Medical education requires a partnership to come to fruition. Someone has to be willing to learn, someone has to be willing to teach and someone has to be willing to be learned on. Every component of this three-legged stool is required for the continuity of healthcare delivery globally.

If you’ve ever had surgery, a physical examination, an x-ray or countless other medical procedures, you owe a debt of gratitude to somebody who, as their final service to humanity, allowed medical students to learn from the single most common feature of the human experience: our physical anatomy.

On Oct. 28, it seemed fitting that the beauty of nature was on full display as representatives from the Oakland William Beaumont School of Medicine (OUWB), Rochester community and Pixley Funeral Homes gathered to show respect and gratitude to the individuals who allowed medical students the opportunity to observe and learn from another of nature’s perfect forms: the human body.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was hosted at Mount Avon Cemetery, located near downtown Rochester, for the new OUWB Mausoleum and Receiving Vault donated in-kind by the city of Rochester with a redesign overseen by Pixley Funeral Homes.

“I’m excited about having the opportunity to be supportive of OUWB, to continue and enhance the relations with the city and utilize a very cool structure that exists in the cemetery for such a great purpose,” Vern Pixley, Dignity Memorial senior managing director, said.

Through the recently launched OUWB Body Donor Program, the medical school will be able to secure its own donors, and the generously donated vault will house the remains of those who donate their bodies to medical education.

“We are grateful to the Pixley family for partnering with us to support our medical student education, research and the university,” OU President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz said. “This heartfelt gift-in-kind will impact our medical students and students studying other professions, such as physical therapy or biological engineering.”

As a part of their education, OUWB medical students get the fundamental experience of learning human anatomy through a body donor, often working with the same one throughout the school year.

“Our students recognize that these donors are their first patients, and treat them with great respect and reverence,” Dr. Duane Mezwa, Stephan Sharf Dean, OUWB, said.

Joseph Solomon, a first-year medical student at OUWB, spoke at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of his appreciation for the donors and his excitement for the new program.

“For me, it was important to represent our class and show appreciation to Rochester and the Pixley family to let them know that we really care about honoring the donors who have given themselves to our education and our future careers as physicians,” Solomon said.

In the past, OUWB partnered with other universities to secure body donors. As a part of the partnership, donors were returned to the organizations, which then handled care of the remains.

Now, that responsibility and privilege belongs to OUWB — and they’re ready to get started.

“The real heavy lifting begins as the [body donor] team develops call scripts and engages with the community to register donors for our program,” Mezwa said.