Alva Review-Courier -

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M medical student Christian Martin can easily recall the rush of emotions that came over him when he met his first patient.

"All this woman's passion, her kindness, all the well wishes this woman had, she shared with me," Martin recently said to his 100 or so fellow first-year students enrolled in the Texas A&M Health Science Center's College of Medicine.

The Eagle reports together, the group was honoring the 27 people who donated their bodies to the college so that students could learn not just about anatomy, but about caring and curiosity.

When a med student makes the first incision into a cadaver, it sparks an emotional and spiritual journey that paused during the memorial as they lit 27 candles to recognize the service provided. And even though the students don't know the names of the dead, what they learned from each will stay with them.

"I remember the respect and awe when (my own professor) first introduced us each to our cadavers," said Carrie Byington, dean of the College of Medicine, to those gathered at the 30-minute ceremony in an auditorium at the Health Science Center in Bryan. "At that time we had been allowed to know names of our cadavers, and I still think of him all the time."

Byington said the respect given to the dead is reflective of the Aggie Spirit, and that the students should be filled with gratitude that a person humbly dedicated their flesh and blood to further the education of strangers.

Martin, who as leader of his class was asked to speak at the Jan. 31 ceremony, said that the heart holds so much significance in literature and music, so it truly moved him to consider what it meant to be holding a person's heart — an exercise every student must go through.

Martin's experience with six bodies over the course of several months in the anatomy class led him to an important decision: He said he plans to donate his body to a medical school program.

First-year student Sebastian Powell also worked with his team on six bodies during the course.

"That first cadaver is the one that really sticks with you," he said. "You walk in the lab and see 27 tanks inside. You pull the crank and raise the bodies. I remember my heart raced as we raised the bodies."

Seeing it was overwhelming, he said, but also significant. And the first incision the team made into their first body, they all did together. The group of six students had put their hands all together on the scalpel together for that cut.

The bodies donated to Texas A&M's Willed Body Program often are people who live within 100 to 200 miles of the university, administrators said. They are people of all ages and ranges of health. Students are not permitted to know the identity of their cadavers, and a preparatory process ensures that students will not work on someone they know. All a student is told is the patient's age and medical history; the rest they must learn on their own.

"I see a sense of awe and a sense of wonder for people who have not done human dissection," Byington said. "It's difficult to convey. We learn new things from every patient, but from these patients we learn what it means to give everything you have for betterment of other people, and that is the basis of our profession."

Byington said she believes all schools honor their donated patients, and A&M's ceremony reflects the tradition of Aggie Muster. She said she feels it is a special and important tradition. Ultimately, the anatomy course will change these Aggies in many ways, she said, shaping how they will practice medicine and also drawing them closer to their peers.

"These teams become some of strongest friends for life," said Byington, who also serves as vice chancellor for health services for the Texas A&M System.

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Information from: The Eagle, http://www.theeagle.com