Geographical Impact of Human Gift Registries in West Virginia: A Model for Centralized Resources in Human Anatomy Education

Abstract

The West Virginia State Anatomical Board oversees three Human Gift Registries (HGRs), which allocate human whole body donations to support the educational, outreach, and research missions of our universities.  These HGRs primarily function to meet the demand for anatomy education at the institutions that house them.  Two of these HGRs, however, demonstrate a unique centralized model, in which approximately half of the donors are reallocated to other institutions to support their missions, and thus, have an impact far greater than in West Virginia (WV) alone.  In this perspective, the number of donations received at WV HGRs over the past seven years are reported by institution, as well as the geographical distribution of our donors over the past five years.  We also discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on human anatomy education.  This model of centralized HGRs in WV may be of interest to other State Anatomical Boards, as well as the families of past and prospective donors in WV.  The state of WV remains committed to dissection-based human anatomy education, and we are forever grateful to our donors who make this experience possible.