MEDICOLEGAL DEATH INVESTIGATOR PREEMPLOYMENT TEST DEVELOPMENT

The medicolegal death investigator (MDI) represents an essential compo nent in the multidisciplinary investigation of sudden and unexpected d eaths. Presently there exists no specific program for the job training evaluation procedure for new (MDI) employees. We discuss the developm ent of a medicolegal death investigator preemployment training tool, w hich consists of a training and evaluation program containing a list o f tasks and task steps. After the investigator demonstrates the abilit y to perform individual tasks independently, the trainee will be objec tively evaluated by the completion of a written test specifically desi gned to cover the task items. The preemployment test has been develope d by those professionals best able to determine the job requirements, the death investigators. The specific outcomes of the process also inc lude further definition of the profession, preemployment testing, poli cy and procedure development, posttraining evaluation, identification of training needs, curriculum design and further professional developm ent, and identification of the profession of death investigator.