The word mortician brings what images to mind? The career of a
mortician is surprisingly different than it is portraied in movies and books. Being
a mortician is a very rewarding job both personal as well as psychological to those
with the temperament, training and discipline required to do the job properly. In
this paper I'll be reporting the requirements to become a mortician, also called
funeral director or undertaker, the duties the job requires of you, and the outlook
of this career in the future of the United States.
To become a funeral director in the United States today isn't an easy task.
You need to be twenty-one, a high school graduate with some undergraduate
college work, as well as at least one year of professional training in mortuary
science, and completion of an apprenticeship. 'Upon completing a state board
licensing exam, new funeral directors are qualified to join the staff of a funeral
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Shipley Do-Nutshome. In many states successful completion of a national examination given by
the National Conference of Examining boards will qualify you for licensure'(IRN
10). In different states the undergraduate college credit varies considerably, one-
third of the states require one year; another third wants two years; and the other
third requires three years of credit(IRN 9). A concentration of courses is also
required in some of the states. You may need to take 15 credits in natural science,
13 in social sciences, 13 in business, 14 in chemistry(IRN 10). In addition to your
college work, you will need at least 50 credit hours of professional work in
mortuary science. 'There are about 40 schools of mortuary science officially
recognized by the U.S. Department of Education today'(Shipley 220). The
curriculum generally consists of courses in:
'Embalming, Restorative Art, Chemistry, Microbiology, Pathology, Anatomy,