In light of this thread, I’m wondering about my own post.
What does it take to donate one’s body as a med school cadaver, I mean besides being dead? Someone somewhere along the line told me that there’s a contract involved and you have to sign off on certain things, like your current health, whether or not you smoke or drink or do drugs or whatever. I have a feeling that whoever told me that was full of crap.
Even if I was a used up alcoholic intravenous drug addict with a missing dick or something, wouldn’t that still be valuable to med students?
So what does it take to become a cadaver?
Here’s one med school’s guideline for ‘anatomical gifts,’ as they term it. They ask you to fill out certain forms (in the link) and to add a codicil to your will asking that your body be donated without embalming or autopsy.
According to med student rumor, the majority of the bodies used in anatomy lab were John Does, the unclaimed bodies of homeless people and other unfortunates without ID or relatives. I’ve never known whether that could be true - can one legally dissect a body without permission from the deceased or next of kin, other than for an autopsy? If it is true, though, then it does imply that there’s no particular lifestyle requirements. This med school certainly doesn’t seem to have any.
As I recall, this was the subject of much discussion in Mary Roach’s book Stiff (which I highly recommend whether or not it’s applicable to your question).
Presuming my memory is accurate, one of the dirty little secrets in this area is that while people donate themselves with good intentions, most are unaware that a significant percentage of these corpses are used not for research or for testing lifesaving procedures but instead as practice beds for what most would consider frivolous cosmetic surgeries. I know I was surprised to read that.
I don’t know if you can specify “not to be used for tummy tucks” on your self-donation form, but it’s something to think about.
I see your point, but still … I get this weird thrill thinking my hand, or foot, or whatever, ends up stolen and in a med student’s dorm closet, and he takes it out at parties to scare the pre-law chicks.
And while some cosmetic surgery is frivolous, as long as enough cadavers are going for other “impotrant” uses needed, who cares if med students are carving up your baggy eyelids? It’s practice so hopefully they won’t ruin the face or body of someone alive. And some cosmetic surgery is done after accidents/injuries too. And it’s not as creepy as some of the other uses for cadavers in the book…won’t spoil anyone though.
My grandfather donated his body to the nearest Jesuit college med school, but I don’t know how he went about it and I don’t think my father would appreciate it if I asked him. I do know that if you go to a BodyWorlds exhibit, they provide forms for body donation.
I have a friend (seriously!) who wanted to have her 16-year-old’s body donated after he died. However, in her state, a person had to be at least 18, so she told me.
Which is more common than you might think. Rarely are whole bodies used, often it’s carved up into chunks and set to who needs what part. The arms over to people practicing arm surgery, the brains to the neurosurgeons, etc…
I had a professor in grad school that I almost did some research work for that might have involved using whole cadaver legs to test out knee ligaments.
A dear friend of mine unfortunately found out the hard way that the bodies of suicides can’t go to science, at least in California. Her grandmother had arranged for her body to be donated to science, but then killed herself, and so an autopsy was required. So my poor friend, who was the only person living in-state, suddenly had to deal with all the funeral arrangements and attendant family drama.
I was just reading about Whole Body Donation and had read that bodies will not be used if the person has committed suicide. Does anyone know why this is? Does it depend on the method of suicide?
Agh–I just know that sometimes we would have inservices regarding joint replacements where you would just have a knee–slightly with the tibia and femur intact–where the surgeons would flay out the skin to get to the joint. Or a lower back–with the genitalia intact–to show a particular spinal surgery. ewwwwww! I don’t have a problem with being an organ donor–but “leaving a body to science”–that’s just too much for me!
A friend’s family had to deal eith the trauma of getting the body back for disposal once the med school was done with it. I don’t know if this is always done but if you’re thinking of donating your body to science you might either make sure they’re going to keep it, or make sure your family will be burdened with the trauma and expense of disposing of your body after all. My friend’s family was not aware this was going to happen.
I have donated my body to science and the only thing I had to agree to is; tell my family, not to be embalmed, and send to nearest medical college. They then creamate the remains and return the ashes to your family. for burial or how you wish them to be desposed.
And I understand that they would prefer not to have to return the ashes to your family, as its a logistical nightmare. Your arms are over there, your legs over in the other building, your brain and organs cut up in various sized chunks that aren’t necessarily easy to track and identify.
So do your medical college one last grateful favor…don’t request the ashes be sent back to your family
I would assume so - I’ve known a couple medical students in my time, and reports from the gross anatomy lab indicate medical school cadavars are frequently missing things like gallbladders, appendix, tonsils, reproductive organs (think "hysterectomy), a kidney, several feet of intestine, have had their coronary arteries re-routed around blockages.
In addition to showing how normal anatomy differs from the textbook (and very, very few people have perfect anatomy) it is also educational as to the effects of surgery and disease on the body.
When the cadavar for one group of students (usually multiple students are assigned to each body) is missing something the usual practice is, apparently, to shuffle over to a group who’s body does have the missing part, while everyone else in the lab takes a tour of the anomaly.
I just have to tell the story of my father’s death. You’ll like it.
Dad donated his body to the UCLA medical center, IIRC. The day he died, my (then) wife & I were at the house, and after the hospice lady told us he was gone, I made the call. A short time later, a hearse pulls up–not an EMT truck or an ambulance, a dark gray slightly-bigger-than-normal-but-clearly-high-class station wagon. Two guys get out: the passenger is a younger fellah, with dark hair and dressed in a dark suit, very solemn. The driver is an old guy, gray hair, gray skin, gray suit…with a limp. It was like they called central casting for the undertaker and his assistant! They come in, express their sympathy, I sign the forms. Then they take the gurney (usual chrome, folding legs sort of thing) into the bedroom and come out with dad’s body under a sheet. They roll him down to the street and open the back of the hearse. They slide the gurney up against the tailgate–and the wheels won’t fold…BUMP. They fidget with the latches and try again. BUMP! More fidgeting, another try, harder this time. BUMP!! CoolFormerSpouse and I were having trouble stifling the laughter; we were waiting for the body to slide off and down the street (we were on an incline there). They finally got the wheels to fold up and got the gurney inside. While the old guy limped up to the driver’s seat the younger came to express his sympathy once again. CoolFormerSpouse says “May I ask you a question?” He: “Yes.” She: “Do you practice looking solemn?” He: “Humph!” and scurries off to the passenger side and they drive off. We crack up.
I highly recommend donating your body to the local medical school, and then having a wake/memorial after.
I used to do computer support at a medical school, so while I don’t have professional experience with this, I heard and saw stuff.
On one occasion, I was in an office working on a computer while the doctor was interviewing someone who wanted to donate his body. It seems that there was an interview required, and some paperwork to do, but I don’t know all the details. Didn’t seem like a very difficult process, though. The same doctor’s office had a stack of mailing labels that said, “WARNING: contains human remains” or somesuch. I asked about those, and he told me that ordinarily the cadavers used in gross anatomy class are cremated and the cremains are mailed to the next of kin. So, your loved ones will receive a boxed-up little bag of your ashes in the mail once class is over. I asked if I could have one of the stickers for the door of my dorm room, but he refused. damn.
I also talked with some of the Gross Anatomy professors occasionally. Once I asked about something I’d seen on a bulletin board in the hallway, which referred to a “bone box”. Apparently, the classes are broken into groups of two to four, each of which is assigned a cadaver and a “bone box”, which is a lockable box containing loose skeletal parts. The students can use the unattached bones for study, measurement, stuff like that. So, bits of you could end up in a “bone box” if you don’t care about sending yourself back to your relatives.
Interesting place to work, that. The fifth floor had what I called the “Hall of Horrors”, a display case filled with jars of preserved medical grossness. The gangrenous foot and forearm were always a hit with visitors.
I just want to add my voice to the chorus of imploring people to read Mary Roach’s Stiff. My brother left it at my mothers house a few years back and had to fight long and hard to get it back so many of us wanted to read it first. A fascinating book and very entertaininly written too.