American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators

NOTICE: There have been substantial changes made to the eligibility requirements for registry certification. Please visit the registry page and confirm you fit the criteria before sending in your application request form. Thanks!

The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators^® (ABMDI) is a national, not-for-profit, independent professional certification board that has been established to promote the highest standards of practice for medicolegal death investigators.

The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators will certify individuals who have the proven knowledge and skills necessary to perform medicolegal death investigations as set forth in the Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator published in 1999 by the National Institutes of Justice. This is a voluntary certification program.

The American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators was created, designed, and developed by veteran, practicing medicolegal death investigators who have been involved in the development of the Death Investigation: A Guide for the Scene Investigator. It will also assist the courts and public in evaluating competence of the certified individual.

In 2005, the ABMDI became one of four professional boards in the nation to be accredited by the Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board.

Purpose of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators^®

• To encourage adherence to high standards of professional practice and ethical conduct when performing medicolegal death investigations.
• To recognize qualified individuals who have voluntarily applied for basic and advanced levels of professional certification.
• To grant and issue certificates to individuals who have demonstrated their mastery of investigational techniques and who have successfully completed rigorous examination of their knowledge and skills in the field of medicolegal death investigation.
• To maintain a listing of individuals granted medicolegal death investigator certification.
• To recertify individuals every five years according to established recertification criteria including examination and continuing education requirements.

Benefits of Certification^®

Official guidelines for medicolegal death investigators had not been established until publication of the National Guidelines for Death Investigation by the National Institute of Justice in December 1997. Twenty-nine tasks were identified that may need to be performed to properly conduct a medicolegal death investigation. These national guidelines were validated by the Technical Working Group for Death Investigation (TWIGDI), the National Medicolegal Review Panel (NMRP) and 146 members of the TWGDI national reviewers network. Certification provides official recognition by an independent professional certification body that an individual has acquired specialized knowledge and demonstrated proficiency in the standards and practice necessary to properly conduct medicolegal death investigations. The individual agrees to adhere to the highest standards of professional practice and ethical conduct when serving the public and when representing the profession.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions of our members are not necessarily those of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators.