Two services were scheduled today to honor a record 96 donors who willed their bodies this year to the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine.

The annual ceremony was split into two because the Kakaako school's auditorium has 150 seats and 250 family members and friends were expected to attend the event.

Medical students regard those who donate their bodies for their education as “;silent teachers.”;

Steven Labrash, director of the Willed Body Program, said one of its “;future mentors”; who asked for donation paperwork said he had successful surgery because of his physician's skill.

“;This is a simple statement,”; Labrash said, “;but think about how the physician or surgeon in this case became so skilled.”;

Doctors learn early in their education “;by careful study of the human body,”; he said. “;Even with all the advances in technology that we have today, there is not a book, film or model that can substitute for the human body itself in understanding the anatomy.”;

Last year, the school honored 78 donors. The Willed Body Program does no advertising but is growing every year by word of mouth, Labrash said. The services were scheduled at 9:45 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Some families take the remains of their loved ones home for private services after the ceremony. The ashes of others will be scattered in the ocean off the Waikiki side of Magic Island at 1:30 p.m. by medical students in canoes provided by the Waikiki Yacht Club.