Louise Ablett, Mortuary Manager (York), Hull York Medical School
Louise is the Mortuary Manager at Hull York Medical School's York site.
She joined the medical school’s technical team in 2014 after 12 years frontline work in the Ambulance Service. Her role has developed since then and, together with the Mortuary Manager in Hull, She now leads the technical team.
They facilitate the body donation programme for the medical school and support students with their experience in the anatomy facilities.
email: louise.ablett@hyms.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with Louise:
Could you please tell us what work you do in the field of mental health?
Mental health feeds into the way that we support our students and our donor’s families in their journeys through the medical school. Creating resilient, empathetic doctors starts with their first experience in the Anatomy lab.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
Our donors are inspirational people. They donate their bodies so that our students can learn from them, and hopefully become better doctors because of it. When I embalm someone to the best of my ability, I feel that I have ensured that their last wishes have been acted upon and that it is the last thing that can be done for them. They then become the valuable teaching resource that they hoped to be and our students benefit. It is incredibly rewarding.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
The emotional labour of the role can at times be quite challenging. Communicating with recently bereaved relatives or trying to explain why we are unable to facilitate a donor’s wishes can be difficult.
What impact do you hope your work is having - or can potentially have?
Our students will always remember their first encounter with a donor in the Anatomy lab. I hope that ensuring that this pivotal moment is dealt with sensitively and with dignity and respect for the donor will set our future doctors on a path where every interaction with a patient begins with respect and empathy.
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
Getting out in nature helps me keep things in perspective. It can be as simple as a dog walk in the countryside near my house, or a ‘proper’ hike in the hills where the landscape feels big and worries are made to feel small!