Coroner and Medical Examiner Offices
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4402 E. Huntington Drive
Flagstaff, Arizona 86004 TEL 928-679-8775 FAX 928-779-7056 
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Our office is responsible for all of Coconino County (18,661 square miles). We have 5 Medico-legal Death Investigators/Autopsy Technicians who you will interact with the most throughout your internship. The workload of our office relies completely on how many deaths occur in the county at any given time. Staff also includes 2 Forensic Pathologists and an Office Manager.
Our office is a diverse environment that communicates with those from multiple backgrounds and belief systems in an attempt to medically certify death certificates and performing investigations of Homicides, Suicides, Accidents, and natural deaths; while respecting the deceased, their families, and their wishes. Your responsibilities will include answering phones, assisting in autopsy, and assisting investigations and office manager. Here at the CCOME there is a huge variety of tasks and duties that must be done, some which one may not expect from a Medical Examiner’s office, so be prepared for anything. When you are present in the office during business hours, you may be asked to go on a scene with the on-call investigator, assist in autopsy, do office work and many other tasks. Please be prepared with proper shoes and attire. Interns will be asked to change into scrubs unless their attire is adequate for the day. When you are in autopsy, responsibilities will include, setting up paperwork before moving on to other roles in autopsy. Doing laundry of scrubs, smocks and towels for autopsy is also a daily task that is asked to be completed by all interns and can be completed in between autopsies. As competencies are mastered the Autopsy Technicians will provide training on fingerprinting, photography techniques, possible toxicological specimen collection, and accordingly to your desire and willingness to learn evisceration, certain or all organ removal training can be offered. The Autopsy Technicians will take into consideration the line of work that you wish to go into when considering evisceration training. Not all interns will have the opportunity to be trained in evisceration techniques. There will be one investigator who will be scheduled to be on-call on a rotating basis. If circumstances allow the on-call investigator may allow you to accompany them to a death scene. The circumstances of the death and other factors will determine whether or not the on-call investigator will allow an intern to accompany them. It is not uncommon that an intern will assist the investigator with photographing/documenting the scene, assisting in scene evaluation, decedent removal, and the decedent admission process. Given the nature of our job there will be times, when you as an intern, will have down time and we encourage you use this time to study subjects that pertain to death investigations, autopsies, and or information provided to you by CCOME staff. During your internship with us you will be required to create a 5–10 minute PowerPoint presentation. We ask that you be open, honest, and insightful when it comes to this assignment. The focus of the presentation will be based on forensics related to the medical examiner world. Volunteers shall abide by County policies that govern their action, which will be job specific and provided by the coordinator; including but not limited to those of ethical behavior, proper use of County property and resources, confidentiality, financial responsibility, and refraining from illegal drug and alcohol use. By volunteering you understand and accept that during the course of your internship you may be exposed to communicable diseases, including, but not limited to, the following: tuberculosis, other respiratory infections, HIV, hepatitis, other bloodborne infections, viruses, and skin infections. The proper use of protective clothing and equipment and following procedures will minimize this risk, however, you acknowledge that this is a risk you accept. |
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Covering 9,200 square miles and receiving nearly 10,000 annual reports of death, Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner employees must be hard working professionals who are dedicated to upholding our department values of service, integrity, compassion, positivity, adaptability, teamwork, and boundaries in a challenging setting.
The Office of the Medical Examiner accepts volunteers in investigations, exams, admitting and photography. In order to apply, applicants must submit an electronic Volunteer Services Application and successfully complete an informal interview process, background check and medical safety requirements. Our anthropology laboratory offers a limited number of internships throughout the year. Interested applicants must have a Master’s degree in Anthropology with special focus on Biological/Physical and/or Forensic Anthropology and completed coursework in Forensic Anthropology with a “C” or better. To apply, email a resume and unofficial transcript to [email protected]. |
