Correction: Exchange-Body of Work story
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — In a Jan. 14 member exchange from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal about the retirement of the head of the willed body program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, The Associated Press misspelled the name of the reporter.
Claude Lobstein retiring after developing and running the willed body program at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
The funeral home where he worked also operated an ambulance service.
Lobstein's boss often let him drive the ambulance to his school's football games and to local drag races.
The uneasy feeling of dealing with deceased bodies never really goes away but he grew accustomed to it.
The costs associated with his car and a sick mother further motivated him to push past his discomfort and he grew to like it.
[...] the facility was short on one of the more important tools of a medical education — cadavers.
Experiencing the different looks, smells and feels of the internal body are crucial for a medical education, Lobstein said while walking through the gross anatomy lab in the basement of the TTUHSC building Friday.
Light blue tiles line the walls of a classroom full of tanks where students can place bodies for closer inspection.
A cadaver visually enhanced for teaching purposes was laid on a table in the corner of a group of tanks.
A refrigerated area toward the back of the lab housed more bodies prepared for more learning.
The medical students host a memorial ceremony each year on Memorial Day honoring those who gave their lives to science.
Lobstein travelled back and forth and developed relationships with regional funeral homes to gather cadavers and support for the medical program.
According to Dr. Steven Berk, dean of the TTUHSC School of Medicine, it paid off.
The bodies that come through the HSC typically stay around two to three years before they're cremated and sent back to loved ones, if they wish.
"Directing this program is a difficult job and all schools of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center are grateful for Mr. Lobstein's service," said Berk.
In his spare time, he'll continue to offer services to some of the local funeral homes on an "as needed" basis.