For many, the thought of donating their body for medical research is something which wouldn't even cross their mind. Thousands of Irish people do it, however, and for Philomena McAteer the process is all in a day's work.

For the past eight years, Philomena, the daughter of Sophie and Francie McAteer from Milford has been the Joint Chief Technician in the Anatomy Department of Trinity College in Dublin.

The importance of body donation is something which most people would not dwell on. Philomena explained, however: "Every one of us is affected by body donations to colleges. You wouldn't leave your car with mechanic who had never looked under the bonnet before would you? Anatomy is essential for everyone from doctors and dentists, to sports therapists and speech therapists to understand how the body works."

Her day-to-day job now entails anything from embalming a body, running the donor programme, facilitating the students to ensuring the smooth running of the Department.

She began her career after graduating from Letterkenny Regional Training College in 1981 with a Science Certificate. From there she took up her career as a Technician in Trinity College. And it was during this time she met Siobhan Ward, a Dublin girl who was taking the same evening courses for a Diploma of Science at Kevin Street.

Now, not only does Philomena have one of the most unique jobs in the country, she also has one of the most unique working arrangements. She explained: "Siobhan and I were friends and had studied together. When the Chief Technician's job came up neither of us were sure whether to apply or not because we both had husbands and children. It was then we decided to apply as one job-sharing unit. There was apprehension among senior staff who said that this type of arrangement would be impossible for making managerial decisions. We were adamant, however, that we would work together. And here we are, eight years on."

"We are a team and we do absolutely everything together. Siobhan often jokes that she sees more of me than she does of her own husband."

This situation has given Philomena the opportunity to spend more time with her husband, John Power (the same as the whiskey apparently!), a forensic scientist and her two incredibly talented sons Darragh (15) and David (14).

MAGICIAN AND ACTOR

When asked about her children, Philomena nonchalantly replied: "Well, Darragh's a magician and David's an actor."

Her eldest son Darragh has been named the Young Irish Magician of the Year and has appeared on the Late Late Toy Show and the Disney Club. With such a diversity under one roof, humdrum is certainly a word which could never be applied to the Power family.

Back to her own career, however, and Philomena explained: "I always thought I'd like to work in shellfish research, being able to do things like increase the scallops in Mulroy Bay! But the Celtic Tiger wasn't in Ireland in 1981 and you had to take a job no matter where it was. Trinity was always considered a great place to work and I've loved working here from the beginning."

While Philomena explained there were a few people from Donegal who have donated their bodies to Trinity College, she said the majority from Donegal would donate to NUI Galway as it is nearer to them.

There is an urban myth among many cash-strapped students that you can donate your body for medical research and get paid for it in the here and now. This, however, is not the case as Philomena explained: "It's funny, you know, we get so many young people turning up here saying 'I'm here to donate my body. When do I get paid'! But what I always say to them is that if they really want to donate then they should carry an organ donor card. We tend to only accept people who are that bit older. And really, what monetary value can you put on a human life?"

Philomena also dispelled the myth that some people donate their body to medical research in order to get a cheap funeral. "Donation can actually be quite a costly process. Sometimes we can't accept a body and we ask people to set money aside for this in their will."

There are currently 1100 people on the body donation list to Trinity College. "We normally get about 20 bodies a year. It just depends. Some weeks you could get three bodies, other weeks you may get none."

"You tend not to be too morbid, because often you have dealt with the person when they are living and you know the next of kin. We also try to go to as many memorial services as we can."

Explaining how the process works once a live donor has passed away, Philomena said: "We need to receive the body within 24 to 48 hours after death. And if the live donor has been the victim of a car crash or has had a post mortem performed on them, then we cannot accept the body. Once a body arrives here, however, we will embalm it and prepare it for demonstration for the students. The specialists will the come and prepare different body parts such as the brain for specialist examination. We also have to give an introduction talk to the students at the start of the year."

"Then, once the academic year is over, we set about putting the body back together again. We are under very stringent laws from the Anatomy Act of 1832, but we have our own, in-house, very strict labelling system and everything that has been removed we then replace. The bodies are then placed into a proper coffin with the date of death on it. Once we have received a body it can be kept in the Department for up to three years."

One question Philomena is often asked is 'Why would you donate your body for medical research?'. The answer, she explains, is simple: "It's about giving something back to mankind. For example, we may get people contacting us who have been through a rough time of the illness of a loved one. They will ring and say that they have been helped by a doctor and now they want to give something back."