A student-led campaign to increase awareness of the Human Anatomy program at the University of Guelph and to kick-start a fundraising campaign will begin on Johnston Green on Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.
Students, staff and faculty will form the outline of a human body on Johnston Green and place donations on its “heart.” An aerial photo will be taken of the group.
Earlier, students created fun videos for social media promoting the strengths and importance of the program.
The students include undergraduates and graduate students from the College of Biological Science and the biomedical science and human kinetics programs. They are promoting the Giving for Life campaign, intended to raise $4 million for new facilities for the program.
“The human anatomy program at Guelph is doing very well, and we’re actually outgrowing our space,” said master’s student Enaam Chleilat, who helped to organize a video for the campaign.
“We need a new building that will give students the space they need to learn about all aspects of the human body. Many students want to support the campaign, because the program has been such a benefit to us.”
Under the program directed by Prof. Lorraine Jadeski, students use donated cadavers to learn “hands-on” about the human body.
“Human anatomy grads become well equipped with the experiences and skills necessary to effectively go on to careers in medicine, physiotherapy, nursing and dentistry, to name just a few,” said fourth-year student Panteha Tavassol, who also appears in the video.
“I’m planning to go into medical school after my studies here, and this program has been a big benefit to me in terms of experiential learning.”
The proposed building includes an essential embalming and pro-section lab, a plastination lab, a museum and classroom, and a meeting room for donor families.
“The new human anatomy facility will help us fulfill the wishes of our body donors,” said Tavassol.
“We’ll be able to respectfully prepare the donors on our campus, which will significantly speed up the process because we won’t be relying on outside sources. Also, it will help ensure the human anatomy program is self-sufficient for future generations of students to benefit from.”
Premila Sathasivam, program manager, said the benefits of human anatomy studies are wide-ranging.
“Students who take the U of G program become knowledgeable graduates. These are the people who become your scientists, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, firefighters, paramedics and dentists,” she said.
Students hope to raise the profile of the campaign not just among local businesses and the community but also within the University of Guelph.
“Spreading the message and fundraising for the Giving for Life campaign has become a priority of mine, to ensure that the students know about this amazing program and campaign,” said Tavassol.
“I hope these challenges will raise awareness of the campaign among students and that the true potential of the program and our urgent needs becomes better known in the community.”
