Einstein first-year med students honor people who donated their bodies

Einstein College of Medicine recently held its unique 2023 Convocation of Thanks ceremony.

The special event is planned and attended by first-year medical students to thank the people who donated their bodies for anatomy studies at Einstein. This year’s event was held in early January on the Einstein campus in the Bronx and attended by about 150 students and faculty members. The anatomy course is an intense semester-long course of lectures and labs.

The event honoring these “first patients” of medical students featured musical performances, speeches expressing appreciation and gratitude, and a candle-lighting ceremony at which the following remarks were made:

Aashna Pandya (left) and Tiffany Liu show their paintings for the class gift for the anatomy faculty. Photo courtesy Elaine Iandoli

“In lighting these 19 candles, we are honoring the gift of knowledge and understanding that these individuals have bestowed upon us through the donation of their bodies. These individuals, all of whom had their own unique hopes, fears, and stories, have served as the most important educators in the pursuit of our medical education. We, the Class of 2026, will be forever appreciative to these individuals for allowing us the opportunity to explore and understand the intricacies of the human body. We hope to use the principles taught to us by these individuals to better the lives of many more in our careers as physicians.”

Dr. Mark Erlich, one of the anatomy instructors, performs “Europa, Samba Pa Ti” on guitar. Photo courtesy Elaine Iandoli

Two first-year students, Tiffany Liu and Aashna Pandya, presented the anatomy faculty with four paintings depicting the heart. These paintings will be permanently displayed in a campus building.

This was updated on Feb. 6 at 6:51 p.m.

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