Mortuary Science Career

After reading, The Embalming of Mr. Jones by Jessica Mitford, I was in shock about the whole process that happens hour after death. Previously, when I heard about embalming I thought they basically just cleaned the body up and dressed them up for the casket showing, but now that I know what actually happens I’m a little grossed out. The body shouldn’t be changed so much because you want to see them as you last remember not reconstructed due to the embalming. While the bodies are deceased, I can't help but wonder if they are feeling all of this happening. I feel bad for Mr. Jones and others who have been through the process. I can’t even imagine what it is like for the embalmer, and how they can go through with it.

The body is now ready for casketing. Like in any business, there are some special secrets to casketing. According to Mitford, the right shoulder of the body has to be “depressed slightly to turn the body a bit to the right and soften the appearance of lying flat on the back.” Positioning the hands and feet is as important as everything that was done before. There are special rubber blocks that are used for this purpose. Finally, the body is placed in the casket as high as possible, and the mortician gives attention to the last details.

Dead?" AlterNet. In this article, Frankie Colmane looks into how dead bodies are treated in the United State even after Mitford's expose of the funeral industry was published. The article takes both a philosophical and scientific issue with the procedure of embalming sighting proven negative effects to human beings and the environment. Colmane shows that even though people are aware of the malfeasance and misappropriations of the funeral industry following pieces like Mitford's, very little has changed. Therefore problems that have been discussed in earlier works should not be forgotten. Rather they should be continually brought up until the issue is solved. During the 1800s, embalming became common practice because the dead family member would lie in state within the home for a period of days or weeks until it would be buried (Colmane 2010). The article shows the duplicity such as when "funeral directors were arguing forcefully against charges that their mediation between the living and the dead translated into social obstruction that barred the stricken from facing death with maturity, realism, and honest" (page 2). This article will be used to illustrate that things have not changed with funereal practices despite the publication of Mitford's essay.

Being a mortician for about 17 years, Mr. Zhang has already consider other’s comments as an ordinary thing. Mr. Zhang disclosed that it is difficult or even impossible for him to persuade his friends and family members to accept his job. Only when the family members of the departed show their thanks to him, he can feel the sense of achievement from his job.

Moreover, they have to keep secrets within their practice. The Funeral director position is an overlooked, mentally demanding and exhausting job that often goes without any appreciation in our communities until we lose a loved one. Many other professions deal with death for example, doctors and police, but those professions are widely praised and recognized unlike most Funeral directors. They love serving people, but struggle to maintain a personal life along their work that deals solely with death. Depression is a common outcome for this profession as they deal heavily with the isolation their job

There are a few risks involves with this job. For instance, if you simply weren’t careful, you could get sick just from an autopsy of someone who died from something contagious. Aside from that, forensic pathologists often have to take time off to go to court as a medical examiner. Also, some things can affect you because they were more than you expected.

As she continued on the topic, she commented that people hear things about the profession and assume that a funeral home cannot provide certain services. Families have the option to be involved for the preparation of their loved one, home funerals can be arranged and “green” products can be supplied to families requesting such items. “Depending on a family’s preferences, a green funeral can include any or all of the following: a small gathering in a natural setting, use of only recycled paper products, locally-grown organic flowers, carpooling, organic food, no embalming, or embalming with formaldehyde-free products, the use of sustainable biodegradable clothing, shroud or casket, and natural or green burial” (National Funeral Directors Association, 2017). “Green” cemeteries tend to be far from an individual’s home, so interring a loved one and not having the option of constantly visiting, is out of the question. Being curious on who Shivon interviewed during her course in the program, I was dumbfounded when she informed me her interviewee discouraged her to continue her path to become an embalmer, due to her gender. After my complete shock wore off, she informed me that I’ve been living in a “bubble” since I work for Forest Lawn and that other mortuaries observed women as inferior. “Fortunately, we do not have to experience women discrimination at Forest Lawn. We work for an organization that

Being a funeral director takes having a strong stomach and skill dealing with grief. There are many different ways people mourn. Religions have different rites as well as celebration of someone’s life. Every culture and civilization has three common threads dealing with death and their final internment. There are three main steps when someone dies. First is the preparation of the body, then some type of ceremony, and finally internment.

The reason I’d personally like to become a funeral director is quiet a simple one. Having been in the military and being around so many people who have lost loved ones or even being deployed and seeing what happens to those of us who aren’t so lucky to return, I want to be a part of the coping the families go through. I have had a longing since I can remember to help people before I joined the service as a police officer I was a volunteer fire fighter and being able to help those who are in tough situations whether it be in a combat theater or at home in the states it feels almost as if it’s my calling.

Professional licenses and certifications aren’t necessarily required but some forensic scientists continue to study to advance in their careers. Other important skills include having good and legible penmanship, open mindedness, reliable math skills and being an easy communicator. You also have to be okay with what you are doing. You have to be aware that you're dealing with dead bodies. It’s not just fun and games because the job pays well,you have to have an interest in it so you don’t get disgusted or easily bored of

In the funeral world there are a lot of different styles of funerals. For example, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic funerals. Both very different, but at the same time they have several things in common. In funerals there is an abundance of things to compare and contrast. We will be looking at different ways the notification of death is handled in both of these religions, removal, embalming, dressing/casketing, visitation requirements/rituals, and interment or cremation.

30 years is a short time in the working world, considering that embalming school can be less than a year to 4 years max. If an average worker does four years and enters the embalming world at 22, then by just 52, there is a chance they could get myeloid leukemia and that is at the more extreme estimates as realistically, more than 1/10 of funeral homes would offer embalming in America. In reality, it is estimated that if an embalmer worked for at least 20 years, they were in the group with the greatest risk to get myeloid leukemia (13). And if you went to a two-year embalming program, you might just get leukemia by your 40th birthday. Happy birthday! And that’s considering if you didn’t work a place like Staten Island’s Paccione Funeral Directors,

(Lamers 535). You would be required to fill in any open wounds left on the body

requires of you, and the outlook of this career in the future of the United

(http://www.bls.gov/)About 6 colleges and universities offer programs that culminate in a bachelor’s degree. In addition, many specialized, stand alone funeral service institutions offer two-year programs, although some are 4 years in length. Mortuary science programs include courses in anatomy, physiology, pathology, embalming techniques, restorative art, business management, accounting and use of computers in funeral home management, and client services. They also include courses in the social sciences and in legal, ethical, and regulatory subjects such as psychology, grief counseling, oral and written communication, funeral service law, business law, and ethics.