An engraved memorial bench located in the UVM Anatomical Gift Program burial lot in Burlington, Vt.'s Greenmount Cemetery honors donors. (Photo by: COM Design & Photography)

Music, history and first-time experiences marked the University of Vermont College of Medicine’s Class of 2019 Convocation of Thanks ceremony April 23, 2016 in UVM’s Ira Allen Chapel, which was attended by more than 250 donor family members, medical students, Doctorate in Physical Therapy students and faculty members.

The event is the first opportunity for medical and physical therapy graduate students to share their appreciation and sentiments about anatomical donors’ generosity with the donors’ families. For several families, it was also the first time they had gathered to memorialize their late family members. New faculty Sarah McCarthy, Ph.D., and Liana Merrill, Ph.D., both assistant professors of neurological sciences and anatomy teachers in the College of Medicine’s Human Structure and Function course, were first-timers, too.

In welcoming attendees, McCarthy, who taught anatomy at Penn State College of Medicine before joining the UVM faculty in 2015, said “I have been teaching anatomy for eight years . . . without them [donors] and their selfless gifts, I wouldn’t be able to . . . teach.”

First-year medical student Kristen Bartlett also delivered welcome remarks, which included saying “thank you to our greatest teachers.” Her classmates Gregory Gause and Althea Morrison provided an introduction to the 44 donors with whom the Class of 2019 worked, sharing such facts as their ages – which ranged from 44 to 101 – and their careers. Nine of the donors had served in the military, with service spanning from World War II to the Korean War, to the Vietnam War. A total of 11 donors had worked in the field of education, and seven had been health care providers.

Merrill, who received her Ph.D. in neuroscience in 2014 and had worked in anatomy as a UVM graduate student and as a teaching assistant for the Doctorate in Physical Therapy gross anatomy class, delivered the faculty address. She described her first experience with the donors as full of nervousness and excitement that grew, over time, into a deep sense of gratitude. “We will never forget the way they made us feel,” she said.

Musical performances and readings took place throughout the program. Musicians included Class of 2019 medical students Ramya Ghantasala, Morgan Hadley, Anita Li, Zac Wunrow, and Jacob Reibel. Readings included “Death” from the Ethical Culture Society Funeral Service, which was read by physical therapy graduate student Jessica Nason, and a collection of comments provided by families about the donors, read by physical therapy graduate student Jason Oziemina.

Family member William Hogdon spoke about his aunt Dulcina Perry, who was one of the donors and lived to be 100 years old. He said she had been a nurse who had trained at the former Mary Fletcher Hospital School of Nursing and served as a nurse leader at small hospitals in Barre and Montpelier and at the Barre Convalescent Center. Hogdon said Perry “was a somewhat larger-than-life character to us” and had known someone who had voted for Abraham Lincoln. She loved crossword puzzles and Scrabble, and lived in her family home for more than 50 years before buying and moving into her own home.

“She was through and through a Vermonter,” said Hogdon. “She literally found beauty in every day, and she gave far more than she received in this world,” he added.

Another donor family member – Candace Parks – spoke about her father Duane Parks, who had served as the model for a famous Norman Rockwell painting called “The Homecoming Marine” that appeared in the October 1945 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. He had been one of 18 children, so his family had had no means for advanced schooling.

“Dad’s now finally had his chance to go to college,” she said, “and today, he’s graduating from med school!”

Following closing remarks by Barlett, the ceremony closed and attendees proceeded to a reception held in UVM’s Billings Library.

Find more information about the UVM College of Medicine’s Anatomical Gift Program here.