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coni0038
Jan 18, 2007, 06:41 PM
Do physician assistants work in morgues?

phillysteakandcheese
Jan 19, 2007, 03:00 PM
Generally speaking - No. When a person is being taken to a morgue, they are already dead and have no need of a doctor. A mortician (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undertaker) comes and takes the body to a funeral home for burial.

A Physician Assistant is like a "Junior Doctor" - They work under the supervision of physician. See: Physician assistants (http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos081.htm)

Fr_Chuck
Jan 19, 2007, 03:29 PM
Normally no, but of course I worked with a medical doctor who was driving a fork lift, so I guess they can work anywhere they want to.

But you have a mortician and a funeral director which are specific jobs which are either certified or licensed by most states.

hcourtne
Sep 20, 2007, 08:47 AM
Assuming you do not already have a degree as a PA and are wanting to work in a morgue, you can look into becoming an autopsy technician. Tech's are basically a PA for a pathologist- they perform the actual dissection and run the morgue while pathologists dissect the organs after removal and make the final call. I did this part time while I was in college as a pre-med. If you already have an undergraduate degree and especially if you already have a graduate degree (namely as a PA) you are probably overqualified since you do not need a degree to be an autopsy technician, just certifications and training.