The University of Hong Kong (HKU) "The Great Body Teacher" body donation programme, which began in 2012 and has been running for 12 years, is a testament to the selflessness of the Hong Kong public. We are deeply grateful for their dedication and generous support. The programme, which started with only about 270 registered donors, now sees over 500 new registrants per year who selflessly volunteer to become Great Body Teachers after passing away. As the HKU Body Donation Programme enters its 13th year, the total number of registered Great Body Teachers has exceeded 10,000. The number of donations received by the faculty has also increased from 13 in 2012 to an average of 80 to 90 per year.
Here in the LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU, we honour the body donors as the Great Body Teachers with the utmost respect. They are the first encounters with a real human body and, moreover, the first "patients" for a medical student in his initial journey of training as a medical/healthcare professional. The Great Body Teachers play an irreplaceable role in medical education because they do not only impart the knowledge of anatomy but, more importantly, the once-in-a-lifetime authentic hands-on experience of the human body and the invaluable knowledge of life that the students will carry forward in their future long career as healthcare professionals.
The Great Body Teachers were once, just like you and me, living persons with family and friends. But they extended their lives and contributions to society beyond the border of life and death and helped our students, scientists, and healthcare professionals obtain all the necessary knowledge about not only the human body but also life.
Principal Lecturer at the School of Biomedical Sciences,
LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU
Dr Jian Yang