Med school still uses pigs for surgery practice
The Hopkins School of Medicine is one of only 10 medical schools in the country that still requires its students to perform surgery on live pigs, a practice that has garnered criticism from animal rights groups.
"[The animals] are treated remarkably well," explained Diana Scorpio, assistant professor and clinical veterinarian at Hopkins.
"They are under very deep anesthesia ... and then they are humanely euthanized."
Scorpio emphasized that very few of Hopkins's animals are used for medical instruction, and that the medical school has taken steps to reduce the number of animals used for teaching.
"Less than one percent is used in teaching and training ... 99 percent is used for research," she said.
The student-to-animal ratio is also geared toward minimizing the number of animals used.
There are usually four to five people per animal, according to Scorpio.
In defense of using live animals to instruct medical students, Scorpio stressed that students who have experience with live animals "are much more proficient at understanding anatomy, and how to manipulate tissue in surgery."
Philip Militello, assistant professor of the surgery at the University of Maryland, finds using human cadavers to be more advantageous.
"The anatomy of a cadaver is identical to a patient, while a dog's anatomical landmarks differ," he stated on the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Web site. "Over the years, it has become clear that students enjoy doing the procedures on a human cadaver specimen because of the identical scenarios, landmarks, and the hands-on experience. It mirrors the clinical scenario and is very well received."
In a December 2007 letter addressed to Dean Edward Miller of Hopkins's School of Medicine, Executive Director of the National Center for Animal Law Laura Ireland Moore expressed the organization's dismay at the University's use of live animals in medical training. Moore accused the medical school of bending if not breaking the law.
"[The animals] are treated remarkably well," explained Diana Scorpio, assistant professor and clinical veterinarian at Hopkins.
"They are under very deep anesthesia ... and then they are humanely euthanized."
Scorpio emphasized that very few of Hopkins's animals are used for medical instruction, and that the medical school has taken steps to reduce the number of animals used for teaching.
"Less than one percent is used in teaching and training ... 99 percent is used for research," she said.
The student-to-animal ratio is also geared toward minimizing the number of animals used.
There are usually four to five people per animal, according to Scorpio.
In defense of using live animals to instruct medical students, Scorpio stressed that students who have experience with live animals "are much more proficient at understanding anatomy, and how to manipulate tissue in surgery."
Philip Militello, assistant professor of the surgery at the University of Maryland, finds using human cadavers to be more advantageous.
"The anatomy of a cadaver is identical to a patient, while a dog's anatomical landmarks differ," he stated on the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Web site. "Over the years, it has become clear that students enjoy doing the procedures on a human cadaver specimen because of the identical scenarios, landmarks, and the hands-on experience. It mirrors the clinical scenario and is very well received."
In a December 2007 letter addressed to Dean Edward Miller of Hopkins's School of Medicine, Executive Director of the National Center for Animal Law Laura Ireland Moore expressed the organization's dismay at the University's use of live animals in medical training. Moore accused the medical school of bending if not breaking the law.
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Losing Weight
posted 2/17/08 @ 10:18 PM EST
If the human cadavers work just as well as live animals, then they can use the cadavers. If they are not violating the law, then using them for medical research is not much worse than killing them to eat. (Continued…)
Losing Weight
posted 2/17/08 @ 10:26 PM EST
If the human cadavers work just as well as live animals, then they can use the cadavers. If they are not violating the law, then using them for medical research is not much worse than killing them to eat. (Continued…)
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