Virtual Course on Properly Completing the Death Certificate

This course is aimed mainly at health professionals, especially physicians and aspiring physicians who are responsible for filling out death certificates. The course is also useful for public health professionals who are interested in vital statistics.

The objective is to teach physicians and health practitioners how to fill out a death certificate while strengthening vital statistics to support public health policies, aimed at improving people’s health.

This app is the first-of-its-kind. The content was developed by the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, through the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Strengthening Health Information Systems (RELACSIS) with the technical support of the Collaborating Centers for the WHO Family of International Classifications in Mexico (CEMECE) and Argentina (CACE) and the Ministry of Public Health of Uruguay.

This self-paced app provides everything physicians need to know to properly fill out the cause of death on a death certificate, given the legal, medical, and statistical importance of having a correct completed certificate.

By the end of the course, the student will be able to correctly fill out a death certificate in accordance with international standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO), while taking into account national standards (legislation, time frames, responsibilities, format).

A certificate of completion is issued by PAHO/WHO upon successfully passing the exam.