PURPOSE
Anatomy educators are increasingly encouraged to embrace a humanistic
approach to human anatomy dissection to provide a sense of closure to
students and instructors as a part of the classroom curriculum. While many
educators have taken part in some form of funerary or memorialization service
in their lifetime, few have had to organize one, and fewer still were asked
to take an active hand in designing one. This project aimed to provide guidelines
for those who would like to develop and host memorialization ceremonies at
their institution.
METHODS
Academic anatomy laboratory educators with experience in donor memorial
ceremonies from different academic levels, at both religious and secular
institutions, collaborated to develop a handbook for memorialization targeted
toward educators who are interested in developing or implementing memorials
for their donors.
RESULTS
The developed handbook provided guidelines for different types of human
body donor memorializations from in-class activities, graveside ceremonies,
creation of memorial markers, and hosting full celebrations of life. These
guidelines include suggestions for ceremony design, gifts to the donors,
student involvement, donor family involvement, and others. Additionally, this
document encompasses a variety of secular and faith-specific contributions to
create an inclusive inter-faith or non-denominational event. The handbook
also includes suggestions for obtaining funding and administrative challenges
as these can impede efforts to honor human body donors.
CONCLUSION
Anatomy laboratory educators at multiple academic institutions created a
handbook for other educators, curated from their respective experiences, to
use in their own planning of a memorialization ceremony of their own. This
handbook also describes other appreciation moments and permanent memorials
for readers. This document is the first of its kind to support gross anatomy
educators in the design and production of memorialization ceremonies.