Educational Afterlife: Learning Long After Death at Missoula College

Millions of fans are fascinated with TV shows like Bones, Forensic Files, the CSI franchise and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

Skeletons in the University of Montana closet? Hardly. But UM News Service tells us that a profound gift that keeps on giving can be found in the University of Montana’s state-of-the-art Cadaver Lab, located on the fourth floor of Missoula College.

There is just something about the experience of working with these bodies that a textbook can’t offer.

Meet No. 817. A bit of an impersonal moniker, but why name someone who once already had a name many years ago? Society tends to protect the identity of cadavers, so not much is known about No. 817. The Cadaver Lab does know that the 72-year-old woman was from Montana and that her final cause of death was cancer. As they do on the aforementioned TV shows, one can infer she was a giving person, as she and her caregivers elected to donate her earthly remains to the education of others after she passed.

The cadaver came to Missoula College via the Montana Body Donation Program. As one of three bodies in the lab, 817 teaches hundreds of anatomy and physiology students in Missoula College each semester. She also is used to educate students in athletic training, pre-med and other majors from the central UM campus, as well as area high school students. Additionally, fire departments and other emergency medical responders train with the cadavers.

Lucas Whitcher, the human biology assistant professor who directs the lab, says, “It’s like an offering – that these people have gifted themselves for this purpose. I think they would love to know they are training young minds and the minds of so many others in our community.”

In two years, the three bodies could be seen by maybe 1,000 individuals. The Cadaver Lab has partnerships with nearly every local high school, and they provide amazing educational opportunities for everyone involved.

In her new afterlife, 817 also stars in an original series called the Legacy Project. Professor Whitcher says the project creates anatomical and procedural videos for students using the cadavers in their studies, ensuring the legacy of each gifted body will remain for future students.

You can learn more about the Missoula College Cadaver Lab and other amazing programs the school offers here.