Mortician/Coroner Jobs/ Is there a demand?

aedmiston89 · Post by **aedmiston89** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:04 am

As someone who is getting ready to finish their degree in mortuary sciences, with and internship, and apprenticeship under her belt, is anyone aware of the job market or demand. I am also aware from a previous menor that cremation is extremely popular and embalmings are not as common so work is hard to find, but with school and other experiences I have various skills. Also is anyone aware of the regulations on being a coroner there, I know here is the states you mostly have to be a surgeon, but there are still some states you are medically qualified as a mortician because you are elected coroner by your town/county.

The only reason I am asking any of this is because I'm very interested in working abroad in a few countries for a time, and Finland is one I would love to see. But I also would like to finish my psych degree for behaviorism, and possibly work on and educating degree.

I have some friends who have visited there, and they say it's nice to visit, but I might experience some racism by living there. How much would I really witness to my face, or it would just be because I'm american? (father is white, mother is of native and white backgrounds. I can be visually confusing and called everything in the book)

I understand this is a strange request, and unlikely anyone will have an answer for me.

-Ash

**Sponsor:**

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:27 pm

In finland coroner have to be doctor with finnish licence etc so you can forget it.
To be undertaker or cremate people, i dont think you need any qualifications to work as undertaker but business needs permits for cremation etc but thats not your problem.
Most of laws about undertaking is about graveyards, state church obligations to give place to bury and respectful handling of deceased.

aedmiston89 · Post by **aedmiston89** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:12 pm

onkko wrote:In finland coroner have to be doctor with finnish licence etc so you can forget it.
To be undertaker or cremate people, i dont think you need any qualifications to work as undertaker but business needs permits for cremation etc but thats not your problem.
Most of laws about undertaking is about graveyards, state church obligations to give place to bury and respectful handling of deceased.

So in other words I'm under qualified for one job, and over qualified for the other? Good to know.

Now are you aware of the doctorate needed, or is it the same as here?

aedmiston89 · Post by **aedmiston89** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:31 pm

Also Anyone have any idea of the average salary? Ours here is about $30,000 (US) which I think is roughly 22,000 euro.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:23 pm

aedmiston89 wrote:
onkko wrote:In finland coroner have to be doctor with finnish licence etc so you can forget it.
To be undertaker or cremate people, i dont think you need any qualifications to work as undertaker but business needs permits for cremation etc but thats not your problem.
Most of laws about undertaking is about graveyards, state church obligations to give place to bury and respectful handling of deceased.
So in other words I'm under qualified for one job, and over qualified for the other? Good to know.

Now are you aware of the doctorate needed, or is it the same as here?

Overqualified isn't bad, but dealing with grieving people without Finnish/Swedish will be.
As for degree: you'll need to be MD.

CH · Post by CH » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:25 pm

aedmiston89 wrote:embalmings are not as common

There is no embalming here. As in... I had never even heard of people doing that (other than embalming and displaying dictators) before I was as an exchange student in the US, and having actually seen how it is done (excursion trip to a mortuary science program at the local college) I have to say that who in their right mind would subject their dead grandma to something like that??? And no open casket nor wakes/viewings, so no makeup on the dead either. Funerals here are a pretty simple affair.

CH · Post by CH » Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:03 pm

Cory wrote:Orthodox funerals are quite abit different than the Lutheran ones.

Ah, true! Didn't think of that (Orthodox have open casket funerals). But still, I don't think there is any make up or making the dead person more presentable involved in any funerals here?

And wakes at home used to be a tradition here. I guess it disappeared when funeral homes took over the "death business".

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 6:19 am

CH wrote:
Cory wrote:Orthodox funerals are quite abit different than the Lutheran ones.
Ah, true! Didn't think of that (Orthodox have open casket funerals). But still, I don't think there is any make up or making the dead person more presentable involved in any funerals here?

The closest relatives may before the funeral want to see the deceased who as been put by the undertaker already to the coffin, and some level of "presentability" is aimed at, but actual make up, I think is rare.

aedmiston89 · Post by **aedmiston89** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:17 am

Yeah the main reasons I can see use for embalming there, is transport across borders, I'm pretty sure that is the same everywhere. The language issue would be a problem, and it's something I'd have to work on, and it sounds easier than japanese lol. I work with a lot of Orthodox families over here, mostly Russian and Ukrainian. I get lucky that somebody in the family speaks moderate english, mostly I'm glad when go to their homes they keep their caretaker around. It sounds like Finsland would be a great place to introduce alkaline hydrolysis, if it isn't already there, it's much cleaner than cremation. And I don't think it's been legalized yet, because I believe it's still experimental, but the Promession project in sweden is going to be pretty great too.

Thanks for all of the great info, maybe I'll just save it for now, and visit after I pay off these student loans, lol! You lucky fools!

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:15 pm

aedmiston89 wrote:It sounds like Finsland would be a great place to introduce alkaline hydrolysis, if it isn't already there, it's much cleaner than cremation.

Cremation is the new fad here. http://shk.fi/wp-content/uploads/2014/0 ... ilasto.pdf

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:28 pm

Earlier i was actually comment on mainstream lutherian/atheist "tradition" (but quoted badly). No experience with orthodox ones

aedmiston89 · Post by **aedmiston89** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:23 pm

Upphew wrote:
aedmiston89 wrote:It sounds like Finsland would be a great place to introduce alkaline hydrolysis, if it isn't already there, it's much cleaner than cremation.
Cremation is the new fad here. http://shk.fi/wp-content/uploads/2014/0 ... ilasto.pdf

Cremation isn't really a "new" fad anywhere, it is a newer thing for people of older christian faiths, there are still some that cremation is an absolute no no.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 8:41 pm

aedmiston89 wrote:
Upphew wrote:Cremation is the new fad here. http://shk.fi/wp-content/uploads/2014/0 ... ilasto.pdf
Cremation isn't really a "new" fad anywhere, it is a newer thing for people of older christian faiths, there are still some that cremation is an absolute no no.

3 061 642 dead between 1926-1991, 148 388 of those were cremated. Popularity is rising a lot, so to my eyes that seems to be a fad.

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:25 pm

aedmiston89 wrote:
Upphew wrote:
aedmiston89 wrote:It sounds like Finsland would be a great place to introduce alkaline hydrolysis, if it isn't already there, it's much cleaner than cremation.
Cremation is the new fad here. http://shk.fi/wp-content/uploads/2014/0 ... ilasto.pdf
Cremation isn't really a "new" fad anywhere, it is a newer thing for people of older christian faiths, there are still some that cremation is an absolute no no.

Cremation was probably popular in finland in 1200s so "of course" its not "new".
And your "some". muslims, orthodox cristians, judes... "only" 1.57 billion + 225–300 million + 14 million... + Traditionally cristianity says no to cremation.
Catholichs accepted cremation in 1960.

2012 in finland 44% is cremated so its new, cremation would have been huge no few decades ago.

aedmiston89 · Post by **aedmiston89** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:32 am

I guess what I mean is historically it's not a new thing, it's more of making a come back, in europe anyway. The US never had history of cremations, or forms of cremations because naives return their bodies to the earth, and protestants were all burials.

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