Options for Donating Your Body
There are two ways your donated body can be brought to the University of Miami School of Medicine:
1) Select a funeral director who will take care of all necessary details.
The funeral director will obtain the vital statistics information, prepare the body and deliver it to us. Forms to assist the funeral director can be mailed to you. See contact instructions below to obtain the forms.
2) We will arrange for delivery of the body to the medical school.
For residents of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, the medical school can be notified at the time of death and we will arrange for the delivery of the body at the expense of the family or the estate. We will do this as a courtesy to alleviate your family from having to make these decisions at a most difficult time.
State regulations require that the cost of preparation and /or transportation to the medical school be borne by the family or estate. The costs should be reasonable. If there is any question about expenses, you might find it advisable to compare the two options described in the preceding paragraph.
Instructions to Persons Interested in Donating Their Bodies
1) The Vital Statistics Form should be completed.
2) Two copies of the Dedication Form should be filled out and signed in the presence of two witnesses who also must sign the form. Since the completed Dedication forms have legal status, a formal will is not required.
3) Please complete the Cremated Remains Form.
4) The Vital Statistics Form, one copy of the Dedication Form and the Cremated Remains Form should be sent to:
Anatomical Board of the State of Florida
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy (R-124)
P.O. Box 016960
Miami, Florida 33101-6960
5) The second copy of the Dedication Form should be retained and placed in your personal files.
6) Copies of the memo addressed to "Those Responsible for Final Arrangements" should be distributed to a relative and/or close friend. In this way, they will know of your wish and will be in a better position to carry it out promptly.
7) If you are using a funeral director, you should make arrangements at this time, as it will save your relatives the necessity of making arrangements after your death. The Funeral director should be informed of your plans to donate your body for medical education and be instructed as to his responsibilities. He should be given the memo titled "Instructions to Funeral Director".
8) The Anatomical Board is not able to remove and store tissues for eye banks, bone banks or other agencies which collect tissues for transplantation to living persons. If you are interested in such procedures, you should discuss the possibilities with your physician. The Board, however, will accept bodies from which only eyes have been removed.
9) If you wish further information about your donation or the completion of these forms, please write or telephone the Miami Branch of the Anatomical Board.
Instructions for Final Arrangements
1) As soon as possible after death, the Anatomical Board should be notified at the following:
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy
Telephone:305-243-6691
2) If a funeral home is to be used, they should be requested to embalm the body by means of 'arterial injection only'.
3) The funeral director should be told to contact the Anatomical Board as soon as practical to arrange delivery to the school, telephone 305-243-6691.
4) The cost of the embalming and transportation to the Medical School will be borne by the family or estate of the deceased.
5) If cremation is not desired, the Anatomical Board should be notified at the time of transportation. After study, the body can be turned over to a funeral home for such burial as the family may specify. Burial by a funeral home will be at the expense of the family.
