The ability of the University to provide more and better trained physicians and other health care professionals depends upon continued public support of the Body Donor Program. In order to educate present and future students, the University must obtain donated bodies to fulfill the needs of medical education. A special law permitting persons to will or deed their bodies for scientific purposes was enacted by the Iowa Legislature in 1953, thereby establishing a means for Iowans to make this ultimate gift. Those who donate their bodies for medical education have the satisfaction of knowing they are making an indispensable contribution to the basic knowledge upon which medical education depends. The donors realize even that in death, they can continue to serve the living.
Body donation is, indeed, the ultimate gift of human concern.
If you decide to contribute your body to science, please be aware of the following information. If the body can be delivered within eight hours of the time of death, the University will proceed with the embalming procedure. However, if the body cannot be delivered within eight hours of death, we request that the funeral home proceed with arterial embalming only. The cost of embalming performed by a funeral home will be the responsibility of the family of the donor. Costs - The Uniform Anatomical Gift Law prohibits medical schools from purchasing human bodies.