What is a Knowledge Donor?

The Knowledge Donor Program, founded in 2018 by faculty and leaders in healthcare at St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, is an innovative approach to medical education that utilizes whole-body cadaveric donors for the purpose of high-fidelity surgical and procedural training. KDP serves both educational institutions and medical technology companies, providing a validated, lifelike platform for procedural training, device validation, and research. 

This program is designed to bridge the gap between medical education and innovation - giving learners the hands-on experience they need before caring for living patients, while offering medical technology companies a validated, realistic environment to develop, test, and train on the latest surgical tools and devices. 

We thank those who made the gift of whole body donation to science and education. The ever-lasting effects of these donors live on through the gift of knowledge ... a gift that truly endures.

• Whole-body donors preserved using a non-formaldehyde perfusion technique, allowing the donors to mimic life-like conditions such as pulsatile bleeding and breathing.
• Pulsatile perfusion technology enables realistic cardiovascular simulation, allowing surgeons and trainees to practice on tissue with active blood ftow that mimics a living patient's hemodynamic response.
• Allows for extended use of donor tissue, surpassing the limitations of traditional whole body donors used for medical education and training.
• Designed to honor donor wishes and autonomy, with clear communication and coordination with donor families.

"The Knowledge Donor Program represents a paradigm shift in the way we think about medical education, patient safety, and quality of care in a moment in history when we need it most." - Dr. Peter Wu, Co-Founder

• 139 Knowledge Donors
• 1,500 instructional hours
• 1,230 procedures
• 7,500 learner touch points