Forensic medicine unlike C.S.I. says Saint John pathologist
Saint John pathologist Dr. Ken Obenson says there is a shortage of trained pathologists across the country
In books and on television, forensics looks like an exciting career, but in the real world, the forensic team at a hospital does pain-staking work that is anything but glamourous to figure out how and why death occurs.
Dr. Ken Obenson is a forensic pathologist and director of autopsy services for the Saint John Regional Hospital, which is the forensics centre for the province.
"Any homicides or sudden suspicious deaths requiring the attention of forensic pathology or expertise are referred here," he said, speaking with Information Morning Saint John in Part One of their summer forensics series.
"We provide information for the coroner, we provide information for the death investigators and we serve the judiciary, as well. It's in everybody's interest that we do great work," said Obenson.
Obenson has worked on some difficult cases in New Brunswick, including testifying at the 2007 trial of Gregory Despres of Minto, who was accused of the stabbing deaths of his elderly neighbours, Fred Fulton and Verna Decarie.
The work he does is demanding and has enormous consequences as he looks for answers.
National shortage
Obenson says in Canada there are only about "30 or 40 trained certified forensic pathologists," a relatively small number. He says some people may be discouraged from pursing a career in the field due to the many years it takes to attain the right qualifications.
There is a peace and a calm that I find examining dead bodies.- Dr. Ken Obenson, pathologist
"Four years of undergrad, four years of med school, five years of residency and one year of sub-specialty training, so it's quite long."
Obenson did not start out wanting to work as a forensic pathologist. Initially, he was interested in geriatrics "because of my attachment to my grandmother, but I guess when she passed my priorities sort of changed."
"There is a peace and a calm that I find examining dead bodies and trying to determine what killed them, especially in cases where there has been a homicide."
He finds the work interesting and immensely rewarding, and tries to pass on that interest to others, especially to young people who have an elevated interest in the profession due to popular culture.
"I gave a talk not too long ago to a couple of high school students ... now forensics involves so many things. There are forensic scientists, there are forensic pathologists, there's ballistics, criminalistics and so on and so forth. Not everybody necessarily wants to be a pathologist but I think there is considerable interest in death investigation as a whole."
With files from Information Morning Saint John