If you’ve ever been in a doctor’s office, received medical care, or had surgery, you’ve benefited from total-body donation after death.In a process called"whole body donation," after death, your body could benefit medical research and training instead of sitting in a cemetery.
When you face the death of a loved one, you're facing more than grief. You can suffer a financial hit: Funerals are expensive.of a funeral with burial was $7,360. Think you'll save money with cremation? Not a lot. Choosing cremation drops the cost to $6,250, on average.
The research and education that come from whole body donation benefits everyone, says Katrina Hernandez, vice president of donor services at Science Care, a company that pairs donors with researchers and educators. Medical schools use donated bodies to train students, and experienced surgeons train with donated bodies to learn how to place new medical devices.
"It's required for medical science to advance," she says."It's the only way to test in a way that doesn't put living people in harm's way." Certain contagious diseases most commonly disqualify people. Severe trauma and obesity may also rule out donation, Bell says.