Star of television series NCIS visits and tours museum

The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) each year hosts the Ash Lecture, an event that features a keynote speaker addressing a topic relevant to its work and mission. This year, the lecture featured two speakers, Cmdr. Craig Mallak, the Armed Forces Medical Examiner (ME) and David McCallum, the TV actor who plays a medical examiner on CBS’s primetime show, NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service).

Together, Mallak and McCallum presented the lecture, which played on the theme “Reel to Real,” and illustrated the differences between what is represented in the media and on television shows and what actually happens day-to-day in the AFIP and ME offices.

Prior to his lecture, McCallum toured the labs of the AFIP for an up-close look at what goes on behind the scenes and to better understand how the organization works. He also toured the National Museum of Health and Medicine, where he saw artifacts relating to President Lincoln that had been portrayed on an episode of NCIS.

McCallum’s visit helped to prepare him for the lecture that evening and to allow him a greater understanding of the real world of pathology as opposed to “reel” world of television.