COEUR d'ALENE - Douglas Stafford believes his medical career has made him a prime candidate for Kootenai County coroner.

"I've always been interested in that type of work," said Stafford. "I'm a general surgeon by trade, so I'm a natural fit for that."

Stafford, 44, first came to North Idaho in 1998, when he opened a general surgical practice.

He constantly dealt with trauma situations that coroners face in death investigations, he said.

"Gunshots, stabbings, car wrecks. These are things that seem to have been getting more common," he said. "That's always been something that's been a part of my career since early on."

In the last few years, he has focused more on varicose vein surgery at his new practice, Vein Clinics Northwest in Coeur d'Alene.

Before beginning a private practice, his life was devoted to his education, he said.

Originally from Menomonie, Wis., he obtained a bachelor's in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa. Afterward he became a board certified general surgeon at the University of Wisconsin, and completed his surgical residency at the University of North Dakota in 1998.

The Republican said his background will be crucial in fulfilling the coroner duties.

"I've done a lot of trauma in my training, but there are other aspects that are non traumatic that a coroner has to deal with," he said. "I understand the whole path of physiology behind any disease process."

His experience in running a business would also be beneficial in managing the coroner's budget, he added.

"In my discussions with (Coroner) Dr. West, one of the challenges is he has a certain budget and can't get autopsies for everybody. The budget doesn't fit that," Stafford said. "You have to have knowledge of where to spend your dollars in the constraints set by the county commissioners. In running a business, I have to deal with dollars and budget, so I understand that part of it, too."

Although Stafford works in Coeur d'Alene, he lives in Harrison. He is married, and has two small children.

"I have a good fundamental base of the disease processes ultimately dealt with as a coroner," he said. "I think just being a physician would certainly qualify you to be coroner."