Would You Donate Your Body to Medical Science?

Shara Yurkiewicz, Medical Student, 10:07PM Jan 6, 2011

It started with a simple question my classmate asked me: "After taking anatomy, do you think you're more or less likely to want to donate your body to medical science?" I paused, sat back. It was -- to borrow a cliché -- really complicated.

How much did I know about the fate of a donated body before I stepped into the anatomy lab in scrubs with scalpel in hand? On one hand, thinking of young aspiring physicians, I could have romanticized the role of a donor. The invaluable experience of learning from flesh rather than books. The indelible impact of feeling for organs, finding them, taking them out of their cavities, scrutinizing them, remembering them, and using the knowledge gained to cure others.

However, anatomy lab is graphic. Sterile donor consent forms are not sensual experiences. They do not show the prodding of genitals and orifices with probes. They do not replicate the sound of sawing the skull in two. They do not convey the smell of rummaging through the bowels, or the feel of dry, leathery flesh. They do not reflect the sometimes less-than-grateful atmosphere as we mutter off-color jokes to pass time as we dig through layers and layers of fat. Now that we are "informed" -- in every sense of the word -- would we want the same fate for our own bodies?

Or -- now, do we even more acutely realize and appreciate the significance of such a gift? Would this inspire us to want to give back to future generations of those like us and their patients?

http://boards.medscape.com/forums?128@55.sv6ya0juJHx@.2a06189e!comment=1

regards, taniafdi ^_^