Pathology is a branch of medicine concerned with determining the cause of death, usually for criminal law cases and civil law cases in some jurisdictions. A forensic pathologist is a medical doctor who has completed training in anatomical pathology and who has subsequently sub-specialized in forensic pathology and works as a medical examiner or coroner. A forensic pathologist performs autopsies/post-mortem examinations to determine the cause of death and (in the USA) the "manner of death" (homicide, accident, natural, suicide, and undetermined). The autopsy also provides an opportunity for other issues raised by the death to be addressed, such as the collection of trace evidence or determining the identity of the deceased.

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