THE GIFT OF KNOWLEDGE DEPARTMENT OF ANATOMY, MYSORE MEDICAL COLLEGE & RESEARCH INSTITUTE, MYSORE.

Voluntary Body donation is a generous gift of knowledge. It is the finest source for gaining medical knowledge than any textbooks or computers. This gift will help in medical training and research, and in turn will benefit your children, grandchildren, and people for many generations.

Definition: Voluntary body donation defined as the act of voluntarily donating a dead body for medical research and education. It fulfills a sense of philanthropy and develops a feeling of having accomplished a noble deed for a noble cause.

Significance Body donation is the final noble act to redeem one’s obligations to the society and in this way oblige medical students and help them in curing thousands of patients. It is an environment friendly as compared to other methods of dead body disposal like cremation, burial or dumping into the tower of peace.

….past Medical profession first started in India & Egypt and later in western countries. Anatomy, is a basic medical subject for medical and paramedical courses. Initially for dissection purpose they used to steal the dead bodies from grave yard or get the dead bodies of prisoners who died due to capital punishment.

As medical field advanced, even the organ transplantation gained importance and got new dimension. The donation programs namely: BLOOD DONATION EYE DONATION KIDNEY DONATION BONE MARROW DONATION HEART DONATION SEMEN DONATION OVUM DONATION…..AND MANY MORE

Pioneers… This unique movement started in India by: Dr. Jivraj MehathaMumbaiMaharashtra Dr. D. V. NadakarniBijapuraKarnataka Dr. M. B.GharapurePuneMaharashtra Dr. Nagaloti MataMysore & HubliKarnataka

Necessity: Donated Body is a basic device for learning Anatomy. Learning becomes imperfect without dissection on cadavers. It provides unparalleled opportunities for medical students to study the human body. Books, mannequins and computer programs cannot replace the cadaver dissection in understanding human anatomy.

Medical institutions requires cadavers per year for dissection, demonstration, examination, preparation of museum specimens, post-graduate teaching and research purpose. Cadavers are also required for Dental, Nursing, Ayurvedic, Homeopathy, and Paramedical students to know the structure of human body in detail.

Why Body donation is Unique? Body donation is unique that, donation is done by the person after his death without any expectation. Here relatives and friends play a important role in handing over the donated body for academic purpose. It is a noble act where donors have rendered useful service to the society even after death.

The idea of cadaver donation also synchronises with the Indian philosophy of “transmigration of the soul”

Procedure: There are simple steps to follow for a person to donate his body voluntarily. Points to remember:  Voluntary Body donation is done in medical institutions only.  Body should be donated within hours after death.  Eye donation has to be done prior to the body donation. (within 6 hours)  Transportation facility will be provided by the Institution.

Step:1 Filling of Simple Voluntary Body Donation form with one Passport size Photo. Signature of two close relatives or friends is required. Forms will be both in Kannada and English

Step:2 Medical Institution will provide :  Appreciation certificate.  Identity card.  Information booklet.

Step:3 After receiving the Dead body “EMBALMING” is done by injecting Formalin solution. When once body is fixed, it will be stored in formalin tanks and used for academic purpose.

Step:4 After complete dissection, body is buried with due respect. After few days to months, the bones will be taken out for study purpose.

Criteria: For accepting: Death due to natural causes (all ages). For Rejection: Decomposed body Autopsied body Death from contagious disease like AIDS. Death due to unnatural causes( poisoning, accidents, suicide).

Body donation and Law: Considering all difficulties in the procurement of bodies of deceased persons for educational purposes in medical institutions, it was felt necessary to make legal provision for body donation. The Mysore Anatomy Act (1957), later amended as the Karnataka Anatomy Act (Amendment) (1999).

Religious and cultural attitude: All major religions approve of body donation as a charitable act. Most express that it is an individual decision. Most major religions support donation as an act human kindness in keeping with religious teachings.

Till now 368 people have signed up for the cause at MMC & RI, out of which 213 are male, 155 are female. 307 are in the age group of 40yrs and above, while 61 are below 40 yrs. Interestingly among 368 registered, 28 are couples. Till now we have received 18 bodies. Few prominent names among them are: H.A.B Parpia former director of central food technological research institute(CFTRI,MYSORE), Dr. Arun kumar (of MMC & RI), Dr. Gajendra (of MMC & RI), and latter’s sister Mrs. K Vijaya, and Sri K Balaji singh from senior citizen’s council.

Conclusion YOUR GENEROUS GIFT OF LIFE  Family and friends will find solace and contentment in your generous decision to help people for generations to come.  Your gift will allow for better health care under well trained medical professionals.  You will make a difference and you will be remembered for ever.

Thinking of Body donation: CONTACT: CONTROL ROOM K.R. HOSPITAL ( ) MMC & RI, OFFICE Dr.K.R.Dakshayani, Professor & HOD Department of Anatomy Mysore Medical College & RI Mobile: Dr. Seema Deepak Associate Professor Department of Anatomy Mobile: Dr. Rajapur Parashuram Assistant Professor Department of Anatomy Mobile: