When I was dating a heart surgeon, he had very little time to go out so often our dates consisted of me going to the hospital where he worked. One time he told me to come to a place in the hospital where he was performing surgery. When I walked in I saw a large pig under anesthesia and the pig was being prepped for surgery. That image stuck with me for a long time.
Nowadays most medical students and hospitals don’t use live animals to practice surgery. Animal rights advocates started fighting the killing of live animals for medical education over 30 years ago before the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine took up the issue in 2005.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine and George Washington University School of Medicine were among the first schools to turn to simulators and away from live animals. The University of Central Florida School of Medicine was established in 2006 without a live animal lab.
Animals were used by schools to teach students how to apply anesthesia, remove organs, cut incisions, find a large vein, and other procedures. They were routinely destroyed when the lessons were done. In 2001, the American College of Surgeons, which oversees Advanced Trauma Life Support courses, approved the use of Simulab’s TraumaMan System simulator in teaching courses. Additional training alternatives include using human cadavers (also approved by the American College of Surgeons) or gaining clinical experience at emergency trauma centers in major metropolitan areas.
Disgusting
What a lame date