Watch: Medical Students Honor Their “First Patients”

Educating physicians relies on the generous act of whole body donation. At an annual memorial service this spring, first-year medical students from NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) honored the 38 men and women who donated their bodies. The students expressed their gratitude to the donors and dedicated a maple tree in their memory.

Whole body donations give medical students the opportunity to study the structure and intricacies of human anatomy in ways that go far beyond what can be found in a textbook or computer. For example, last fall, first-year students dissected the human body during 24 three-hour sessions. The practice of dissection can provide medical students with a heightened appreciation for human life, allowing medical students to one day become compassionate medical professionals.

At the ceremony, both students and faculty members noted that in providing one of the greatest privileges a medical student can receive, these donors granted the gift of knowledge to the students themselves and also to their future patients.