Medical students pay tribute to body donors at NYIT

OLD WESTBURY, Long Island (WABC) -- There was a somber ceremony Monday afternoon on Long Island, to honor dozens of men and women whose legacy will live on through science.

Students at New York Institute of Technology's Osteopathic Medicine Department dedicated a flowering maple tree and left flowers at the base of the tree on the campus of Old Westbury.

This year, first-year students will study the human body in person, thanks to 38 people who donated their bodies.

NYIT said that, "the education of physicians is dependent on whole body donation, which provides the generous gift of knowledge, enabling students to learn the structure and relationships of the human body, more so than any review of a textbook or computer simulation."

The school says that the ceremony is student-led and held out of respect for the families and those who chose to generously make this donation.