Ask the University of Virginia to End the Use of Cats in Its Pediatrics Residency

Originally Posted: February 8, 2012

Ask the University of Virginia to End the Use of Cats in Its Pediatrics Residency

FROM Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)

ACTION

Please take a minute to ask University of Virginia (UVA) president Teresa Sullivan, Ph.D., to replace the use of cats in UVA's pediatrics residency program with validated human-based training methods.

Sign an online petition:
https://secure2.convio.net/pcrm/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=480&autologin= true&JServSessionIdr004=agtad6kne1.app210b

And/or better yet, make direct contact:

Teresa A. Sullivan Office of the President 400 Ray C. Hunt Drive P.O. Box 400229 Charlottesville, VA 22902 phone (434) 924-3337 fax (434) 924-3792

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Here are some talking points:

• Please replace the use of cats in UVA’s pediatrics residency program.
• Anatomical differences between cats and humans render this type of training suboptimal.
• UVA is part of a shrinking minority of pediatrics residencies (six percent) that still use live animals for training.
• High-fidelity simulators such as Laerdal’s SimNewB, Gaumard’s Premie HAL and PREMIE Blue, and METI’s SimBaby accurately replicate the airway of a premature newborn, optimizing training and feedback.
• UVA already has a state-of-the-art simulation center that can easily provide nonanimal training methods.

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Thank you for everything you do for animals!