President's Welcome

Dear Colleagues and Visitors to the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) website:

It is an honor to serve as the President of NAME for 2023. As I embark on my presidency, I am fortunate to have a thoughtful and foreseeing strategic plan adopted in 2022 to guide the efforts of not only the Executive Committee and Board of Directors but also the multiple committees where most of the work of NAME is accomplished.

For many years, NAME has been laser-focused on addressing the workforce shortage of forensic pathologists and others in the medicolegal death investigation system. This work will continue through the elevation and escalation of the "all-hands-on-deck" focus, with multiple ongoing strategies, continued search for new techniques, and we will focus this work throughout the entirety of the NAME organization. A few of our other priorities include:

• Enhancement of the public image of forensic pathology and medicolegal death investigation work.
• Reducing disparity to ensure equitable access to quality medicolegal death investigation for all.
• Fostering the respect, safety, well-being, and sustainability of professionals in the medicolegal death investigation community.
• Prioritizing diversity, inclusiveness, and equal opportunity for our membership.
• Promoting research and advancement of medical and scientific knowledge in forensic pathology.
• Tracking and supporting innovative approaches to forensic pathology and medicolegal death investigations and advocating for their implementation.
• Strengthening the collaboration and partnership of medicolegal examiner and coroner communities by magnifying and leveraging a unified voice.

The strategic plan is extensive, inspiring, and requires innovative thinking. We are moving forward with the end in mind, embarking on the journey of the work necessary for our profession. As we work to achieve these and other goals, we will closely examine the organization itself to ascertain our resources are appropriately directed to achieve our goals. Our strategic plan will require many years to accomplish, and many goals and strategies may undergo modifications in the coming years.

As a volunteer organization, I thank all of you for your membership, meeting attendance, and committee participation. Welcome to our website for others who are not members but are interested in NAME! I look forward to a productive year and sincerely appreciate the opportunity to represent NAME as its President.

Regards,
Joyce deJong, DO