Phi Delta Epsilon’s third annual Anatomy Fashion Show going virtual

Participants in Phi Delta Epsilon’s third annual Anatomy Fashion Show will be switching things up and strutting down a virtual runway.

The Anatomy Fashion Show, a fundraising event for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals hosted by medical fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon, will be streaming on YouTube Live April 11. Normally an in-person event, the show will be fully virtual this year due to the pandemic but is still an opportunity for student leaders to come together for philanthropic work, Raj Patel, a fourth-year in neuroscience and co-coordinator of the event, said. 

“One of the things that’s really special about this event is that we’re able to bring worlds together,” Patel said. “I think there’s a huge gap between majors at Ohio State, so we really wanted to connect the arts to the sciences.”   

Patel said each year 25 student models are brought in to wear body suits painted to look like different body systems, such as the muscular, skeletal and nervous systems. He said all of the body suit art is done by current and former Ohio State art students.

“We’re able to paint these students as anatomy systems,” Patel said. “We are able to inform the audience about different diseases, everything about the body systems and different things that impact them or the models themselves.”

Patel said they chose to do an event in support of their service partner, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, because the organization is dedicated to making advancements in pediatric research and funding innovative surgeries for children whose families can’t afford medical treatment.

Phi Delta Epsilon’s goal for the fundraiser is $12,400 — double the $6,200 raised during the 2020 show. Patel said the event has already raised $11,226 for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals despite not premiering yet, which is the most they’ve ever raised as a chapter. 

Palmer Moats, a third-year in nutrition and co-coordinator of the event, said this year they were able to sit down with a family involved with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and listen to their story as they spoke about their experience at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

“We’re able to put a face to what we’re fundraising,” Patel said. “I think a lot of people tend to get lost in fundraising and not knowing what they’re raising money for. Being able to sit down and have that conversation with that family was incredible because we were able to hear their story.”

Jeremy Schwochow, a fourth-year in moving image production and film studies and one of the videographers for the show, said they hired a team of videographers outside of the fraternity to make the online version of the event just as exciting as it would be in person. 

“We kind of just worked with them and their vision to make this event as smooth of a transition to virtual as possible,” Schwochow said. “We worked in translating a lot of the goals of the in-person event into a video that we can livestream.” 

Moats said due to the online format, they would also be able to show audience members videos highlighting the process of painting the body suits to look like different anatomy systems. 

“During a normal in-person event we wouldn’t be able to do that,” Moats said. “Everyone would just walk down the runway already painted, so being able to highlight the artists that do paint them is something cool that we’re able to do.”

The Anatomy Fashion Show will be streaming on YouTube Live April 11 at 3 p.m. The event is free but accepting donations for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.