As life is unpredictable, no one knows how long he or she will live. But, though we cannot decide the length of our life, we can make meaning and value out of our live.

Donating one’s body is one way to do this. Everyone can do this, as long as they have the heart to help others.

We should utilize our body to do good deeds and help others while healthy and alive; when we pass away, we can likewise do good by donating our body for medical education.

We call these body donors the silent mentors, because they willingly donate their body for surgical dissection and teach medical students about the human body.

Students get firsthand lesson from experienced doctors by observing the procedures and listening to the doctors’ explanations. By doing this, the students are able to acquire a lot of valuable knowledge about these illnesses before they encounter them in real medical practice.

Besides, simulation surgery provides an opportunity for medical students to get actual experience in surgical procedures as they operate on the bodies.  This enables them to accumulate surgical experience before they graduate and begin performing operations on real patients.

If we truly understand what good can be done with our body, we can use it to do many things for our fellow human beings.

When we are healthy, we can use our body to help people in suffering. When we pass away, we can still benefit others by donating our body.

By donating our body, we can help educate future doctors by enabling them to learn more about the human anatomy or specific illnesses.

For the body donors, it was not easy to make the decision to donate their body. They must be able to see past traditional beliefs, need to have the spirit of great love and the aspiration to help nurture good doctors. They must truly understand the meaning and purpose behind the body donation and have no fear or regret.

They truly possess wisdom and know how to create blessings for our society. As for donors’ relatives, they are truly admirable for helping to fulfil the last wish of their loved ones and allowing his or her body to be operated, despite their own pain and grief.

The contribution of these body donors – silent mentors – is truly a tremendous one. They add to medical knowledge as well as help nurture doctors with humanity. These body donors show us what wisdom is and have given their own lives everlasting meaning and value.