Deaths Due to Suicide

Learning Objectives

1. Differentiate between cause and manner of death in the context of suicide investigations.
2. Identify and interpret key risk factors and patterns associated with suicide, including demographic differences, regional variations, and method selection.
3. Recognize and evaluate common injury patterns across blunt, sharp, gunshot, asphyxial, toxicological, and fire-related suicides, and distinguish them from findings suggestive of homicide or accident.
4. Assess evidence of suicidal intent through direct and indirect indicators, including scene investigation, suicide notes, toxicology, and injury characteristics.
5. Apply medicolegal principles to special case scenarios such as assisted suicide, suicide by cop, and ambiguous manners of death, considering their implications for certification and public health reporting.

Instructor: James Gill, MD (Chief Medical Examiner, Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner)

Module Creator: Justine Newman, MD, JD (PGY-1, University of Pennsylvania)