Admission to Vanderbilt is competitive, even among the dead.
Cadavers offered to the Anatomic Donations Program at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center must undergo a controlled and carefully planned admissions process.
According to John Howser, the deputy director and media director of news and public affairs at VUMC, the process is highly successful based on the large number of individuals who want to donate their bodies to Vanderbilt.
The reasons for donating a body to science differ greatly. They include the thrill of the alluring “‘CSI effect,” the desire to help mankind or simply the pure satisfaction of giving back to a medical education institution that has contributed so much to society.
“Some donors have spent their careers in the profession of medicine and want to give back to a profession, which has given them so much,” Howser said.
There has been rumor in the blogosphere lately, including an article in the Tennessean, that said many more people than normal are donating their bodies because of the high costs of funerals and burials, a cost made harder to bear because of the recession. The article said Vanderbilt was “inundated” by bodies being donated at the last second, but Howser said that’s not true, nor does Vanderbilt accept bodies that have not been registered far in advance.
The individuals interested in donating their bodies to science must register their bodies during January, February and March each year. They must also be alive and of sound mind at the time of the agreement.
“We do not accept bodies offered for donation by next-of-kin, from the Medical Examiners Office, funeral homes or anywhere else,” Howser said.
Through this intensive process VUMC matches the number of bodies donated with the number of bodies needed for the teaching purposes of the given year.
The donated cadavers are typically used for the education of medical students, who operate within a new anatomy lab located 10 stories above Vanderbilt’s campus. The lab was opened in October 2007 by Art Dalley, a professor of anatomy. Interactive touch-screen monitors display lab exercises visually for students, and floor to ceiling windows allow the lab to be bathed with natural light.
“The lab is kept very private, a sacred space if you will, out of respect for those who donated their bodies to science,” Howser said.
Once the studies are completed, all of the bodies are cremated, and the ashes are offered to the families. However the families can also choose to have the remains buried in Vanderbilt’s plot in a city cemetery.
Vanderbilt also holds a memorial service to honor those who donated their bodies.
“The formal service is typically conducted by one of the medical center’s chaplains,” Howser said. “A large number of people typically attend.”
