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I have long been an advocate of organ and tissue donation, and have registered my desire to be an organ donor in the event of my death. My view on this is that I will no longer have any use for my organs at that point, and if they can be used to extend the life of someone else, then I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be used for that purpose. When they asked us about tissue donation after Becky's accident, we didn't even hesitate before granting permission. I encourage anyone who is elibible (and some people are not eligible for a variety of medical reasons) to take a few minutes to visit http://www.organdonor.gov to find the registry site for your state and make sure your wishes about this issue are registered.
But there is another perspective that I hadn't thought much about until earlier this week. I was reading an article in the Washington Post about anatomical donation, and one doctor's reaction to his wife's decision to have her body donated to a medical school upon her death. The article describes the benefits of such a donation, which provides bodies for medical students to study as part of their education. While such a donation would not benefit any other patients directly, it does ensure that new doctors have the opportunities to study the anatomy of an actual person before they begin to practice medicine. Presumably, this will enable them to become better physicians, which in turn will benefit all of their future patients.
I'm not sure whether anatomical donations are compatible with organ and tissue donations, or if the body must be intact for the medical school purposes. I guess I'll have to do some research on that issue. If they aren't compatible, I will have to carefully consider both programs, to see which I think would provide the best benefit...
But there is another perspective that I hadn't thought much about until earlier this week. I was reading an article in the Washington Post about anatomical donation, and one doctor's reaction to his wife's decision to have her body donated to a medical school upon her death. The article describes the benefits of such a donation, which provides bodies for medical students to study as part of their education. While such a donation would not benefit any other patients directly, it does ensure that new doctors have the opportunities to study the anatomy of an actual person before they begin to practice medicine. Presumably, this will enable them to become better physicians, which in turn will benefit all of their future patients.
I'm not sure whether anatomical donations are compatible with organ and tissue donations, or if the body must be intact for the medical school purposes. I guess I'll have to do some research on that issue. If they aren't compatible, I will have to carefully consider both programs, to see which I think would provide the best benefit...
