CHIEF STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER

Definition

The Chief State Medical Examiner shall report to the Commissioner of Health; however, the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner shall be independent of any supervision or control by the department. The Chief State Medical Examiner enforces the provisions of the Revised State Medical Examiner Act; ensures that the medical examiner system in the State of New Jersey is equipped to effectively deliver medicolegal death investigation services; establishes operating and performance standards for every medical examiner office in New Jersey, including uniform procedures for medicolegal death investigations; manages staff and work activities; prepares and signs official performance evaluations for subordinate staff; does other related duties as required.

Examples of work

• Administers and enforces the provisions of the Revised State Medical Examiner Act.
• Adopts rules and regulations as necessary to effectuate the provisions of the Revised State Medical Examiner Act.
• Establishes uniform procedures for conducting medicolegal death investigations as determined to be necessary to determine identity, cause and manner of death, and to resolve any issues or potential issues of public health and legal concern.
• Establishes minimum performance and operating standards for the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner to include the Northern and Southern Regional Medical Examiner Offices.
• Establishes standards of professional conduct to be followed by the personnel of the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner and the personnel of the county and intercounty medical examiner offices.
• Ensures that the medical examiner system is adequately equipped and staffed to effectively deliver medicolegal death investigation services throughout the State.
• Establishes standards of funding for the operations and staffing of the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, to include the Northern and Southern Regional Medical Examiner Offices and the State Toxicology Laboratory.
• Establishes recommended standards of funding for the operations, staffing, capital equipment, laboratories, and facilities of the county and intercounty medical examiner offices.
• Oversees the deployment of State funds designated for the medical examiner system.
• Supervises the work operations and/or functional programs and has responsibility for effectively recommending the hiring, firing, promoting, demoting, and/or disciplining of employees.
• Maintains and supervises the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, the Northern and Southern Regional Medical Examiner Offices, and the New Jersey State Medical Examiner Toxicology Laboratory.
• Appoints persons to the position of Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner, and other employees as may be needed for the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, including the Northern and Southern Regional Medical Examiner Offices, to meet its responsibilities.
• Applies for and accepts funds, including grants and awarded federal appropriations, for the improvement of the system of medicolegal death investigation services.
• May provide advice concerning the appointment by the governing body of a county or the governing bodies of two or more counties, of county or intercounty medical examiners, as applicable, to conduct medicolegal death investigations within the jurisdiction in which they may be appointed to serve.
• May provide advice to the governing bodies of two or more counties seeking to maintain an intercounty medical examiner office, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
• Supervises county or intercounty medical examiner facilities to ensure that they are not experiencing problems that preclude their effective functioning, unless an office is accredited following an inspection by the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME).
• Provides professional oversight concerning the operations of the county and intercounty medical examiner offices as they relate specifically to the conduct of medicolegal death investigations and the performance of autopsies.
• May intervene and assume control over any ongoing medicolegal death investigation taking place in the State, at any time, and at his/her discretion; may testify as an expert witness.
• Ensures that county and intercounty medical examiners enter case information into the Case Management System in a timely manner, and complete any training offered by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner on the proper use of the Case Management System.
• Establishes minimum training and experiential requirements of eligibility for those persons appointed as Deputy Chief State Medical Examiner or as a county or intercounty medical examiner.
• May make assistant medical examiners available to educational institutions for the teaching of legal medicine and other subjects closely related to their duties.
• Will be required to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.

Requirements

<b>LICENSE AND CERTIFICATION:</b>

Appointee must be a physician licensed and in good standing in the State of New Jersey, a graduate of a regularly chartered and legally constituted medical school or college, or osteopathic medical school or college, and certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology or by the American Osteopathic Board of Pathology.

Appointees will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey only if the operation of a vehicle, rather than employee mobility, is necessary to perform the essential duties of the position.

Experience

Five (5) years of experience in managing a medical examiner system.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Knowledge of the overall operation of the New Jersey Medical Examiner System.
• Knowledge of the statutes, pertinent rules, regulations, and policies that govern the practice of the New Jersey Medical Examiner System.
• Knowledge of the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA).
• Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Knowledge of microscopy, toxicology, ballistics, and investigative techniques as they relate to forensic medicine.
• Knowledge of chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Knowledge of the procedures involved in detecting, analyzing, evaluating, and interpreting manifestations and symptoms of physical conditions from pathological examinations.
• Knowledge of media dynamics in a high-profile environment.
• Knowledge of administrative planning and management, including goal setting, budget management, human resource management, and strategic planning.
• Ability to manage assigned staff and plan, coordinate, organize, and implement projects.
• Ability to coordinate the smooth operation and maintenance of autopsy facilities.
• Ability to manage challenging and critical components of a large, complex, and fast-paced medical examiner system without a lapse in daily operations.
• Ability to effectively respond to public information requests.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with colleagues, subordinates, other agencies, and the public.
• Ability to prepare clear, sound, accurate, and informative reports containing findings, conclusions, and recommendations.
• Ability to provide testimony and act as an expert witness in court.
• Ability to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.
• Ability to read, write, speak, understand, or communicate in English sufficiently to perform the duties of this position. American Sign Language or Braille may also be considered as acceptable forms of communication.
• Persons with mental or physical disabilities are eligible as long as they can perform the essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. If the accommodation cannot be made because it would cause the employer undue hardship, such persons may not be eligible.

Note

The examples of work for this title are for illustrative purposes only. A position using this title may not perform all duties listed in this job specification. Conversely, all duties performed on the job may not be listed.