In this day and age, organ donation is a widely accepted, respectable topic. More than 120 million U.S. citizens are registered as organ donors and 33,611 organ transplants were performed in 2016, according the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Although organ donations are largely accepted, the subject of whole body donation to science is a much more controversial topic.

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Whole body donations are vital in medical education and can help researchers further understand the human anatomy. Despite this, the number of people who choose to donate remains low mainly due to the stigma surrounding the practice. Not many people understand what happens to these cadavers once they are donated and stories of illegal sales and harvesting plague the news. In order for this to become a more acceptable option, education must be employed to reduce these barriers.

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Once donated, cadavers can be used for many things. They can be dissected by researchers to further understand human biological processes, forensic specialists can study the rates in which they decompose or surgeons can practice on them and develop new techniques without risking lives. Their greatest use, however, is in education.

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Most medical students will dissect a human cadaver at some point in their education. This allows them to understand the human body in a way no picture or diagram could.

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According to Harvard researchers, “Inadequate anatomy training has been cited as a major contributor to declines in surgical resident operative competence and confidence.”

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A study was conducted in which postgraduate general surgery residents were split into groups, with one group participating in a cadaver dissection and the other receiving the course material but not actively participating in the dissection. These students were tested before and after the course. Results showed that overall examination scores improved significantly in the group that participated in the dissection and overall confidence also improved. This is just one example of the uses cadavers have to offer.

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Many medical schools receive their cadavers through non-profit agencies that focus on the collection, preservation, and distribution of bodies used for educational purposes. In Pennsylvania, this is primarily the Human Gifts Registry which serves schools such as Penn State College of Medicine (Hershey), Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh.

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If the decision is made to donate a body to science, a non-binding donor form is typically filled out and transportation arrangements are made. Funeral directors deliver bodies to these agencies, where they are tested for infectious diseases, preserved, and await transportation to their designated location. Donations remain anonymous. Once medical schools are finished with the cadavers, the body is cremated and returned to its family.