2024 Annual Vanderbilt University Anatomical Donation Program Memorial Service

[Music] h [Music] [Music] h [Music] I [Music] [Laughter] h [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] for for [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] for welcome good afternoon my name is Ryan split gber I am the anatomical donor program director um and on behalf of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine I want to welcome you to this year's um anatomical donor program memorial service um it's nice to see so many family and friends in the audience we have a full- packed house I'm very pleased about that students good to see you as well um we are also live streaming just so you know so all of those that couldn't be with us in person could also view this from their home as well um I want to thank you all for being here today um and not only just for today but also for making last year possible not only did your loved ones give a tremendous Sacrifice by volunteering to be part of this donor program we know that you did as well well I know that this last year couldn't have been easy for everyone so thank you thank you for your patience um as your loved ones spent the last year with us with our students with these future Physicians um teaching them about the foundations of medicine I know when you're thinking about foundations of medicine you're thinking academic you know sciences and that's part of it true um but it's also about the other aspects about the human it that underlies medicine um if you think about it up until last year these students mostly did all their learning from books and videos probably Tik toks maybe from a professor um but last year they got a new teacher and it was different when they met your donors they met a person someone that lived a long life someone that had a full life of experiences someone that has family and friends waiting on them to come home and I think our students understood that that these loved ones their donors are under their care for the next year until they can come home and I think our students understand that that is what medicine is all about it's about the loving and protecting and taking care care of others especially when they can't take care of themselves and it was your loved ones from day one that bestowed this understanding to our students an understanding that they will carry throughout their entire careers so we are very grateful for your loved ones and we're very grateful for you for making that last year possible and for that please enjoy this memorial service a time of reflection and also a time of thank you um for allowing this to happen and so we will have our students give and express their appreciation for this gift thank [Music] you hi everybody my name is August Kim and I am the President of the second year class I'd like to thank Dr split gber for his warm words and also for his guidance as our professor this past year on this day and in this place we are here to remember and celebrate everyone who gave us the greatest gift as we set out on this path to become Physicians the study of the human body has spanned Millennia the field of anatomy being the very start of when humankind began to think and imagine in the realm of science but what medicine has begun to realize in modern times is that science alone is not enough to build medicine as a craft as so many of our instructors have told us this year medicine is an art it's an acknowledgement that a human being is so much more than the science that can be broken down to its very cells it is every piece of what makes a human being a person what makes up their life what do they love to do what have they seen and sought out what do they hope for who do they love asking these questions in past tense is hard but learning alongside our donor gave us this gift of realization we became reflective as we learned what the human body is like to the very core these lessons in anatomy didn't just teach us the academics of our courses but made us so aware that there is more to this than the science of it all who was this person how did they move through this life what did they hope for who did they love medicine is a field that is in constant forward momentum but this process must remain humble and human with pauses to see where we are and how far we've come this past week has been days filled with seminars and lectures about the start of our second year a launch week of sorts into the hospital as we begin our clinical responsibilities for the very first time but it is entirely fitting and so so right that one of the final things that we do before entering this whole new world is to take a moment to remember our very first patience none of us will ever forget the growth and learning we experience with each of our donors an Indescribable gift that we will all carry with us for the rest of our lives but the greatest lesson that I hope we all remember is that every patient we meet in our careers is more than just a question to answer or a problem to solve each person is a human being with hopes and loves and loved ones who have walked this Earth with them we honor medicine and we honor our best as future Physicians by remembering the wholeness of everyone we care for to all the families and loved ones in attendance I know I speak for my entire class when I say thank you thank you for being a part of this journey and allowing us to become better versions of ourselves and thank you for being the reasons why our very first patients were as human and whole as we know them to be and to our donors we share the deepest gratitude not only for everything we were able to learn alongside you but for everything we were able to learn about ourselves and the doctors we hope to become one day may you all rest in peace [Music] good afternoon my name is Casey Skinner like August I am a second year of Vanderbilt Medical student and it's such an honor to be able to speak with you all today as we celebrate the lives of the unique fiercely loved human beings who donated their bodies to Vanderbilt Anatomy program this year it's a really powerful and sacred thing for all of us to be in this space together today all of us who are connected to these donors in so many ways and so I hope that we can just take a moment to appreciate all of these people and all of these connections here today I like to think that our donors who are the kind of people who gave of their very bodies for the sake of knowledge and Humanity would be really proud to see this scene in this packed house today I want to share with you a line that kept popping into my head as our year wound down last year and I began to reflect on the gravity and the sacredness of the experience of first year anatomy lab E Cummings wrote a really beautiful poem that begins I carry your heart with me I carry it in my heart that poem is a great love poem in a Trad traditional sense but it also encapsulates what it means to encounter someone who leaves us for ever changed dear friends and families of the donors here with us today you all know what it is to carry them in your hearts but we as a class want you to know that we carry a little bit of their hearts in ours too we didn't get to know them in life like you did never got to sit down with them and hear their stories or feel the warmth of their smiles but we did get to spend countless hours with them allowed into the innermost secrets of their bodies they bore witness to our learning and to our growth in the earliest days of our nent careers as we started to wrestle with the questions of how life and death will show up in our practice they showed us about the miraculous Persistence of human life even in the face of illness and anatomic variation they were with apologies to our wonderful Anatomy faculty our most Irreplaceable and valuable teachers of the past year and because of that when we set our first broken wrist in the ER this year it will be our donor's hands which once wiped grandchildren's tears and squeezed the hands of loved ones that we will picture it will be their eyes which witness lives and stories that we as students can only guess at that we think of when we learn to fix a patient nearsightedness and of course it will be their hearts which knew both the profound joy and the profound grief of a long life that we picture as we learn to care for the hearts of others in the operating rooms and on the wards in this way we as a class will carry the legacies of these donors in our hearts throughout our careers where they will be joined by memories and interactions with so many other patients who will change our hearts for the better if we let them and we will honor the Priceless gift that our donors gave us and the humanity that they taught us with every patient we treat every life that we heal and so as our class finishes this week and prepares to go forth into the wards and Clinics it is as August said with a sense of utmost gratitude for our anatomy faculty who taught us that deep respect and joyful learning can coexist in the lab for you all the loved ones of the donors who who loved them and shaped them into the kind of people who would freely give this most precious gift of the learning for others you all played a huge part in why we're here today and most of all we have the utmost gratitude for our donors our very first patients the very first people to truly change us on this journey into medicine and so to them we say goodbye rest well and thank you for allowing us to carry your hearts in ours good afternoon my name is Ian Cullen and I am the staff chaplain at Vanderbilt Medical Center for paliative care today along with my colleague the Reverend Sher Perry who was staff chaplain for the medical ICU and bement uh committee co-chair we have the honor of saying your loved ones names today they're divided up into four groups and as you hear it I invite you to hear their laugh and their Hobbies their hopes their fears and all those things things that our students were able to carry with them in their own Hearts this past year that you have carried for a lifetime today I thank you for the gift of knowing their names and imagining their stories May the gift of their life and all they have taught you and our students bless you with courage and healing Mary C Levi Sandra Gail Buckner Chrissy T Leonard Sally rhs honor Heber C Rogers Joseph Gregory fenby Fay C Smith Samuel Wilson hurt HED Leona Watson Edith Bowen Beerman John Morgan Kemp Walter Eugene Lewis Myra Jane Curry Mitchell a haes Hayes Michael R Stanley Katherine L AES Joanne Denman Acres Gary CRA Darnell Patricia an Newton Stella Francis stuttered Kathleen volz Barbara J Jones an Hazelhurst Gard David Bruce andrieski hersel Sanders cathine Ethel Skidmore drusella Jane Harrison Mary Jane Pennington Helen bodford Walter cim Foster Arthur James Neil Gilbert Wells Tibor Maran Estelle Bess Gary Brian Leverett Jane M Wilson Dan M Church Lawrence James KNE Don w shley Allan Eugene Emerson Joyce y Von Alman Benjamin cave Bearden Katherine B Laughlin William Tudor attic Merl Klinger Mary Bird Douglas King Michael Stewart priest Charles B Wright Charles R Scott Lynette Carrie Smith mcra uh McRee and Julie Lynn Parish fast you sh all [Music] here [Music] [Applause] it is with great honor I continue a recognition of our donors Diane Gwen Ben Phillips Michael F stiltz Sandra J schit Brenda Waton Thomas Ed McGee Paulie bobber bason Carol herlock Chamberlain Larry doson lever Sue C Haley Nolan G Kelly Ruth C mccab marjerie wavine sarsfield James David Swope Francis donatelli Ann Hazelhurst Gerard Dr Blanch Eloise Glimpse Robert W Gillespie James Robert Waton David Arthur kirley Ali B Thompson Charles Ward Henderson Edward H Schneider Marsha CS Corley an O Carr George Michael Neer Houser Joseph Edward woodell Geneva Janice age Dr Robert yunbok o Julia Weber gildenmeister William Earl Davis Sandra L Sullivan George F Harts Elizabeth an Taylor Douglas Wayne Huff Carolyn C Sanders David Charles Ray Virginia an Steen Robert W Fritz Jean C Leo Carolyn Genevie Payne Catherine Elizabeth Babcock Robert E Bruner Margaret Louise Godfrey Margie Leanne Griggs Dennis Downey day Daniel Allen Tinsley Dudley Fowler Mae Francis pet kirstead Martha Jean Irvin Suzanne dunovant ripski hi everyone my name is Lily Campbell Lewis and today I'm going to be performing an original song it's called all good things must end [Music] it's been a while since I've seen you my friend I've done an awful lot of growing up since then I walked into your house a wide eyed kid till you showed me what it means to live in your eyes I see every friendly face who's given me a smile and a little bit of Grace I thank God I figured out how not to waste a minute of my time with you I heard it said all good things must end so I'd like to take a moment to say thanks for being a friend oh I love love you now just as I Loved You Then but we both know this was good thing and all good things must end you took my hand leted me down up path you knew it wasn't easy you knew it wasn't fast and yet you gave me patience far enough to last through every mistake I had made in the past every early morning every burning question every hour I spend trying to learn your l lessons at first it wasn't clear to me but looking back I finally see the forest for the trees I heard it said all good things must stand so I'd like like to take a moment to say thanks for being a friend oh I love you now just as I Loved You Then we both know this was a good thing and all good things must end I I don't want to say goodbye wish I could turn back time just to know that I forget one minute more just to be sure I can survive but I'll try oh I'll try cuz I heard it said all good things must end so I'd like to take a moment to say thanks for being a friend oh I love love you now just as I Loved You Then we both know this was good thing and all good things must end [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we'll continue recognizing your loved ones Rebecca Louise Walker Thomas Michael H Rose Ethel Vandergriff Harvey Karen hanky weeks Peggy Bailey cartright Dorothy Marie Rah Gwyneth P huie Joseph Eugene Paul Charles Luther Bryson Lynette Gail Schultz wise John McNary Baker Glenna Marie Neiman Carpenter Shirley shman hope Cheryl coven Charles Dwight light Ellen Henderson cely Dorothy a muli grapple Lou rushing Mary Sue Todd eulen Johnson Betty June Warren Anthony Roma fiser Michael Edward Cohen Edgar C Holz Lemuel Morris Tipton Reed Deborah K Strauss William R dhy Barbara an Harold rondal Key Andrews Bobby Wayne cobal Linda Jean Lucas James Don Stanton Jerry Clyde Whitney Stephanie an Seagraves Jesse van venberg Norma Jean kofer Witherspoon Kenneth D Cox John White cook James Paul Russo Betty Walker Newman Mary an pangle William Alvin Greer Robert Edmund Parker Velma Lee Russ Thomas Pagano Linda Sue Ry dearis Nelson Davenport Janette Lois Brock Victor R Kaine Mildred H Murphy for hi name [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] l [Music] [Applause] we continue honoring your loved ones through the reading of their names Donald M DT Jenny Lou hor B Perry Levi Castile Helen R Clark Robert Everett Suter George F gray James Robert mccastland David Jonathan lenworth Ronald Wayne Sherer Lillian Agnes delinger Gardner Margaret prendiville Bowers woodro W Richardson penelopee e Spears Betty H Shephard Harry Lester hogden Martha C Robertson Robert Eddie Ross David Miles Farley Carol John cuser Tammy Lee Cole Patricia an Parnell Martin Helen Phillips Lance Karen Lee Sims Linda Fay ha Alfred pilot David Larry Atkins Melissa Robin Lacy Marilyn hul Evans Blas Anthony Ortiz Diaz David Ray Bryson George Richard berdick Janice RW Robert Gwyn Nolan Betty sers Parish Connie Renee carpel Frank Branco boic Robert Bond Miller Patty an wood sh Jan Mary Elena gracer Payton Johnny L Randall K Kurig Gunther Marshall Edward Durham Charles Andrew Nelson Charles Eugene Cunningham Bern Gail Walt Ruth an odm Dr Robert L heminger Jamie Davis Lloyd hello everyone my name is Emma frit I am also a second year medical student at Vanderbilt and today I'm going to be reading a poem called an everlasting gift by a medical student named Ben Rosenstein it really spoke to me about my experience this past year in the anatomy lab and I'd like to use it to thank all of the donors I never truly got to thank and their families and friends here today I wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and no longer do I see only myself rather you you are there too by my side now a reflection of what's inside this hand you see it's no longer just a part of me but also a part of you every day I look at it and I see my fingers but yours yours are the muscles the tendons the nerves when I stare in the mirror I can only imagine my heart but I see yours the gift you gave me at the start is a memory a memory of you a teaching given to so few it's strange how we met you and I for in order for us to meet you had to die but in your death you gave so much not only to me but so many others you'll touch you taught me first this is true but it is within me now that I carry you and through your memory I shall take you so far toward ws and rooms and patience many I shall teach them of their hearts their bones their muscles tendons and nerves but as I do I will see you as it is your heart your bones your nerves that I'll remember as I teach and we see patience together and one day will teach so many patients I will teach other young doctors students like me I will teach what I remember I remember you your heart your gift and they they will teach others and they will teach patients and our patients will teach their families and our students one day will teach other students and so you see in dear families here I say this this I say so sincere your one gift will help countless others your gift is well beyond me your gift is to the entire community that is my entrusted reward my privilege to carry you on that is my responsibility know this dear you ever shall I remember that January to December you shall remain ever in my memory in the mirror you shall remain beside me so now and forever and for generations to be you shall always be within others and me living [Applause] [Music] [Applause] as part of our benediction today I will share with you some words that I find to be very meaningful from Anthropologist and poet Margaret Meade it's called remember me to The Living I am gone to the sorrowful I will never return to the angry I was cheated but to the happy I am at peace and to the faithful I have never left I cannot be seen but I can be heard so as you stand Upon A Shore gazing at a beautiful sea remember me as you look in awe at a mighty forest and its Grand and Majesty remember me as you look upon a flower and admire its Simplicity remember me remember me in your heart your thoughts your memories of the times we loved the times we cried the times we fought the times we laughed for if you always think of me I will never be gone dear students future Physicians families beloved your loved ones gave themselves that they might bring knowledge and wisdom to our next generation of Physicians to our students so that they may carry that gift on through life and healing to the many who will come under their care in the days ahead through our speaking the names today and each moment forward of those most dear to us may we honor them through their memory that will forever be a part of us may we honor them through their act of giving of themselves their gift a blessing to others in innumerable ways may we honor them today through our expressions of gratitude beyond the confines of words we honor them as you hold a flower in your hand today may you also hold in your heart all the thoughts all the feelings that endear them to you for when you do as Margaret me says in her poem they will never be gone these words mean make it so amen this concludes our service today at this time we want to thank you deeply for coming all of you we first invite our families who are able to come forward and take a flower from the basket as you have seen us do and place in The Reef we want you to be mindful that there are stairs here if you need some assistance we are here to help you get that flower in that wreath so don't let that keep you from coming up after you've placed the flower you're free to go Kevin will call you by row to come forward for our students now if there are remaining flowers after the families have gone through you're invited to also place a flower in the memorial wreath then later this afternoon the wreath will be placed at the vanderbelt university community garden located within woodlon Cemetery where donor Asher ashes were interned earlier this week again we thank you for being here with us today [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] h a [Music] [Music] h oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music]