Being a medical examiner is not really about gore and blood, explained Barbara Sampson, a Class 7 parent and also New York City’s Chief Medical Examiner. Dr. Sampson was at Chapin to speak with the Upper School’s CSI: Forensics class about her work in what was actually the nation’s first medical examiner’s office. Her appointment in 2014 marked another important first: she is the first woman to hold this position.

Dr. Sampson emphasized that her job’s purpose is twofold. “We use medicine and science to serve justice,” she said, pointing to the seal of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner with its scales of justice intertwined with a caduceus (the symbol of medicine). The public health aspect of their work is also crucial, Dr. Sampson said. In a city the size of New York, determining cause of death is critical to protecting public health. Her office conducts about 550 autopsies a year, she said, mentioning that each borough has its own fully staffed medical examiner’s office.

The City of New York is home to the nation’s biggest DNA lab, she said, which makes her work exciting and dynamic. That work, however, can often be extremely difficult. Identifying the dead and determining cause of death for the victims of the 9/11 attacks, she noted, presented incredible challenges to her office.  

Dr. Sampson was enthusiastic about the fact that Chapin offers a course in molecular genetics and marveled at the advancements in her work that technology has made possible. The medical examiner’s investigation, however, centers on the simpler exercise of the autopsy, where the primary purpose is to look and observe for oneself, Dr. Sampson said. “Everything we know about medicine comes from autopsies.” 

While, thankfully, the Chief Medical Examiner’s visit to Chapin won’t soon become an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” the students in attendance were no less absorbed by the stories and lessons Dr. Sampson shared with them.