,000 hours of death investigation experience in the past six years.
  NOTE: If you are currently employed by a M.E./Coroner's office full time, you will have accumulated 4,000 hours in two years. If you are employed part time, you must have accumulated 4,000 hours within the past six years. "On-Call" time accumulates as follows:
  1. Each on-call hour = 0.25 hours (maximum 2,500 hours)
  2. Investigation of a natural death, no scene investigation = 1 hour
  3. Investigation of a non-natural death, no scene investigation = 2.5 hours
  4. Investigation of a death with scene investigation = 5 hours

Successful Completion of the Board Certification Examination

Once you pass the Board Certification examination, you become a Fellow of the ABMDI (F-ABMDI). Certificants are issued a certification number.

Note: There is an 18 month time limit to complete the application process and sit for the exam. There is a "wait-time" of 30 days between test and retest.

The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators complies with federal and state disability laws and makes reasonable accommodations for applicants with documented disabilities.