Lesson 1.1.6 Based on what you saw, read, and your Activity 1.1.

.2 Career Journal entry, explain why the person usually doing an autopsy is a medical examiner or forensic pathologist and not a coroner.

In some counties the coroner is a medical examiner, but in other counties, they prefer a medical examiner because he has more training in the area and he has a degree in that field Describe two observations that could have been made by physicians or anatomists doing autopsies in the 1800s or early 1900s that would have provided them with evidence of a clear link between two human body systems.

One observation may have been that they realized the digestive system was connected to the urinary system by looking at the route that food takes. Another observation may have been seeing that muscles are attached to bones, which links the muscular system and the skeletal system. Suggest reasons why autopsies are required when a person dies as the result of an automobile or un-witnessed accident.

Autopsies may be required when a person dies because of a automobile accident to see if they were drunk driving, or had impaired vision, and they may see if foul play was involved when a person dies to to a unwitnessed accident Explain why the underlying and immediate causes of death are both important when preparing an autopsy report. the

Because sometimes the underlying causes of death could have contributed to the immediate cause of death or give a reason why person died that certain way.

Why does an autopsy include an examination of all the body systems and not just the suspected cause of death? For example, if a victim has massive head trauma from an automobile accident, why is a complete autopsy performed including a toxicology report?

A toxicology report would be used to see if the person was driving under the influence of alcohol, but in other scenarios, an examination of all the body systems is required because a lot of times, people die from something other than what is expected by looking at the injury. Suggest three specific reasons why determining the cause of death can sometimes be difficult.

Because there could be more than one than one thing that can cause death in that persons body The cause of death is not always visible to the eye Sometimes a killer may try very hard to conceal the cause of death in the eye of a medical examiner

Why is a toxicology report an important component of an autopsy?

It could tell you whether the victim was drunk and had impaired decisions or whether the victim was poisoned. It can also tell you what kind of medications she was on
Lesson 1.1.7

Use an online dictionary to find a definition of the word confidentiality. Write the

definition below. spoken, written, acted on, etc., in strict privacy or secrecy; secret:

Suggest three ways the definition might apply to the career you were assigned to research. If you are unsure of the duties and responsibilities of the assigned career, do a quick Internet search. Confidentiality may apply to a medical examinner because he cannot give info about his patients They also are not allowed to talk about their patients, or their cases Neither can they tell any given person irrelevent information about things in a victims body Share with the class, when directed by your teacher, your definition of confidentiality and how it might apply to your assigned career.

My definition of confidentiality would be a certain type of secrecy, a good secrecy, something that shouldn't be broadcasted Imagine you or a family member experienced a medical emergency. Discuss with your partner when and why confidentiality would be important to you. Choose two reasons and explain them in the space below. Confidentiality would be important to me because i wouldn't want everyone to know my business, it is very important to me so that for one, if we are going to trial, we can have a secret weapon, and two, some people just don't care what they say or how they say it, and it can really hurt. Use the Outlining and Summarizing Guidelines to write a one-paragraph summary of HIPAA in the space below.

HIPAA is a law passed by the government in 1996. It made people who high positions or positions of authority keep personal medical conditions of their patients/students safe. This was a very bright idea for the government because before this act, people's medical business could be put out on the street. I wouldn't want the person that i hate knowing that i had a serious and embarrassing medical condition. I would never hear the end of that. Its kind of like what happened in my english 1 class last year, the teacher told the entire class that i was allergic to latex, and everyone starting teasing me saying that i cant wear a "you know what". Fortunetley i was able to suppress the comotion so that the whole school wouldn't know that. The bad thing is, this law was in effect and she just decided to disregard it.

Identify any parts of HIPAA that directly relate to the profession you are assigned to research. List them below with a sentence explaining how you think they are related.

The parts of HIPAA that relate to my profession is basically the whole thing. As a doctor, you can't disclose any information about your patients, you can't even talk about them in public. Choose any two of the examples listed above and discuss with your partner ideas that might serve as justifications for the release of the private health information. Explain two of the ideas in the space below.

Some of the justifications for the release of private health information could be a fine or possibly jail time Another should definetley a face to face "I'm sorry, will you accept my apology?" that means so much more.