The dead teach the living

Spiritual connection: The health sciences faculty paid tribute to cadavers used in the anatomical research by its students.

It is a different and emotional event.

Recently, second-year medical students in UCT's Faculty of Health Sciences recited poems, performed songs and expressed in word their appreciation to those who have donated their bodies for medical teaching and learning.

The annual Cadaver Commemoration Ceremony, said Professor Laurie Kellaway, head of the Department of Human Biology, is an occasion to mark the beginning of the students' anatomical investigation as they start to work with cadavers. It is also a "spiritual time" to pay respect to the cadavers, "your teachers", Kellaway told students.

"We need to remind ourselves that these cadavers were once human beings who had families, who were loved and missed and, therefore, accordingly, they need to be given due respect that we observe today," he said.

The event was attended by families of the deceased, among others.