Body Donors Honored at 2018 Donor Memorial Ceremony

DSC_0559How do you say goodbye to someone you’ve never met, but who has changed your life forever? Medical students around the country try to solve that conundrum every year when the time comes to part ways with their school’s donor bodies.

These body donations are the precious gifts that allow future doctors to study the human form in its natural state. The skin, the muscles, the organs—each area of the gift is thoroughly explored, each part thoroughly examined. The knowledge lurking within every cadaver is priceless. While they remain anonymous, they are intimately known. Their lives are a complete mystery to the curious minds who pour over every inch of their remains. Although the students never had the DSC_0561opportunity to meet them, they will never be forgotten.

The Donor Memorial Ceremony was held on May 4th in Auditorium #2. Jason Christy, OMS I, served as emcee, welcoming the gathered attendees. RVU Dean and Chief Academic Officer Thomas N. Told, DO, FACOFP dist., delivered the invocation.

Poems were read by students who had the honor of learning from the cadavers firsthand, each of them expressing their sincere gratitude and admiration. Garrett Smith, OMS I, concluded the ceremony by singing Gabriel Faure’s “La Mer Est Infinie.” .

DSC_0554The memory of the donors was honored with a plaque commemorating their gift. Engraved on this year’s plaque is a quote composed by Sean Knight, OMS I: “Your last gift was that of a teacher. We may never know the intimate secrets of your past, but we will never forget the lessons you taught for our future.”

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