When UC Davis student Sarah Wagenhals assisted on her first autopsy, she was surprised at what eased the nervous feeling in her stomach--the doctor's gallows humor. Helpful doctors and the chance to learn real-life--and death--lessons at the autopsy table has helped Wagenhals stick out a one-of-a-kind, yearlong internship at the Sacramento County morgue. She is one of 180 students since 1976 from UC Davis and California State University, Sacramento, who have participated in the internship titled Pathology Support Services, a private program designed to help the Sacramento County coroner investigate sudden and unexplained deaths. Wagenhals, a junior majoring in anthropology, said she believes she has learned far more at the internship than she ever could in a lab class. Seeing victims of homicide and other trauma sometimes causes her to "sit back and say 'Wow--why did this happen?'" But she said she tries not to personalize the cases too much and instead focuses on learning the physical aspects of death. "I'm not here to analyze human nature--I'm here for the physical aspect of it and to get experience," she said. Bob Wood, president of Pathology Support Services, started the program 25 years ago with the intent "to take what is perceived as a necessary but negative function of this office and put it into a more positive light within the community." Wood did this by seeking interested and motivated undergraduate or graduate students to work in staff or intern positions. Wood said, as far as he knows, his internship program is unique. Passion for the work Some find a passion for the work. Wood said many former interns have gone on to become doctors, dentists, veterinarians, criminalists and coroners, as well as jet pilots and lawyers. Most UC Davis students learn about the internship through the campus Internship and Career Center, Wood said. UC Davis has the most diversified internship program in the country, offering internships in all majors, reports Linda Hughes, program manager. There are 6,000 internship placements per year, which is higher than any other UC school, and among the highest in the country. The Pathology Support Services internship, however, is not for everyone. Wood said he seeks individuals who are of sound character and excel academically. "Your intellectual curiosity has to be so intense that it overpowers the emotional aspect of it," he said. Interns said they not only learn human anatomy, physiology and pathology, but also lessons on using humor and camaraderie to maintain morale at a job steeped with death and grief. Robert LaBrash, a former intern, is now a Yolo County deputy coroner. He remembers as an intern being disturbed most by seeing victims of domestic violence. But the work itself fascinated him. He said he "liked learning the dynamics of the entire death process--from investigations to autopsies." Answering questions about death LaBrash found the program mentally challenging. He said he admired the courage the staff members and coroner used in trying to explain the death, answer questions and offer consolation to the desolate families. Wagenhals and LaBrash both said they found the urgency and mystery behind real-life cases far more compelling than classroom lab studies. Wagenhals predicted the knowledge she is gaining at the coroner's office will stick with her far longer than any material she learning in her anatomy class. Wagenhals said she was pleased to find the doctors interacted with her on a professional level, and were "very generous with information and willing to help you and explain things." Wood requires students to spend 576 hours at the internship so that they can internalize everything they learn and be exposed to a wide variety of cases. Although interns are exposed to some situations that they may not understand for years to come, Wood said he hopes they can walk away from the internship with "humility, the recognition of the importance of interning and the philosophy that no one achieves a goal alone." Some interns find more togetherness than they might have expected. With teamwork and long hours spent in the morgue, sometimes romance blossoms. "I know of three couples of interns who are married now," LaBrash says. Katie O'Donnell is Dateline's spring-quarter intern.