Perspective on Death Education only slightly over half had any. In a national survey of the formal mental health training of paid hospice staff, more than half reported the need for further training(Garfield, Larson, Schuldberg, 1982). About half of the respondents were trained by social workers or physicians, a third by nurses, and a fourth by counselors. The training format was didactic, 90% lecture and 84% readings To further complicate the picture regarding the preparation of grie counselors, many of the agents that provide training have made certifi- cates available, of special importance in the United States and Canada here no state or provincial grief counseling or therapy certification is required(Wolfe, 2003). Reports of dubious and bogus credentials in mental health counseling(Woody, 1997)make this issue urgent. A few studies have begun to examine credentials of grief counselors(zinner, 1993 In recent years attempts have been made to avoid some of the frag- mentation and truncation in preparing grief counselors. Several univer sities and colleges have begun to offer an alternative to continuing education for preparing professionals. For example, Brooklyn College of New York City offers a 33 credit hour concentration in conjunction with an M.A. degree program in Community Health. Hood College in Frederick, Maryland offers a Masters Degree, and Kings College in London, Ontario offers undergraduate and graduate certificates in death-related counseling. Some Conclusions Less than a fifth of students in the health professions are offered a full ourse on death; the rest typically are provided death-related content in a few lectures. This lack of depth dissatisfies teaching faculties and leaves graduates entering their professions inadequately prepared to care for dying people and their families or to counsel bereaved or suici- dal people. Thus although the contemporary study of death, dying, d bereavement is remarkable in scope and range, the knowledge accumulated has not substantially affected the curricula of the health, And only a minority of primary and secondary school studen ntion/prevention, depriving too many of the potential benefit of these interven-only slightly over half had any. In a national survey of the formal mental health training of paid hospice staff, more than half reported the need for further training (Garfield, Larson, & Schuldberg, 1982). About half of the respondents were trained by social workers or physicians, a third by nurses, and a fourth by counselors.The training format was didactic, 90% lecture, and 84% readings. To further complicate the picture regarding the preparation of grief counselors, many of the agents that provide training have made certifi￾cates available, of special importance in the United States and Canada where no state or provincial grief counseling or therapy certification is required (Wolfe, 2003). Reports of dubious and bogus credentials in mental health counseling (Woody, 1997) make this issue urgent. A few studies have begun to examine credentials of grief counselors (Zinner, 1993). In recent years attempts have been made to avoid some of the frag￾mentation and truncation in preparing grief counselors. Several univer￾sities and colleges have begun to offer an alternative to continuing education for preparing professionals. For example, Brooklyn College of New York City offers a 33 credit hour concentration in conjunction with an M.A. degree program in Community Health. Hood College in Frederick, Maryland offers a Masters Degree, and King’s College in London, Ontario offers undergraduate and graduate certificates in death-related counseling. Some Conclusions Need for Integration Less than a fifth of students in the health professions are offered a full course on death; the rest typically are provided death-related content in a few lectures. This lack of depth dissatisfies teaching faculties and leaves graduates entering their professions inadequately prepared to care for dying people and their families or to counsel bereaved or suici￾dal people.6 Thus although the contemporary study of death, dying, and bereavement is remarkable in scope and range, the knowledge accumulated has not substantially affected the curricula of the health, 6 And only a minority of primary and secondary school students are provided death education or suicide intervention/prevention, depriving too many of the potential benefit of these interven￾tions. Perspective on Death Education 297