Ohio University Dublin campus honors body donors who train future physicians

Jen Poklar stood before a room of medical students and families at the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine's Dublin campus and repeated the words students hear before they enter the anatomy lab: "Before you go into this room, remember these are people. They're somebody's loved one. They're somebody's child. They're somebody's father." That, she said, just made the decision.

Poklar's mother is one of the body donors the college honored at its Body Donor Memorial Service on Friday, Sept. 18 — neighbors who signed papers to hand their bodies to the Dublin campus so future physicians could learn real human anatomy. The donors are not named individually; they are honored collectively through student tributes and the words of family members, many of whom asked that a loved one's name be spoken aloud as an act of remembrance.

The Heritage College trains future physicians on three campuses — Athens, Dublin, and Cleveland — and students from all three took part in the Dublin service. Danielle Wills, a second-year medical student at the college's Cleveland campus, opened the service with a direct address to the donors: "Thank you to the individuals who chose, with profound generosity, to become our first teachers in medicine."

One last act of service

Families who have made this choice describe the donors the same way: average people just like us, making one last act of service. A donor's relative put it plainly: "It's just tremendous to know that this is going on and that there are ways for people, average people just like us to help."

Mahaut Vernon, a second-year medical student at the college's Athens campus, remembered a donor's sister who understood and was proud of her brother's choice: "I will always remember a donor's sister telling me that not only did she understand her brother's decision, but she was proud to see that even past his final moments, her brother kept on being the generous man he always was."

What the gift becomes

The Body Donor Program allows people to donate their bodies after death to further medical education and research. On the Dublin campus, donated bodies are used in the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Anatomy Laboratory, where Heritage College students learn human anatomy. The lab is equipped with high-magnification cameras and large-screen displays so faculty can zoom in on structures and broadcast images throughout the room. The curriculum includes a Clinical Anatomy Immersion course that integrates anatomy instruction with osteopathic manipulative medicine.

Allison Sawmiller, a first-year physician assistant student on the Dublin campus, said of the donors: "They have shown us that even in death, one can teach a masterclass in love and service." She framed the reach of the gift: "They haven't just helped a few students pass an exam; they have started a wave of healing that will reach tens of millions of people across the globe."

A donor relative described what the donors chose: "They chose to let that body become a vessel of learning, so that future physicians could one day care for others with skill, humility and compassion."

A campus rooted in Dublin

The Dublin campus opened in July 2014 with a first class of 50 students, and the college marked the campus's 10th anniversary in 2024. It hosts the Heritage College's Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program, alongside programs from the College of Health Sciences and Professions, the College of Business, and the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service.

The memorial service is a recurring tradition; the college held a Body Donor Memorial Service in September 2025 as well.

For a Dublin-area neighbor moved by the service, the door is open: the Body Donor Program takes inquiries at 740-593-2171, where staff can send donation forms and confirm current requirements. Lynn Waugh directs the program and can be reached at [email protected]. The physicians who will one day care for your family are learning on the bodies of neighbors who made this same quiet choice.