Funeral Service for Cadavers

Introduction
During the first year of medical school, one of the most moving experiences for first year medical students are the anatomy labs, with the requisite introduction to mortality: the use of cadavers. For many students this raises many emotions, that often do not have an outlet, in terms of expressing grief, gratitude, and their attitudes toward death. Finding ways of expressing these emotions are important for the well-being of the medical students. To this end, AMSA's Task Force on Death and Dying has sponsored a project that helps students say "good-bye" to their cadavers at the end of a term, and before the cadavers are disposed of in a humane fashion. This is to serve as a helpful guide if students feel this is a project worth doing at their school.

1. Determine goals. The first step in holding a service for the cadavers is to determine who will participate, how large a gathering is planned, etc. This determines what further steps you are going to take. If the service is to be small, with a gathering of maybe 6 people (e.g. a lab group) to say good bye to their personal cadaver, it will take much less arranging than a school-wide service.
   
   
2. Plan the ceremony. Decide how long the ceremony will last and what you will do in it. Some ideas that have worked for other AMSA chapters is to read aloud essays or poems that students have written about what they felt when they first saw the cadaver. Other ideas have included each student putting a flower in a vase on behalf of their cadaver, and then bringing the vase full of flowers to someone struggling through illness. Whatever you decide to do during the ceremony, be aware that you must be tactful and responsible in your behavior toward the cadavers, as you have been all along during your anatomy class.
   
   
3. Obtain assistance. The second step requires gathering the necessary permissions to hold the service, which may often lead you to sources that can also help you hold the service. The obvious people who need to be approached are the director of the anatomy class/lab, the caretaker of the cadavers (if this is separate from your anatomy lab director), the dean of student affairs at your school, and your school's ethics department if you have one. Any one of these people can offer helpful suggestions, but do not be surprised if they are not enthusiastic about your plans: they may be worried about the "tastefulness" of your ceremony, and whether your service will properly honor the cadavers. This is where having completed step 1 and 2, you are prepared to answer their questions.
   
   
4. Obtain funding if necessary. Speak with student groups such as the AMSA chapter on your campus, or your student senate. Explain to them their your ideas, and provide a well-thought out budget of your costs, and show where you have planned to save money. It will show the groups that you are soliciting that you have thought this through completely and know how much money you will need. It will impress them.
   
   
5. Advertise your project. Once all the steps are in place to hold your service, if you are planning for a certain amount of people to attend, make sure they are aware of the details: time, place, date, day of the week, and any special requirements they will need to bring with them to attend. Use your school's electronic listserv if you can, otherwise a simple announcement in class or flyers by your school's student lounge, cafeteria, living halls, mailboxes, etc. will suffice. If appropriate, invite members of the school administration to attend- just remember this is a student ceremony, sponsored by the medical students, and you may not want it to become too fancy.
   
   
6. Above all, feel good about what you are doing for the cadavers and the humanity in your fellow medical students.