Recently, it has come to the attention of the Administration at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) that the multiple attainments of a 2005 LECOM graduate have been significantly noteworthy. The extending of accolades is one way in which LECOM recognizes skilled alumni who have distinguished themselves through accomplishments consonant with the overarching mission of the College.
Maine Governor, Janet Mills, has appointed retired United States Air Force Colonel Alice Briones, D.O., to serve as the Chief Medical Examiner of the Pine Tree State.
A native of Hampden, Maine, Dr. Briones distinguished herself in her military career as the first woman to lead the United States Armed Forces Medical Examiner System (AFMES).
As AFMES Director, Dr. Briones was the Chief Medical Examiner responsible for overseeing more than 300 military and civilian personnel who provide the Department of Defense and other federal agencies with comprehensive forensic investigative services.
Headquartered at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, AFMES is the only worldwide medical examiner system.
A commitment to firmness of purpose is one of the most necessary aspects of character, and it is one of the best instruments of success. In the arena of human life, the appointments, honors, and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action; and nowhere is action more demanded than in tending to the needs of our men and women in the United States Armed Services.
Dr. Briones will begin her full-time service as Maine Chief Medical Examiner in June, after her family completes their relocation to Maine.
“With experience leading the world’s only global medical examiner system, Dr. Briones is incredibly qualified to serve as Maine’s next Chief Medical Examiner,” remarked Governor Mills. “I am pleased to welcome Dr. Briones home to Maine and thank her for her service in this critical role,” emphasized the Governor.
“I am looking forward to bringing my family back to Maine, giving back to Maine, and continuing the great forensic practices already established within the Maine Office of the Chief Medical Examiner,” commented Dr. Briones.
Dr. Briones, a recipient of the United States Air Force Health Profession Scholarship, earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine Degree from the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM) in 2005.
She completed a residency in Clinical and Anatomic Pathology at the University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, New York in 2009, and completed her Forensic Pathology Fellowship with the New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner in 2010.
Dr. Briones enlisted in the United States Army as a Combat Medic in 1990; she completed her basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Clinical Laboratory Medicine and a Certification as a Medical Technologist from the University of Maine in 1994, Dr. Briones was commissioned in the United States Air Force as a biomedical sciences corps laboratory officer.
During her Air Force service, Dr. Briones served as Assistant Chief of Laboratory Operations and Section Commander at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona; she also served as Chief of Laboratory Operations at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.
Dr. Briones joined AFMES in 2010 as a Junior Deputy Medical Examiner, advancing to become the Director of the Department of Defense Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory.
In 2017, she was elevated to Deputy Chief Armed Forces Medical Examiner, before being promoted to serve as the first woman Chief in 2020.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) of the State of Maine is a statewide system charged with the investigation of sudden, unexpected, and violent deaths.
A life lived in the purpose of her calling is a tribute to the highly skilled physician’s Alma Mater.
Her commitment to country, to service, and to medicine, highlights the heart of a dedicated physician and patriot. If there be any truer measure of character than by that which one does, it must be by that which one gives. The prodigious action undertaken by Dr. Briones as a medical professional in uniformed service and in her newest role connote a giving spirit; and they are a blueprint for accomplishment that demonstrate the way in which all success is supported by dedication and long term commitment.
LECOM extends its heartfelt congratulations to Colonel Alice Briones, D.O. in her new appointment as Chief Medical Examiner of the State of Maine.