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Organ Donors


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I don't think it has anything to do with med school admissions (there's no box on the application form where you can check off whether or not you're an organ donor), but yes I do want to donate my organs if they are usable when I die. I won't need them anymore, so someone else might as well get them.

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It's funny; your question implies that you'd consider donating your organs if it helped your medschool application more.

 

Don't know if that's what you meant consciously--just saying what I hear.

No. The fact of an Organ donor card has no influence.

 

You're right, it does. But that's not what I meant. I've been an organ donor since Gr 11 (before I strongly considered med as an option). My premed friends and I were wondering if making organ donation a requirement (or even a recommendation) for med school admissions would alter the number of applicants who apply. I know some premeds who are absolutely against the idea of organ donation since they feel their organs define themselves. I wonder if they would sacrifice their personal values if it meant getting into med.

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You're right, it does. But that's not what I meant. I've been an organ donor since Gr 11 (before I strongly considered med as an option). My premed friends and I were wondering if making organ donation a requirement (or even a recommendation) for med school admissions would alter the number of applicants who apply. I know some premeds who are absolutely against the idea of organ donation since they feel their organs define themselves. I wonder if they would sacrifice their personal values if it meant getting into med.

 

Wouldn't that cause problems with some religions too perhaps? I really don't know, just asking.

 

I hope once I die my organs can help someone else too.

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You're right, it does. But that's not what I meant. I've been an organ donor since Gr 11 (before I strongly considered med as an option). My premed friends and I were wondering if making organ donation a requirement (or even a recommendation) for med school admissions would alter the number of applicants who apply. I know some premeds who are absolutely against the idea of organ donation since they feel their organs define themselves. I wonder if they would sacrifice their personal values if it meant getting into med.

 

Heheh, I knew that wasn't what you meant.

 

You raise a neat hypothetical question. Needless to say, altering the admissions requirements in any way would affect the number of applicants who apply. But organ donation? Hmm, I wonder.

 

There's literature about how cultural beliefs affect attitudes towards organ donation. Japan first comes to mind: http://jme.bmj.com/content/25/4/322.abstract. The cultural and deeply personal variables involved with organ donation would make this a really odd way to affect admissions. Also: ethics, cultural sensitivity, "autonomy", etc etc.

I fear for the premeds who'd give their left kidney for a spot in medschool. hehehheheh.

 

Despite cultural influences, I find it kinda odd that some people say they're against the idea of organ donation simply because they believe their organs "define themselves". You could say that about anything. Maybe my moustache defines me--that's why I'll never cut it off.

Also, my jean cut-offs define me, that's why I'm a nevernude.

 

Also, the liver regenerates after transplantation with the help of the new host. So, is this transformed liver, with newly regenerated tissue, still a "defining" part of the original donor?

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Would I donate my organs after I die? Yes.

Would I donate a kidney/liver to a family member? Yes.

Would I donate a kidney/liver to a stranger? No.

 

I think that making organ donation a requirement for medical school is odd. What if you HAD already donated an organ? How would that make you a better doctor?

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Would I donate my organs after I die? Yes.

Would I donate a kidney/liver to a family member? Yes.

Would I donate a kidney/liver to a stranger? No.

 

I think that making organ donation a requirement for medical school is odd. What if you HAD already donated an organ? How would that make you a better doctor?

 

Lol! Like Wilson in House who donates some of his marrow to one of his patient.

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I completed my registration at Trillium Gift of Life today. I tried when the website originally opened (and I've had a donor card in my wallet since I was sixteen and got my first driving licence), but it crashed then and I decided to deal with it "later." This was a good reminder.

 

Parties interested in organ donation may also consider OneMatch, the stem cell and bone marrow network. They just send you a kit and you give yourself a cheek swab.

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Lol! Like Wilson in House who donates some of his marrow to one of his patient.

 

There are more than 5 patients I can think of off the top of my head I'd gladly donate liver to or marrow if it meant they would live. And I just started Med 4. Man; I'm going to end up donating something before I retire, I think.

 

Not my kidney though. That's for family.

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