Over 100 hundred bodies are donated each year to science, as people volunteer to forgo the traditional routes of burial and cremation - but how does one go about donating?

The use of human bodies as the basis of the study of human anatomy has been the cornerstone of medical training and research for over 400 years.

It allows surgeons in training to practice and evaluate their skills without risk to life, helps in research and development of new surgical procedures and allows students to familiarise themselves with human anatomy.

Chief technical officer of anatomy at Trinity College Dublin told The Hard Shoulder that those looking to be a donor first have to register themselves at a medical college closest to them.

"So, if you're living in Cork you'd contact Cork UCC, Galway would be UCG and Dublin has three colleges - Trinity, UCD and RCSI," she said.

"So, you get an information pack from them, and a registration form.

"You have to fill in that form, have it witnessed by your next of kin or executor, return it to the department and then you become a registered donor."

You can listen back to the full interview here: