Body donation as an accepted public concept is relatively new. In 1967, the federal Uniform Anatomic Gift Act was passed and since that time, has been ratified by all 50 states. This Act governs the practice, expectations and penalties associated with organ transplantation and whole body donation. In 1976, the Oregon Donor Program (now known as Donate Life Northwest) was established as the parent organization to oversee tissue, organ and whole body donation in the state of Oregon. The OHSU Body Donation Program is a founding member of this parent organization.

Every year, between 150 to 200 altruistic citizens of Oregon and southwest Washington donate their bodies to the OHSU Body Donation Program. In compliance with federal and state law, the donors and their families do not receive monetary compensation for their gift. The average donor profile is 72 years of age and includes roughly equal numbers of women and men.

The users of our cadavers include 49 statewide programs, 12 reside at OHSU, and the remainder includes mostly state and private universities. Less than 2% of the cadaveric materials from our program are utilized for research; the vast majority are assigned for educational purposes. Many more students of anatomy enjoy the privilege of human dissection than in the past. Medical students clearly are among these, but dental students, physician assistant students, respiratory technologists, physical therapists and pre-med students also utilize cadaveric material in their studies.

Once entered into our program, bodies are embalmed, stored, distributed, tracked, and retrieved if assigned to a non-OHSU program. Studies are completed within one to three years. After that time, the process of cremation and return of the cremains (cremated remains) to the donor family is undertaken.