Body Donation Programme Overview
The Importance of Body Donation
People who donate their bodies for medical and scientific research make an invaluable contribution to the advancement of medical knowledge. It is a unique gift that helps to promote health and alleviate suffering within the community – a gift that is greatly appreciated by medical researchers, teachers and students alike. The University of Wollongong offers a Body Donation Programme to the public to help us train health-care workers and scientists including doctors, nurses, medical scientists, exercise physiologists, dieticians and other health-related professions.
The Body Donation Programme
The objective of the Body Donation Programme is to obtain human materials for educational and scientific study so that we can provide our students with the best possible education and training. In conducting the Body Donation Programme we strive to operate in a way that is consistent with the spirit of the ‘good clinician’. Therefore, in our contact with donors registering with the program, we provide a service that is both compassionate and professional.
Dignity, Respect and Anonymity
Donors are guaranteed that their remains will be treated with dignity, respect and anonymity at all times. Our students will be made aware of the special and unique privilege that has been accorded to them by the generosity of donors and their families. Furthermore, our anatomical teaching and research laboratories are situated in a restricted area that only medical and health-related students and staff are authorised to enter and utilise.
Body Donations and the Law
As a result of the ever expanding demands of medical education and research, the requirement for body donations remains critical. Fortunately, many individuals have recognised and understood these demands and have generously bequeathed their bodies. To safe guard the rights of donors gifting their remains for medical education and research, state legislatures have enacted laws (NSW Human Tissue and Anatomy Legislation Amendment Act 2003, Anatomy Act 1977) which strictly govern the conduct of anatomy within the University. Donors can be assured that the University of Wollongong operates it anatomical programmes, including the body donation programme, with strict compliance to these legal requirements.
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