News
04-30-08
Jerry Carey
856-566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu
UMDNJ Medical Students Honor Their "Silent Teachers" During Memorial Service
STRATFORD - Anatomy class is one of the rites of passage for beginning medical students and most physicians never forget that first patient who helped them begin to understand the wonders of the human body.
During the Anatomy Memorial Service, on Thursday, May 1, at 4:30 p.m., in the school’s courtyard, current first-year students at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine will pay solemn tribute to those individuals who bequeathed their bodies to help teach the human miracle to this next generation of physicians. Using music, poetry and spoken word, the medical students will publicly express their gratitude and reverence for their “silent teachers” and bid a final farewell to the men and women who donated their bodies to medical education.
“The memorial is a time to reflect on all we have received and to give one final presentation of our gratitude for this gift,” said Elizabeth Jasolosky, class vice-president. "As students, we have honored them throughout our dissections and have gained an immense education by their selfless act."
“Students form a special bond with these donors,” added Dr. Thomas Cavalieri, interim dean of UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. “In many ways, their experience in Anatomy class is at the core of the patient/doctor relationship. As physicians, we seek to learn from each patient so that we can better help other patients in the future.”
More than 100 students and faculty are expected to attend the cadaver memorial service. After the service, the first-year students will hold a brief private ceremony in the anatomy lab.
The UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine is dedicated to providing excellence in medical education, research and health care for New Jersey and the nation. An emphasis on primary health care and community health services reflects the school’s osteopathic philosophy, with centers of excellence that demonstrate its commitment to developing clinically skillful, compassionate and culturally competent physicians from diverse backgrounds, who are prepared to become leaders in their communities.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.
