Students honor cadavers and families

Ohio State University medical students gathered yesterday to thank the families of their first patients.

They’ve gotten to know their patients — cadavers — in detail since last fall, said Suman Gupta, a firstyear student.

Gupta didn’t know her patient’s name, but she said she knows where his veins split, the contour of his muscles and the idiosyncrasies of his nerves. She knows where his fat deposits are and the condition of his heart.

“It was strange knowing a person, a human being, without knowing anything about their lives, their families, their dreams,” she said.

But she honored his memory— and that of 202 other donors — at the annual service for those who gave their bodies to the OSU Division of Anatomy in 2013.

Students have organized the service for families of donors for more than 30 years. About 500 family members and students attended the service.

Because the students can’t thank the donors, they thank the donors’ families, said Dr. Robert DePhilip, who teaches the medical human anatomy class where most of the bodies are used.

“The learning is invaluable,” DePhilip said. “I go back to the lab with a renewed appreciation each year after this service.”

Students lit candles for each donor, read their names and gave flowers to family members. A montage of photos from families and thank-you messages from students played on a screen.

Jeanette Muench, 75, of Columbus, said the service finally provided some closure.

Her husband, Frederic, died in February 2013, and his body was donated to OSU shortly after.

“He wanted his body to help someone else,” Muench said.

Muench wasn’t completely comfortable with the donation, but she would never deny her husband’s wishes, she said. She was comforted, moved and impressed by the students’ empathy.

For many of the families, this is the only service they have, said Eileen Mehl, director of student engagement for the College of Medicine.

The university keeps the cadavers for up to two years, then cremates the remains and returns them to the families.

Students in the College of Medicine, College of Dentistry and Division of Anatomy require anatomy lab classes that use cadavers.

Donors volunteer for the OSU program by signing a legally binding form. The programs refuse bodies with communicable diseases or whose organs have been removed for transplants.

“Even in their passing, they wanted to continue to help others,” Gupta said. “They had the foresight to ensure they would be able to, with the most selfless gift they could offer: their body.”