What are Mortuary Science Professions?
Mortuary science professions include funeral directors, morticians and undertakers. These professionals orchestrate funerals, comfort families and arrange bodies for burial. An associate’s or bachelor’s degree in mortuary science prepares graduates for mandatory state licensing, which requires at least two years of education, a year of field experience and an exam. Details vary by state. At the undergraduate level, mortuary science students learn the role of death and bereavement in society, psychology of death and mortuary law. Mortuary science professions demand knowledge of embalming techniques and restorative art. Graduates also know how to price and sell caskets and about different funeral customs, and they have usually completed an apprenticeship or internship. Professionals work in family or company-owned funeral homes. Job growth for mortuary science professions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), was expected to increase 12% between 2008 and 2018 (www.bls.
