Gift of Body honors donors’ contributions

Members of the MU School of Medicine community gathered on August 16 inside the Patient-Centered Care Learning Center for the annual Gift of Body commemoration ceremony. Through the Gift of Body program, individuals generously donate their bodies to the School of Medicine to provide vital education to medical students and assist future health care professionals.

Donated bodies are used for educational purposes for students training in the medical, physical therapy and athletic training professions. They are also utilized in undergraduate anatomy courses, and by physicians and researchers who are involved in tailored studies to advance their educational and basic science research.

Each year at the Gift of Body ceremony, family members of individuals who donated their bodies to the program are in attendance as the university and its medical students have the opportunity to honor that gift and express their gratitude in-person.

Kevin Flaherty, PhD, assistant professor of pathology and anatomical sciences, serves as the Gift of Body program director. In his role, Flaherty coordinates and monitors the use of the donors’ bodies in medical school, physical therapy and undergraduate courses. He also serves as the program’s spokesperson, hosting

At the Gift of Body ceremony, Flaherty cherishes the time he gets to spend and interact with the donors’ family members.

“Holding this event for the families and hearing them talk about what their loved ones were like during their lives means everything to me,” said Flaherty. “The fact that so many people make the decision each year to entrust the care of their loved ones’ bodies to this program is incredibly touching. We hope this ceremony shows family members how many people will benefit from their loved ones’ generous gift.”

MU second-year medical student Diana Wagner served as the ceremony’s featured speaker. She shared her unique insight as both a medical student who completed anatomy courses with donated bodies through Gift of Body, as well as the daughter of a mother who generously donated her body to a similar program.

Wagner lost her mother to breast cancer in 2014. After her mother received her terminal diagnosis, she dedicated herself to giving lectures about breast self-exams and raising awareness in rural communities like the one they lived in. Wagner’s mother was a professor and researcher at Truman State University and was determined to teach and impact lives even after her death, ultimately leading to her body donation to A.T. Still University in Kirksville, Missouri.

With her first-hand connection to the Gift of Body program, Wagner is thankful to donors and their family members whose generosity will aid future MU School of Medicine graduates.

“Through the donors’ final act of generosity, future physicians get the opportunity to intimately learn every muscle, artery, nerve and bone in the body during anatomy labs,” said Wagner. “While my first day in the lab was extra challenging for me, as I thought about my mother and her own sacrifice to a program like this, it only deepened my respect for the selflessness of the donors, who in death continue to teach medical students like me in ways that words and textbooks never could. On behalf of my classmates, thank you to each donor and their families and giving us the opportunity to provide the highest quality of care to our future patients because of their invaluable gift.”