The University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine announced that it will not accept new enrollments for the Willed Body Program due to an overwhelming amount of interest and limited space.
The JABSOM program allows people to plan to donate their bodies after death for use in medical science and education by students training to become physicians, emergency medical technicians, forensic anthropologists and more.
Starting Aug. 22, the program will not accept or process new Anatomical Gift Donation forms. Planned donations require the original form to be completed by that date in order to be processed. Any paperwork received after the deadline will be returned.
This indefinite pause does not apply to those currently enrolled as donors.
Matthew Campbell, the director of communications for JABSOM, told HPR that 42,000 people are currently enrolled in the program.
"Our morgue capacity is 75, but on average, we see around 150 donors come through our Willed Body Program serving as 'silent teachers' each year," he said.
JABSOM emphasized that body donations play a critical role in helping medical students enhance their skills and learn new techniques, and researchers further their projects.
Back in 2021, when JABSOM resumed the program after a pandemic pause, HPR learned that first-year medical students can spend over 100 hours dissecting and learning from, in a way, their first patient.
The program holds an annual memorial service where the cremated silent teachers are scattered into the ocean. Family members of the donors are also invited to honor their loved ones and meet the students in person.
