Investigating the Contributions of Human Body Donors in the United States

Abstract

Working with human cadavers for anatomical education dates back to the Middle Ages. In modern day, anatomist still believe the best way to learn anatomy is through the wonderful gift of human body donors (Balta et al, 2015). Additionally, teaching the general public anatomy may increase health literacy, allowing individuals to make healthier decisions for their body (Taylor et al, 2017). In this study we aim to investigate the work supported by human body donors at academic institutions in the United States and how institutions are working to best maximize this gift. A questionnaire using Qualtrics was sent to 125 body donation programs in the United States. The questionnaire consisted of a series of conditional questions to assess how each institution works with their body donors. From the 125 invited programs, 46 have completed the questionnaire. 96.7% of the institutions utilize a hard fixation method and of those body donors undergoing hard fixation, 87.9% of the body donors support anatomical teaching. Additionally, 32.6% of the institutions have a soft preservation method. 49.5% of these donors support clinical skills training. Lastly, 45.7% of the institutions work with fresh frozen donors. 66.5% of fresh frozen body donors support clinical skills training as well. The data also shows that at these institutions, donors that have underwent the hard fixation process can be worked with indefinitely depending on their utilization and proper maintenance. Whereas soft preservative and fresh frozen body donors begin decomposition much sooner. Overall, the data suggests that hard fixation is more appropriately correlated with teaching human anatomy, while fresh frozen and soft preservation tend to support clinical skills training. This is most likely due to the sheer number of students that are taught on human body donors daily. Therefore, teaching anatomy using the human body donors, you need to utilize an embalming method that will last an extended period and is relatively easy to produce. Additionally, 92.5% of the surveyed institutions, allow faculty and staff to take photographs of body donors and 14% allow students to take photos as well for educational purposes. Lastly, 39% of the institutions allow individuals to work with human body donors for educational purposes to teach the public in outreach and continuing education settings. These unique tools and applications institutions employ allow them to further maximize their work with body donors. Also, with the appropriate embalming method, educators can teach students in an efficient and effective manner. Knowing the appropriate preservation method to utilize for a particular purpose will also help maximize the gift of donation while enhancing the education process for students and teachers.

Giving a voice to our silent teachers: Whole body donation from the donor perspective at one donation program in the United States

“…body donation programs permit photographs to be taken of their donors, 49 only 11 consent forms inform registrants that this is a possibility, 28 indicating that programs do not frequently inform registrants of their photo policy during enrollment. Beyond mere disclosure of this practice, it is important to consider the comfort level of the individuals who may be digitally immortalized by having their bodies captured in such an intimate way.…”