To a Medical Student

This is my body,
the shell of my being,
which is given to you
in final offering
to the world.
I share the elements of life.
From these old bones,
these ligaments,
my sinews and my nerves,
may that life force
that ran in me
shine forth once more
and pass to you
the knowledge
and the power
that help sustain
the miracle of life.

- Claire Small,
an anatomical gift donor

Anatomical Gift Program

Close examination of the human body in medical schools constitutes an invaluable and indispensable part of medical education and research.  Each year numbers of bodies are needed for the teaching of medical students, dental students, post graduate physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and students of related disciplines.  The principal source of bodies is private donation.

"If we truly accept our own mortality and genuinely identify ourselves with humanity, we will gladly help in every way we can."
Ernest Morgan, Death Education and Simple Burial

/uploadedImages/umms_anatomical_gift_brochure_revised.jpg Body Donation & Medical Education brochure

This portion of the Web site is dedicated to body donors in gratitude for their lasting contribution to the medical sciences and to humankind.