Giving Thanks

Note: As a follow up to the last post, this is a letter that a couple of classmates and I wrote for a memorial service for our anatomy donors.

Dear family and loved ones,

We are writing on behalf of the Harvard Medical School and School of Dental Medicine Class of 2012 to express our sincere gratitude to the anatomical donors who selflessly donated their bodies and provided us with one of the most important experiences in our medical education.

In the past months, we have had the honor of learning from the first patient for whom we will have responsibility. We did not take this responsibility lightly, and both faculty and students constantly emphasized interpersonal cooperation, professionalism, and respect for the gift we received.

While this course was an emotionally difficult experience for many of us, we never lost sight of the privilege we were given. We came to think of these donors as our teachers who imparted to us some of the most fundamental and pragmatic lessons of medicine. Students and faculty alike believe that these essential lessons are best learned through laboratory experience, and we are thankful to our donors for giving us an education of the highest quality.

Nobody can summarize how we feel better than the student who wrote the following quote shortly after finishing the course:

“This has been an incredible experience, one that has changed me forever. It has been a continuous emotional thunderstorm with ups and downs, but mostly dominated by very powerful feelings. I cannot even express in words my gratitude for our donors. I cried and continue to cry sometimes when thinking about the amazing gift we received. This has been a tremendous privilege and I feel honored, humbled and at the same time overwhelmed by the opportunity that I was given. I am also incredibly frustrated with the fact that I do not know how to thank our donors; I wish I could do something to show them how much their gift meant. I think the only option I have is to become a good doctor, a much better doctor than I would have ever been without them. This has been the greatest gift anyone has given us, and will remain in our hearts and minds for the rest of our lives.”

It is in this spirit that we write to you.

Sincerely yours,

The Harvard Medical School Class of 2012, and
The Harvard School of Dental Medicine Class of 2012