by Marian Chavez
Daily Lobo
About 100 people donate their bodies to the UNM School of Medicine for research every year.
Families, friends, students and faculty from the medical school gathered Saturday at the Aquinas Newman Center to honor the 104 people who donated their body to science this year.
Tom Estenson, director of the Anatomical Donations Program, said donors are the real teachers of anatomy.
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"We can't understand human anatomy without the real human form," he said.
About 200 people attended the memorial.
The memorial service is held to remember those who have passed on and left a unique gift to the community.
Dianna Squires attended to honor her father, Lewis, a military veteran.
"It's nice to see that UNM took the time to show appreciation to the families," she said.
Virginia Squires, Lewis' widow, said the decision for Lewis to become a donor was mutual.
"We both decided he would donate, and I'm planning on donating too," she said. "It's the only way they can learn."
Michaela Haney, a first-year medical student and a speaker at the service, agreed.
"The donations allow us to study anatomy in a three-dimensional way, rather than a two-dimensional way, and we're grateful," she said.
Donna Pham, a first-year medical student enrolled in the Physician Assistant Program, said she appreciates the donors but would probably not donate her body to science.
"I don't think I personally would be able to donate due to my family's beliefs, but the gift they give us is priceless," she said.
Jonas Hines, a first-year medical student, had a different point of view.
"I've always thought I would donate my body because I thought it was important," he said. "I don't know anyone personally who has donated, but I think it's for the best, and I think it's more important to me now that I've started medicine."
About 40 students helped organize the memorial service under the direction of Estenson.
The donor program at UNM started about 30 years ago when the School of Medicine first opened. The bodies donated are used in the instruction of medical students studying to become doctors, nurses and physician assistants.
Estenson said donors are studied in a closed setting with a controlled atmosphere.
"Donors never leave our control," he said.
He said 60 percent of the donors are female and 40 percent are male.
The program is primarily for the use of instructing medical students, but occasionally donations are used for resident surgeons and other programs at the School of Medicine, such as Orthopedics and Gynecology in order to refresh the skills of physicians, Estenson said.
Amy Rosenbaum, who is in charge of organizing donations at the School of Medicine, said there are about 4,000 people on the donor list, and the average age of a donor is 82.
"But there are donors in their 20s or 30s that may donate due to a long-term illness," she said.