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Medical Students Pay Tribute To Strangers Who Donated Bodies After Death For Research

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some are opting to donate their bodies to science instead of money and it could have a huge significance for future physicians training at medical schools.

CBS2's Vanessa Murdock attended a memorial service honoring those who gave the gift of their bodies after death.

Red roses were placed at the base of a newly planted red maple tree at New York Institute of Technology's College of Osteopathic Medicine. This is one of the many ways first-year medical students chose to honor those who donated their whole bodies to science and to their education this semester.

"You can't get more generous than that," one student said.

Students remembered 38 donors through artwork, music, and poetry.

"It's really important to me...  Remembering that, yes, they were part of our education and a tool for us. They were a person," first-year medical student Cara Strobel said.

More than 300 medical students spent months dissecting bodies in the anatomy room.

"The students don't know these donors but they learn so much from them," NYIT Chair of Anatomy Dr. Jonathan Geisler said.

Dean Dr. Wolfgang Gilliar told CBS2 he considers whole body donation prestigious.

"It's a phenomenal thing to do, it helps students become better doctors," Gilliar said.

He said there is always a need to ensure future physicians leave medical school with the "three Cs."

"We want confident physicians, competent physicians, but we also want compassionate physicians," he said.

"It's so humbling they had so much faith in us... and they didn't even know who we were," another student said. "It was nice to reflect on the sacrifice they made for us."

At the end of the semester, donors are cremated and their ashes are returned to the family.

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