A mortician (also known as an undertaker in some countries) is a professional engaged in the care of and service to the dead or human remains. His or her duties include processing of dead bodies preservation, embalming, burial or cremation as well as the arrangement of funeral ceremonies. Morticians require proper training in order to be able to perform their job competently to the satisfaction of the clients most of whom are relatives, colleagues, and friends. The minimum entry requirements for the course will be at least a secondary school certificate and the duration of training will be 3 academic years or 6 semesters. At the end of the training, the trainees need a specified period of mentorship and licensure before being allowed to practice.

The graduates shall provide a wide range of exceptional services to clients complimenting the services of pathologists in the public and private hospital morgues, and funeral homes as part of the professional teams providing related services being guided by social, cultural, religious, and law requirements of communities and the country.

KTMC, a center of excellence in training health care professionals, has the capacity and expertise to conduct quality training for this unique category of professionals on behalf of Kenyans and the Kenya Government and will ensure that the graduates are competent to meet the market needs both locally and beyond. The main objective of this new program is to produce competent and highly skilled morticians who will enhance the standard of services to clients besides providing opportunities to Kenyans to advance in the profession. Currently, most people engaged in this work were trained on the job in private funeral parlors or organizations as short courses for different periods. A limited number have trained at the certificate level by the University of Nairobi Chiromo facility and Kenyatta National Hospital, and from observation of experts, they sometimes perform below expectations.

The morticians training curriculum at Kmtc is competency-based and designed to produce graduates with relevant attitudes, knowledge, and skills for processing and handling human remains with dignity, compassion, and patience that is tailor-made for both local and international markets.  Key stakeholders and experts in this area including; Senior lecturers of the Anatomy department of the University of Nairobi and experienced pathologists at Kenyatta National Hospital conducted research for 3 years (2018 -2021) and the results showed that there are glaring gaps concerning training and practice of morticians in the country.

The training of morticians using this curriculum will go a long way towards addressing some of the challenges encountered by clients requiring these services whose demands have increased especially in the big towns and cities.