EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – Many don’t know this, but UTEP has a cadaver lab on campus.
If you didn’t know that, then you almost certainly didn’t know you can donate your body to UTEP for research after you die.
While some students may find it spooky, other students benefit from the opportunity to do research and get hands-on experience in their career choice.
“You know there is something about working with the cadavers that you can’t really get out of a textbook,” said Branko Miljkovic a UTEP Physical Therapy Student.
Students tell KTSM, you may not have to wait until the afterlife to help with their research.
“It’s important that people believe that not only they can donate their body for science, we do research here in this lab with living people. We’re not waiting until you die so you can participate in science,” said Dr. Alvaro Gurovich the Director of Physical Therapy Program at UTEP.
Students are not only conducting research on cadavers, but they also need people to donate their time to science.
Currently, physical therapy students are conducting cardiovascular research and are looking for a patient with diagnosed coronary artery diseases.
“We have found out that one of the best ways to prevent cardiovascular events like a heart attack or a stroke is giving an internal massage inside of the arteries. The only way that you can perform that massage is with a well-designed exercise,” said Gurovich.
Other studies include using basketball as therapy for children with spinal cord injuries as well as motor skill research for children with autism. UTEP says if you are interested in participating in one of the studies some of the autism studies offer compensation.
“We have several studies that we recruit healthy and non-healthy and people with some diseases,” said Gurovich.
If you would like to get involved with UTEP Physical Therapy research you can email agurovich@UTEP.edu.
