Donating body to medicine

LegacyUser

First of all I'm very sorry if this is in the wrong place or if it bothers anyone reading it, mods please move if there is a better place for this.
I have been to a lot of funerals recently and it's been making me think about things like burial/ cremation/ donating my body to a medical department in a university. I do not want to be buried under any circumstances, for a number of reasons. Cremation would be better but I like the idea of donating my body to medicine. Just wondering though if doing it this way makes it harder for the people left behind. Even though the funerals I've been to were very sad, I think the rituals are comforting in many ways for the family and friends.
x

Vorsprung

You can talk to the medical schools directly.

UCD page here, I'm sure the others (TCD, RCSI, UCC, Galway) have similar schemes.

Dingle_berry

As far as I know the people left behind can still have a service if they wish. The body can be returned afterwards or the college will bury or cremate it according to your wishes.

I think that RTÉ did a documentary on the Trinity system a year ago?

UCC here: https://www.ucc.ie/en/anatomy/anatomicalbequests/

Another option for you, especially if you really do not want to be buried is plastination http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/body_donation.html

Czhornet

Dingle_berry wrote: »

As far as I know the people left behind can still have a service if they wish. The body can be returned afterwards or the college will bury or cremate it according to your wishes.

I think that RTÉ did a documentary on the Trinity system a year ago?

UCC here: https://www.ucc.ie/en/anatomy/anatomicalbequests/

Another option for you, especially if you really do not want to be buried is plastination http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/body_donation.html

Watch channel 5 tonight (6th Oct) at 9.00pm. English version of this, a programme called Body Donors. 1st episode last week, very interesting.

Pretzill

I had a relative who donated - they had a church service and then the remains were taken straight afterwards - a few years passed and the remains were returned for burial.

I really respected their decision to donate their body to science - and personally didn't find it upsetting to wave them off the first time - and they had effectively two funerals so stayed in the forefront of our mind!

4Marie

I would imagine it can be hard for thous left behind
I'd imagine the body would need to be preserved soon after the passing giving your relatives little time before body is taken away.

EoghanIRL

The UCC flame lab which was linked above is a very good facility.

The prosections are very helpful when learning anatomy. In my experience everyone was respectful of the cadavers and used the time in the labs to their advantage. I personally found that the labs gave a great insight into the anatomy of the human body and found them very useful. Not all colleges are so fortunate to have these facilities.

aine92

http://www.rcsi.ie/index.jsp?a=960&n=797&p=331

Specifically for your brain!