One of the more common questions I get asked is what exactly it takes to become a mortician. Well besides having the desire to be “on-call” the rest of your life and have to go to work at all hours of the day, you must become licensed. Different states have different rules, so for an example I will explain the requirements of my state….Idaho.
To find out the requirements for another state, just google “idaho board of morticians” replacing idaho with whatever state you want. That should bring up your states board and requirements should be listed there. In Idaho, becoming licensed is basically a two step process. First, you must become an apprentice or Mortician Resident Trainee, as the law likes to call it. To qualify for and fulfill the apprenticship you must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be of good moral character (I’m not making that up…its written in the statute)
- Have graduated from an accredited high school
- Must work full-time for one year, defined as at least 36 hours a week and 50 weeks for the year. This time is to be under the direct supervision of a supervising licensed mortician.
After the apprenticeship has been completed, then once a person has met the rest of the requirements they may become licensed. They are:
- Be at least 21 years of age.
- Be of good moral character.
- Competed and received credit for at least 60 semester hours from an accredited university with at least a C average.
- Must complete and receive credit from an accredited mortuary science program in addition to previous education requirement.
- Must pass the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Board’s National Board Examination, we well as the State Based Funeral Service Examination with at least a 75%.
As you can see, it takes a little more than filling out an application to become a mortician. By the time you add 1 year for an apprenticeship, 2 years to complete 60 college credits, and at least 1 year to complete mortuary college, it takes at least 3 years to meet the requirements just so you can take the tests. And if you are like me, then you stop part way through only start back again a couple years later. Which explains why you are going to be 29 when you are finally licensed.
My Undertaking 
Very interesting! I certainly would not like the on call stuff and of course working in close approxamation of dead people! I am glad that there are people who can do this for all of us! And I think that in all schooling it is commom to quite and start up again, life is a busy place to live!:)
As hard as I tried to get John to do something else in life, all he has ever wanted to be is a mortician. Living on call is the absolute worst thing about our profession. The dead and their stressed families are nothing compared to the horrid grind of the on-call schedule. I believe that it is harder on the families of the undertaker than the undertaker of being on-call most of the time. There are downsides to every profession. The upside of what we do is that very few professions are loved as much as funeral directors. When a family tells you that they could not have gotten through the worst time of their life without you, it makes it all worth it. And people don’t foget you as long as they live. I love what I do, I hate the schedule as much now as I did 29 years ago.
I see that it has been a while since you have posted anything on your site; but I am finishing up my last year of mortuary school currently. I thought, before I started knocking on every funeral homes door to see if they were in need of an apprentice right now, I thought I’d shout out to you to see if you could answer a few questions for me maybe. I’m trying to work my way up into a medical examiner position (obviously medical school is involved, and great ‘ol Idaho doesn’t have one of those) one day. So mortuary is where I’ll start. Thank you in advance if you see this and get back to me.
Savannah
hi my name is patience. im in high school and i was thinking about being a mortician. i want a good paying job i have a great personality my grades are good my attendence isnt so great but some how i keep up with the work. is this a job that i will be able to handle? sorry about all the questions but i just started thinkin about what i was going to do with my life and this really interested me. i have a year and a half left of high school and i need to know what i need to do to make it to becoming a mortician? please try an get back with me this would really help me out thank you
Patience :)
Sorry for the delay in response. My suggestion for anyone who wants to become a mortician is to go and talk to one. If you don’t know one personally, go visit a funeral home. But please dress appropriately!!!! Dress like you are going to be working with them for the day. You will get taken a lot more serious that way. I love talking with people interested in the career. I’m honest about what it takes though. We do make decent money but I certainly don’t drive a BMW. We work a lot and the schedule includes holidays, weekends, and the middle of the night. But the career is very rewarding. You get to meet a lot of very different people from all areas of life. And best of all….you get to help them at one of the worse times in their life. It can be a lot to handle emotionally. There will be those deaths that make you sob in the bathroom because you want to keep as much composure in front of the family as you can. But seeing those things will make you love and appreciate the friends and family you love in a way that most people will never understand. If you are going to be a mortician all I can say is embrace it. Let it define who you are. Because if you do it half way, then you will fall flat on your face from exhaustion.
Patience. It’s crystal. Idk if you’ll ever see this..what happened? Are you still alive?
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