Imaging visiting an anatomy observation laboratory. A heavy smell of formaldehyde permeates the air as you walk toward it. Once inside the cold and sterile lab, everyone speaks in a whisper. Then you see it, a grayish corpse looking at nothing, being handled and studied by students. Just think, that could be you in 50 years.
This is probably not the first thought you have when thinking what will happen to your body when you die. However, all grimness aside, it should be the first thought. Donated bodies for the purpose of medical research and education play a crucial role in the field of medical science. More people should make the donation to aid the advancement of human medicine and treatment.
The director of the U’s body donation program, Kerry Peterson, said the U receives 120 body donations a year on average, a surprisingly large figure. Peterson said this number is not enough, however, and that the U has never had enough donors.
Reluctance about such a significant donation is completely understandable. However, most of the hesitancy to donate does not stem from religious beliefs or ideological groups opposed to the practice. The trepidation stems from the individual. Peterson said it’s usally “just a matter of personal preference.”
The U has been home to some astounding medical advancements thoroughout its history. The most notable occurred Dec. 1, 1982, when the Jarvik-7 artificial heart was transplanted into Barney Clark.
Clark lived for 112 days following the surgery. The miracle of Clark occurred in part as a result of brilliant engineers and an array of physicians. However, Peterson said that body donors played a significant part in the process of fitting the Jarvik-7 from animal test subjects to human cadavers, and eventually into Clark himself.
Today, many physicians who have been practicing medicine for a while rely on cadavers to become certified in new medical procedures. Peterson said that the advancement and proliferation of non-invasive surgery techniques can be attributed in part to those who donate their bodies to medical research. Can you imagine being a testing ground for new procedures that have not been previously performed on a cadaver?
Before doctors and engineers embark on engineering new medical devices or devising new medical techniques, they spend countless hours studying cadavers.
“There is no better way to learn anatomy than by studying it hands-on with a cadaver.” said Shaun Mendenhall, a second-year medical student at the U who has worked with cadavers as an undergraduate and as a medical student.
“I really can’t say enough about how grateful I am for those who donate their bodies for our education and research,” Mendenhall said. “It is truly amazing.”
He said he has benefited so much from body donations that it would seem almost ungrateful not do donate his own when the time comes.
The gift of your body following your passing is a benefit to people who have had or ever will have a medical procedure performed on them. It allows undergrads and med students to understand the body in a physical way that no textbook can recreate. It facilitates the ability to test new and innovative medical procedures and devices that will increase the quality of life among the living. There is no better way to be altruistic than by literally giving your entire self to benefit the lives and health of others.
Jeffrey Jenkins