How donors to the UBC Body Donation Program shape medical training at UBC

Donors to the UBC Body Donation Program are shaping the next generation of medical staff as part of their legacy.

The UBC Body Donation Program is an educational initiative that supports the learning of over 1,000 health care students every year. Students from multiple medical specialties gain necessary anatomical knowledge, with some residents also gaining practical skills through surgical training sessions.

According to UBC Faculty of Medicine staff and students, the UBC Body Donation Program is committed to centering respect and dignity for donors as they play a vital role in medical education at UBC.

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Educational impact

The UBC Body Donation Program supports learning through the Gross Anatomy Lab at UBC. Here, students get “the privilege and the opportunity” to learn structure and function of the human body from donors, according to UBC Southern Medical Program Assistant Dean Dr. Segun Oyedele.

“[Students] can have both visual as well as tactile information about the different parts of the body that they study, and that, to me, is the best way to learn anatomy,” said Oyedele.

Thanks to the UBC Body Donation Program, learning extends off the pages of a textbook and into a hands-on learning experience. For fourth-year medical student Kate Fitzsimmons, this distinction is crucial for learning anatomy.

“Learning anatomy from a textbook is a world away from seeing it in real life,” she said. “So that’s a pretty invaluable experience as a budding medical student, especially in understanding the relationship of structures to the body as a whole.”

Knowledge gained from the time students spend with donors also teaches valuable lessons about the philosophy of medicine. Fitzsimmons explained that learning from donors highlighted the magnitude of responsibility she faces in medicine.

“I think the environment of the anatomy lab, just by virtue of having the body donors in it, creates this sacred space where you have to develop skills in respecting the dignity of people who you know may not be hearing or seeing what you do,” she said.

Recovering from a shortage

The success of the program hasn’t come without its challenges. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a serious shortage of donations to the UBC Body Donation Program.

According to Dr. Edwin Moore, head of the department of cellular and physiological sciences, donations to the program dropped from 120-130 per annum to under 50.

This led to a rigorous campaign developed by UBC Communications to increase visibility of the program. Moore, Oyedele and other professionals were interviewed by major media outlets, including Global News and CTV.

Due to these combined efforts, the program saw a “stunning” response from the community, according to Moore.

“For a while after the Global TV interview, the phones were ringing almost constantly. It was really touching to see how the people in the community responded,” said Moore. Donation numbers have since returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Centring dignity

To celebrate the lives of the donors supporting the UBC Body Donation program, UBC medical students arrange annual memorial services, which feature speeches from loved ones and a “memory table” of photos and sentimental items from their lives.

Fitzsimmons is familiar with the memorial service, as her paternal grandparents donated to the UBC Body Donation Program. She highlighted their motivations for donating as stemming from their commitment to giving back to their community and having a deep respect for education.

For Fitzsimmons, the legacy of her grandparents’ support to the program is a gift that keeps on giving.

“I think about how the people who learned from my grandparents are now physicians and in their residencies or maybe practicing doctors,” said Fitzsimmons. “And it’s quite incredible to think that the lessons that they would learn from my grandparents are informing their practices today, and will keep informing them as they move through their careers.”

According to Oyedele, the program’s impact extends into preparing future physicians with critical skills beyond hands on competencies, like empathy and respect.

“I think [students] come away with just that value for human dignity, value for human life, value for uniqueness of each individual human being, which I think is totally invaluable for us as medical practitioners,” said Oyedele.

“It’s a lifelong skill to lifelong learning that … will stay with them for years and years during their practice.”

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