The Medical College of Wisconsin Continues To Use Live Pigs in Teaching: Group Calls To End of Unnecessary and Cruel Practice

According to the article below, here are some key points:

Thirty-six pigs are to be opened, examined and killed at the Medical College at the end of February.

According to the physicians committee, which is based in Washington, D.C., the American College of Surgeons and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education support elimination of live animal laboratories and stress the use of alternatives, including human simulators.

More than 100 other medical schools, including Harvard, Yale and Cornell, have discontinued use of live laboratory animals.

Article:

Medical College urged to stop using live pigs in labs

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080128/GPG0101/80128041/1206/GPGnews

By SUSANNE RUST

srust@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Jan. 27, 2008

Not satisfied with the decision by the Medical College of Wisconsin to stop using dogs as live teaching tools, an animal rights group is now calling on the school to stop using pigs.

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is calling on the Medical College, as well as eight other U.S. medical schools, to get live animals out of the teaching curriculum.

Thirty-six pigs are to be opened, examined and killed at the Medical College at the end of February.

The group, which says the use of live animals is unnecessary and cruel, has erected a billboard on Highway 45 that calls on the school to stop.

More than 100 other medical schools, including Harvard, Yale and Cornell, have discontinued use of live laboratory animals.

This is the first year the Medical College has used pigs instead of dogs in its introductory physiology laboratory - a course designed for first-year medical students.

Although the physiology course began in January, the animal laboratory isn't scheduled until the end of February.

Richard Katschke, the associate vice president of public affairs at the Medical College, said the pigs come from local farmers and were not bred as laboratory animals.

He also said the American Physiological Society, the governing body for physiology education nationwide, endorses the use of animals in medical education.

"The definition of 'physiology' is 'the study of living systems,' " Allen Cowley, professor and chairman of physiology, said in an internal Medical College memo. "The Medical College's cardiovascular laboratory provides students with an exceptional learning experience."

He said it was the "only opportunity that students will have in their medical education to experience the cardiovascular function of a large animal with similar responses as humans before they begin clinical work with patients."

Katschke said the college has received 600 to 700 letters of protest about the pigs. About 50 of those letters came from residents of Wisconsin.

Other colleges still using live animals include the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, the University of Minnesota Medical School and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Human simulators

According to the physicians committee, which is based in Washington, D.C., the American College of Surgeons and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education support elimination of live animal laboratories and stress the use of alternatives, including human simulators.

In 2005, the Medical College unveiled a $2.5 million high-tech clinical training and teaching center, which includes three human simulators - a man, woman and child.

Katschke said the simulators are also used in the course, and students uncomfortable with the live-animal laboratory are not required to participate.

As for the letter to the USDA, Katschke said he wasn't worried.

He said the USDA was at the school this month on a surprise inspection and the agency "gave us a clean bill of health."

Duke University Stops Using Live Pigs in Third Year Surgery Course: Five Other Medical Schools Continue to Use Live Animals in Surgery Courses

This was passed onto me. As you will read, a large majority of medical schools do not use live animal labs. You will also see below a list of those who do in their surgery courses. Contact information is posted with them for you to contact.

Article:

We have wonderful news from North Carolina: I am happy to report that Duke University School of Medicine recently confirmed that it has stopped using live pigs in its third-year surgery course. This means that only 13 medical schools (of 125) continue to use live animals in medical student courses. PCRM physicians worked hard to explain the educational and ethical advantages of non-animal alternatives to the school, and Duke deserves praise for this wise and compassionate decision.

But we still need your help. Five medical schools continue to use live animals in surgery courses. Please send a polite e-mail to these schools and ask them to follow Duke's lead and stop using live animals to teach surgery. You can send an e-mail or write to the five medical schools that use live animals for surgery courses at the addresses below:

TAKE ACTION: http://support.pcrm.org/site/R?i=9XhW1ZZgPEBRUYmjzuNPHQ..

Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Richard Fine, M.D., Dean
The Health Sciences Level 4
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8430
T: 631-444-1785
Richard.Fine@stonybrook.edu

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Edward D. Miller, M.D., Dean School of Medicine
733 North Broadway
Baltimore, MD, 21205
T: 410-955-3180
emiller@jhmi.edu

University of Tennessee College of Medicine
Steve J. Schwab, M.D., Executive Dean
62 South Dunlap St., Room 405
Memphis, TN 38163
T: 901-448-5529
sschwab@utmem.edu

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Pamela B. Davis, M.D., Ph.D., Interim Dean
10900 Euclid Ave, BRB 113
Cleveland, OH 44106
T: 216-368-2825
pbd@case.edu

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine
Larry Laughlin, M.D., Ph.D., Dean
4301 Jones Bridge Rd.
Bethesda, MD 20814
T: 301-295-3016
llaughlin@usuhs.mil

Please forward the e-mail to your friends and family and ask them to contact the schools as well.

Tell a friend: http://support.pcrm.org/site/R?i=zabpJXjt2PsEuJAHLzeN2w..

Medical faculty and practicing physicians know that students do not need to train on live animals to become successful physicians or surgeons. In fact, last year the American College of Surgeons (ACS) stopped using live animals in any of its own surgery educational and training programs. It also established a new certification program, the Accredited Education Institutes, which does not include live animal use in its surgery training guidelines. In addition, the American Medical Student Association recently took a major step toward modernizing medical education by passing a resolution strongly encouraging the replacement of live animal laboratories with non-animal alternatives in undergraduate medical education.

Learn more about the use of animals in medical education. Thank you so much for your support and for your compassion for animals. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at rmerkley@pcrm.org.

Best regards,

Ryan Merkley
Research Program Coordinator

Medical Doctor Speaks Out: Dissection and Live Animal Labs Are No Longer Required or Even Hailed As Superior Teaching Tools

This is an excellent article that truly shows that medical schools that require live animal labs like dissection or vivisection are using outdated, inferior and wasted resources that are not producing good results. In essence, dissection and vivisection are not necessary parts of a good medial schools curriculum.


Article:

Animals are not meant for medical research

http://www.tribune-georgian.com/articles/2007/
03/02/news/opinion/letters/4letter3.2.txt

Dear Editor, As medical advisor for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, I'd like to clarify some misleading statements made about our efforts to promote humane alternatives to animal dissection in a recent letter ("Much ado about nothing by animal rights activists," Feb. 23).

Contrary to Dr. Paul Cosenza's letter, PCRM is a respected nonprofit health and research advocacy organization and is led by physicians, dietitians and scientists who publish their work in peer-reviewed academic journals, present their findings before scientific conferences and serve as consultants on government panels.

For more than 20 years, we have worked to educate the public about the need to move away from using animals in medical research and education.

Most physicians, like me, complete their medical education without ever cutting into an animal. In fact, more than 85 percent of U.S. medical schools have eliminated live animal labs in favor of more effective and humane teaching methods, such as human patient simulators, virtual computer programs and physician mentoring and observation.

The America College of Surgeons no longer uses live animals in its clinical training programs and has endorsed the use of simulation technologies to replace live animal use in surgery training programs.

I almost did not pursue medicine because I thought I might have to dissect and harm animals in the process. I am now a double-board certified neurologist and public health specialist.

Unfortunately, I do know many people who considered pursuing careers in biology and medicine, but chose not to because they believed they might be required to dissect animals. Today, dissection and live animal labs are no longer required or even hailed as superior teaching tools. To imply that dissecting animals is a necessary part of any education is simply wrong.

Aysha Akhtar, M.D., M.P.H.

Senior Medical and Research Advisor

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Washington, D.C.