Interview with Dr. Michael Baden

Interview By: Talal Syed

Before I had an Interview with Dr. Baden, I asked Ms. Villani a few questions about Dr. Baden. She told me that he was a forensic pathologist, or a person who performs autopsies. I found this very interesting, considering the fact that pathology is an area of great interest for me. So, I decided to have an interview with Dr. Baden. Turns out I made a very good choice since Dr. Baden turned out to be a very friendly and interesting man. Here is the interview I had with him.

Q: Why did you decide to become a forensic pathologist?

A: To tell you the truth, I actually became a forensic pathologist by accident. Pathology had always interested me, and also because my parents urged me to, I decided to follow a career in Medical pathology. I was training at Bellevue Hospital, which is affiliated with NYU, when I first came in contact with forensic pathology. When I was training, the Medical Examination office was in the same building. My colleagues and the other doctors in the building would go down there and watch the autopsies as they were being conducted. It was really interesting, especially to me. So, I started going there and hanging around more often. Eventually I decided to help with the autopsies, and I was welcomed warmly buy the chief medical examiner considering I was the only student at the Hospital who showed keen interest in forensic pathology. And that is how I “accidentally” became a forensic pathologist.

Q: What do you do as a forensic pathologist?

A: As a forensic pathologist, my job is to perform autopsies. Let’s say there is a murder on 148^th Street in Manhattan. My job is to find out how the person was killed, did the person kill him/herself. Was the person killed there on the stop or was he/she dragged there. These are the types of questions my colleagues and I try to answer, and we are correct in our findings about 98% of the time. After I find what I need, I have to go and testify in court. At times, I even had to testify against the Mafia.

Q: Have you ever been threatened considering you have to testify against criminals?

A: No, I have never been threatened. When I am standing at the stand, and the Mafia is sitting right below me, they look up at me and I know that they understand that I am just doing my job.

Q: What was a very special case that you had to investigate?

A: Well, the most special case that I had ever been part of was the reinvestigation of the autopsy of John F. Kennedy. What happened was that the first autopsy that was conducted was done very poorly by hospital pathologists. Most of the procedures weren’t conducted, the x-rays were not in good condition, all in all, it was a very poorly done autopsy. So, what we had to do was perform an investigation on the autopsy, and using the information we had from the earlier autopsy, we came to a proper conclusion.

Q: What are the most depressing cases, or difficult cases you perform?

A: The most depressing cases I have to autopsy are children. The problem with autopsying children is that you feel very upset. They are so small and can not make a decision for themselves, and they end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time and have to suffer the consequences of actions that people older than them take. Other cases are autopsying people I know. One case was where I had to autopsy a friend of mine who died in a fire. This was the most depressing case, because I knew he had once been alive. So after that, I decided to never autopsy friends and family again.

So, Dr. Baden is all in all a great person, I really encourage people to meet him if they can. Also, before I forget, for people who are interested in becoming forensic pathologists like Dr. Baden, here are the basics on becoming a forensic pathologist. So, basically like all other doctors, you need to pass the MCAT exams and enter Medical School. There you earn a doctor of medicine degree, and then go on to specialize in pathology. Pathology is the study of disease and abnormalities of the body. So, pathology has to subsets, forensic pathology and medical pathology. Medical pathologists work in hospitals and do the more commonly understood pathology related jobs such as observing blood samples and etc. A forensic pathologist however, must perform autopsies and be willing to testify in court. So these are the basic steps of becoming a forensic pathologist. Also, Dr. Baden adds that if you want to be a forensic pathologist, yu “ really have to love what you are doing”. This is because since forensic pathologists work for the government, the pay is not all that great. And also, you need to be really motivated. A major job requirement is to be able to keep your wits in a courtroom when you have to answer frustrating yes or no questions. So there are many different things you need to be able to do before you can go on to achieve the goal of becoming a forensic pathologist. So, this was my understanding of forensic pathology from what I heard from Dr. Baden. If you would like to know more, I highly recommend asking Dr. Baden himself in person. To find out how to contact him, you can always ask Ms. Villani, who is always available (depending on her schedule), in room 031.



		Interview with Dr. Michael Baden Interview By: Talal Syed Before I had an Interview with Dr. Baden, I asked Ms. Villani a few questions about Dr. Baden. She told me that he was a forensic pathologist, or a person who performs autopsies. I found this very interesting, considering the fact that pathology is an area of great interest for me. So, I decided to have an interview with Dr. Baden. Turns out I made a very good choice since Dr. Baden turned out to be a very friendly and interesting man. Here is the interview I had with him. Q: Why did you decide to become a forensic pathologist? A: To tell you the truth, I actually became a forensic pathologist by accident. Pathology had always interested me, and also because my parents urged me to, I decided to follow a career in Medical pathology. I was training at Bellevue Hospital, which is affiliated with NYU, when I first came in contact with forensic pathology. When I was training, the Medical Examination office was in the same building. My colleagues and the other doctors in the building would go down there and watch the autopsies as they were being conducted. It was really interesting, especially to me. So, I started going there and hanging around more often. Eventually I decided to help with the autopsies, and I was welcomed warmly buy the chief medical examiner considering I was the only student at the Hospital who showed keen interest in forensic pathology. And that is how I “accidentally” became a forensic pathologist. Q: What do you do as a forensic pathologist? A: As a forensic pathologist, my job is to perform autopsies. Let’s say there is a murder on 148^th Street in Manhattan. My job is to find out how the person was killed, did the person kill him/herself. Was the person killed there on the stop or was he/she dragged there. These are the types of questions my colleagues and I try to answer, and we are correct in our findings about 98% of the time. After I find what I need, I have to go and testify in court. At times, I even had to testify against the Mafia. Q: Have you ever been threatened considering you have to testify against criminals? A: No, I have never been threatened. When I am standing at the stand, and the Mafia is sitting right below me, they look up at me and I know that they understand that I am just doing my job. Q: What was a very special case that you had to investigate? A: Well, the most special case that I had ever been part of was the reinvestigation of the autopsy of John F. Kennedy. What happened was that the first autopsy that was conducted was done very poorly by hospital pathologists. Most of the procedures weren’t conducted, the x-rays were not in good condition, all in all, it was a very poorly done autopsy. So, what we had to do was perform an investigation on the autopsy, and using the information we had from the earlier autopsy, we came to a proper conclusion. Q: What are the most depressing cases, or difficult cases you perform? A: The most depressing cases I have to autopsy are children. The problem with autopsying children is that you feel very upset. They are so small and can not make a decision for themselves, and they end up being in the wrong place at the wrong time and have to suffer the consequences of actions that people older than them take. Other cases are autopsying people I know. One case was where I had to autopsy a friend of mine who died in a fire. This was the most depressing case, because I knew he had once been alive. So after that, I decided to never autopsy friends and family again. So, Dr. Baden is all in all a great person, I really encourage people to meet him if they can. Also, before I forget, for people who are interested in becoming forensic pathologists like Dr. Baden, here are the basics on becoming a forensic pathologist. So, basically like all other doctors, you need to pass the MCAT exams and enter Medical School. There you earn a doctor of medicine degree, and then go on to specialize in pathology. Pathology is the study of disease and abnormalities of the body. So, pathology has to subsets, forensic pathology and medical pathology. Medical pathologists work in hospitals and do the more commonly understood pathology related jobs such as observing blood samples and etc. A forensic pathologist however, must perform autopsies and be willing to testify in court. So these are the basic steps of becoming a forensic pathologist. Also, Dr. Baden adds that if you want to be a forensic pathologist, yu “ really have to love what you are doing”. This is because since forensic pathologists work for the government, the pay is not all that great. And also, you need to be really motivated. A major job requirement is to be able to keep your wits in a courtroom when you have to answer frustrating yes or no questions. So there are many different things you need to be able to do before you can go on to achieve the goal of becoming a forensic pathologist. So, this was my understanding of forensic pathology from what I heard from Dr. Baden. If you would like to know more, I highly recommend asking Dr. Baden himself in person. To find out how to contact him, you can always ask Ms. Villani, who is always available (depending on her schedule), in room 031.