Anatomical Bequest Program

What We Do 

The Anatomical Bequest Program (ABP) is a team of professionals who oversee whole body donations for The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. UTHSC provides exceptional education for students participating in medical, dental, physical therapy, and other graduate health science programs. Those who choose to donate their bodies to UTHSC after death make a significant and lasting impression on the healthcare system in Tennessee through their involvement in training the medical professionals of the future. Additionally, donors to our program are studied by our highly trained and educated staff in their endeavors to perform research that indefinitely improves public health world-wide. We invite all to consider making such an impact.

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Become a Donor

Pre-registration is required. Individuals who pass away prior to registration will not be accepted into our program. To become a donor, an individual over the age of 18 should fill out our Anatomical Gift by Living Donor Forms. When filling out the forms, please be sure to sign and date exactly as the forms instruct. Once the forms are filled out in their entirety, and signed by the candidate and two witnesses, mail the forms to UTHSC. After receiving your registration forms, we will then send return correspondence to the candidate confirming registration completion, as well as two donor cards containing our contact numbers and instructions for what needs to happen when the donor passes away.

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Who Qualifies

While we make every effort to accept as many pre-registered donors into our program as possible, final determination of qualification cannot be done prior to death. The most common reasons for us to decline a donor at the time of death are obesity, edema, contagious disease/infection, and delay in notifying our program when a death occurs. The ABP reserves the right to refuse any body which will not serve our intended educational purposes. For that reason, we encourage all of our registered donors to have a backup plan. Specific descriptions of these issues are available on our FAQ page.

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Cost of Donating 

A great benefit of donating to UTHSC is that the University covers all costs involved in preparing and shipping decedents who pass away in the state of Tennessee to our Memphis campus. Donors who pass away outside of the state lines will be responsible for paying transportation expenses. If an individual passes away more than an hour from the Tennessee border, they will likely be declined.

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