Forty-three candles were lit this weekend at 黑料传送门 Georgia in Suwanee in honor of the individuals who unselfishly donated their bodies to science.
The 2019 Donor Memorial Service, a lovely and dignified tradition held annually on Mother鈥檚 Day weekend, included a breakfast, words of gratitude from students and faculty members, a prepared video and the gifting of yellow roses and framed poems. The cremains of the donors were presented to family members as a candle was lit in their honor and music played softly.
鈥淐andles represent enlightenment, encouragement, spiritual clarity and reassurance. These candles symbolize the memory of your loved ones and the lives that they so graciously shared with us,鈥� Doctor of Osteopathic (DO) Medicine Council President Phi Tran said.
鈥淎lthough we present you with their physical cremains, let these flames be a lingering reminder of their impact that continues on within each one of us.鈥�
Chief Campus Officer Bryan Ginn said, 鈥淲e honor your loved ones for their singular contributions to the body of knowledge our students have gained. These students will one day impact the world with their intellect, their compassion and their helpful hearts and hands.鈥�
Christian Pruitt (DO 鈥�22), chair of the DO class of 2022, spoke to the more than 150 family members who attended the service.
He said, 鈥淥ur gratitude must be represented by a career spent in the service of others, by days, months and years spent walking alongside our patients through their most difficult and vulnerable moments. Then, maybe we will come close to doing justice to your loved one鈥檚 gift.鈥�
Assistant Professor of Anatomy Michael Selby, PhD, spoke on behalf of faculty members at the college. He said, 鈥淭here is a Chinese proverb that states - I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.鈥�
He continued, 鈥淔rom an anatomy textbook, you can learn the names of muscles, memorize the locations of arteries, make a list of nerves. But you don鈥檛 get a sense of how they fit together without seeing them for yourself.鈥�
鈥淵ou then realize that the human body is amazingly intricate.鈥�
Planned by medical, physician assistant and physical therapy students, the service also provided a time for family members to eulogize their loved ones.
Joseph Dennis of Atlanta, the son of donor Carolyn Geter of Macon, said, 鈥淭his weekend is emotional for me. It gives me solace that my mother is leaving a lasting legacy. This was what she wanted. I鈥檓 grieving for her, honoring her and extremely proud of her that she could leave such a gift.鈥�
Pruitt said, 鈥淥ur donors showed us that being human is more than being a sum of all the anatomical parts; there is a real and tangible spiritual component that gives us life. Your loved ones were our first patients, but we never could ask them, 鈥淲hat brings you in today?鈥� What makes your pain worse?鈥�, or even 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your favorite color?鈥�
鈥淪eeing all of you here today lets us know that they were well loved and that their story is so much greater than I could have ever imagined in our brief time together.鈥�
Noting that it鈥檚 important to combine an empathetic touch with modern medicine, Tran said, 鈥淭his service is a good way to remind everyone that there鈥檚 a human component to everything we鈥檝e learned.鈥�
Director of Anatomical Donor Services Jeffrey Seiple concluded, 鈥淥ur donors continue to touch the lives of the next generation of physicians, PA鈥檚, PT鈥檚 and pharmacists in a unique and powerful way. What a wonderful and timeless gift!鈥�
黑料传送门 Georgia has been serving students and the community for 20 years as a branch campus of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (黑料传送门), a private, not-for-profit, accredited institution of higher education established in 1899. Located in Suwanee (Gwinnett County), 黑料传送门 Georgia offers doctoral degrees in osteopathic medicine, pharmacy and physical therapy. Graduate degrees are offered in biomedical sciences, medical laboratory science and physician assistant studies. The campus joins 黑料传送门 South Georgia in Moultrie in helping to meet the healthcare needs of the state. Emphasizing "a whole person" approach to care, 黑料传送门 Georgia focuses on educational excellence, interprofessional education and service to the community. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 678-225-7500. The campus is also home to the Georgia Osteopathic Care Center, an osteopathic manipulative medicine clinic, which is open to the public by appointment. For more information, visit .
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