When I Grow Up

When I Grow Up

Advance Composition

12/02/06

Career introduction

A forensic scientist is a scientist who analyzes biological, chemical, or physical samples taken into evidence during a criminal investigation. It is their job to provide the proof the police need to bring the case to court. There are many kinds of forensic scientists; there are Medical Examiners, Forensic Odontologists, Crime Laboratory Analysts, Forensic Engineers, and Crime Scene Examiners. I want to be the Crime Scene Examiner.

The Medical Examiner has the highest pay, you have to be able to handle cutting dead bodies open and you need to have seven or more years of college. The Medical Examiner is required to have a medical degree, so having a chemistry or biology degree as an undergraduate major is a good asset. The inventive ways people are killed create a problem-solving challenge for the Medical Examiner.

The Forensic Odontologist has similar educational requirements as the medical examiner has except they have a dentistry degree instead of a medical degree. They generally are dentists who practice as consultants rather than as full-time forensic scientists.

Crime Laboratory Analysts are usually paid well and you generally get to work indoors with stable work hours. Occasionally, evidence requires other specialties, such as entomology, anthropology, zoology, and botany.

Forensic Engineers deal with traffic accidents, fire investigations, and a variety of wrongful injury cases. They are like a Crime Scene Examiner but with fewer bodies, better hours, and generally much higher pay. A Forensic engineer requires an engineering degree.

Crime Scene Examiners will work whenever and wherever a crime occurs; indoors or outdoors, day or night, and have to be able to deal with dead bodies and other situations. There certainly is a lot less routine in their job. The pay is not great but few people voluntarily leave a crime scene section for other types of jobs. The Crime Scene Examiner should have a bachelor's degree either in a natural science with emphasis in law enforcement and crime scene processing or a criminal justice degree with emphasis in natural science.

The earliest account of using fingerprints to they people was during the seventh century. According to Soleiman, an Arabic merchant, a debtor's fingerprints were affixed to a bill, which would then be given to the lender. This bill was legally recognized as proof of the validity of the debt. The first written account of using medicine and entomology to solve criminal cases is attributed to the book, Xi Yuan Ji Lu. Writings began to appear in the late 1700s on these topics including; "A Treatise on Forensic Medicine and Public Health" by the French physician, and "The Complete System of Police Medicine" by the German medical expert Johann Peter Franck. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, and CSI: NY, are some Popular television series focusing on crime detection activities of 21st Century.

The reason I chose this profession was that I thought that it would be fun and interesting. I also want to help people even if it is not in the best way you can. I have heard that being a forensic scientist is like being a kid trying to solve a puzzle.

Career preparation

You will need a minimum of a Bachelor's degree in a physical science such as chemistry, biology, or physics. Coursework should be focused on chemistry and ideally would also include microscopy and statistics.

Whether or not you pursue a graduate degree or a degree specifically in forensic science should be based on your personal situation and preferences. There is no general industry standard. If you are interested in a specific lab, call the director to ask what they are looking for. For the unconventional student, there are non-accredited forensic science courses offered on-line or through the University of California at Berkeley Extention.

Some skills can be acquired by working as a low or non-paid intern in a crime laboratory to gain experience in the forensic application of science. There is no official "listing" for such opportunities so you will need to make some phone calls to labs in which you are interested. During the interview, you must prove that you can deal with horrific sights and not be squeamish.

You will be required to provide references from your professors and former employers and you should not get reference from your family or friends. They know you to well and that will cloud their judgment on you.

Some good summer jobs are: working in a hospital or veterinary office, being a medic