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Being a Mortician

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Being a Mortician
Being a Mortician

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 home. 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, Small
Business Management, Funeral Home management, Merchandising, Accounting, Funeral
Home Law, Computers, History and

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