Eulogy performed by Ayaan Memon

How do you want to define your legacy? Many of us would struggle to give an answer
that could define a lifetime of choices. But for those who have donated their bodies to medicine,
they have chosen to capstone that lifetime in a way that extends their legacy far past their
passing. It is an honor to be a part of someone’s answer to that difficult question, especially when
it involves the last decision they make for their body. I am here today to use this opportunity to
thank all of the people who chose to place their faith in my peers and I. I hope to name just a few
ways that I feel this faith has started to shape my future.

A donor serves as the first time a physician truly learns the body, and the foundation upon
which their knowledge is built on. They guide a doctor’s hands and minds as their first patient,
and for every single patient after that. The knowledge they impart will underlie the diagnoses we
make, the answers we provide, and the questions we ask. Their contribution is a part of
everything we do, and so are they.

A donor grounds our idealized love for medicine in responsibility, turning our fascination
into duty and purpose. As a first year medical student, we come in fresh, bright-eyed and
arrogant. “We’ve made it,” we think, as if the hard part is over. But after being introduced to our
donor, we are given a taste of the necessary responsibility and conviction that we must develop
in our field. The gift that we have been entrusted with reminds us that we aren’t just learning for
knowledge’s sake, but to make good in the trust placed in us.

Finally, a donor teaches us an openness to continuous learning. Nothing is ever like our
lectures or our textbook, and we quickly learn that no amount of studying will ever grant us
“expertise” over the body. Each person is beautifully and wonderfully different, and that
uniqueness humbles us in our understanding (and lack thereof) when a donor’s gifts are used. It
forces us to switch from the mindset of an authority to a learner, never using our knowledge as a
conclusive definition of a person but as a springboard to ask questions. That lesson in humility is
what separates a good doctor from a bad one.

I’m also here to thank the people who supported that decision for my donor and any
donor they know, no matter how hard it was for them. I remember the fierce protectiveness I felt
over my grandfather’s body when he died, watching every person that approached his casket
with a suspicion that I did not recognize. It was also difficult for my family to accept his desire to
donate, despite knowing it is what he wanted. I want to thank the loved ones who had to wrestle
with the hardship that came with honoring those wishes. I also want to thank you for delaying
any end-of-life rituals so that his body could teach us through this past year. Myself, and my
classmates, feel incredibly honored by the sacrifices that you have made and want to emphasize
the ways that they have impacted us. No one can take it away from them how their legacy has
made an indelible mark on innumerable lives.

So how is it that we as medical students make good on that legacy? Our school teaches us
to honor these gifts with respect in the classroom, but how is it possible to honor someone
enough in the one year that we learn anatomy? The answer is simple – we can’t. I think that to
truly respect these gifts, we keep this sacrifice in mind throughout the entirety of our time as
physicians. Before each difficult exam, through each challenging case, and for all of the doubts
in our abilities, a donor reminds us that there was someone who believed enough in us to make
the sacrifice that they did. For each time that we are tired of our system or dissatisfied with the
direction of our field, their faith reminds us that our disillusionment ignores the trust of
thousands who chose to believe otherwise. A donor’s sacrifice is a lesson in responsibility,
humility, and is a foundation of our skills – but beyond all of those things, its greatest gift is the
immortal reminder of a patient’s belief in physicians everywhere, pushing us to grow and learn
more than we thought capable. Thank you for your belief and for every gift you’ve given – we
will always strive to live up to what you saw in us.