On Sunday in the Loudermilk Concourse Club, UNC's chapter of Phi Delta Epsilon (PhiDE), an international medical fraternity, hosted its annual anatomy fashion show. Proceeds from the event, which came from ticket sales and raffles, were donated to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, a nonprofit organization that benefits local member hospitals, funding what’s needed most — from life-saving treatments to child services.
Attendees sat around circular tables. Among them, were members of PhiDE dressed in full-body skeleton and muscular suits or nude undergarments hand-painted with detailed diagrams of organ systems. Three members of PhiDE officiated the event, confidently weaving through the crowd as they introduced the models and gave credit to the artist's depictions of the human body.
One by one, the vibrantly colored models strutted on stage: the digestive system to the beat of "Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles, the Muscular system to "Titanium" by David Guetta, and the excretory system to "Let It Go" from the Frozen soundtrack.
The room burst with energy and applause as the audience cheered and the emcees shared fun anatomy facts: the GI tract has 500 species of bacteria, the heart is the hardest working muscle and the kidney filters the body's entire blood supply over 60 times a day.
Amidst the playful atmosphere, heartwarming moments came from 9-year-olds Bella and Adeline who spoke about their experiences in the hospital. Their youthful spirits shone through when Adeline shared her favorite medical joke, “Why didn’t the doctor open the medicine cabinet? He didn’t want to wake... the sleeping pills!” Later, Bella danced on stage with a model whose painted chromosomes included an extra chromosome 8 — just like Bella, who is diagnosed with mosaic trisomy 8, a rare genetic disease.
Throughout the event, attendees got up from their seats to purchase raffle tickets with the hopes of winning one of the prizes donated by local businesses. The array of goodies included a basket of Good Molecule skin care products, Trader Joe's snacks, art supplies, Raising Canes merchandise and gift cards to VooDoo wings and Purple Bowl. Adeline even donated a one-of-a-kind original self-portrait to the raffle.
Sophomore Kendall Cannon, a biology major who worked on the committee that organized the event, said that since the Anatomy Fashion Show began two years ago, it’s become PhiDE’s biggest fundraising event. Leading up to the show, PhiDE hosted smaller fundraisers such as “Pie a Blue Devil” during rivalry week, clothing drives and bake sales.
For PhiDE members, it's exciting to watch such a meaningful event grow.
“Even if we do a little bit better than last year, we're happy,” Ella Gjorgjievski, junior biology major said. “Because it's just more progress for the kids, and that's why we're all here."
