According to the Physician�s Committee For Responsible
Medicine (PCRM), of the 126 U.S. medical schools, 80 have no animal labs
in any part of their curricula. The bad news: 46 still do have animal
labs. Classroom exercises that traumatize and kill dogs, cats, and other
animals lead med students to believe that animal cruelty is somehow a
requirement for becoming a doctor.
PCRM has asked that we send letters to the following med
schools with animal labs. This is a version of a letter I recently
posted for Kinship subscribers to send to 3 other universities with dog
labs. When you have time, please copy the following letter and send it
to each of the listed universities. All still offer dog and/or animal
labs:
**If you wish to verify any address/contact information,
please contact
PCRM: 202-686-2210
www.pcrm.org
University of Alabama, School of Medicine
William Deal, M.D., Dean
1813 6th Ave.
South Birmingham, AL 35294-3293
Dear Dr. Deal,
I find it incomprehensible that the University of
Alabama School of Medicine still offers courses that ask students to
shackle and slice open animals, inject them with drugs or other toxic
substances, and perform debilitating surgeries. Students observe
traumatized dogs, cats and other lab animals until they are �used up�
and killed. This is science? How does this lesson in empathy erasure
save human lives or support tenable data?
According to Dr. Michael D�Ambera, a cardiac
anesthesiologist, �The only thing a student can do in a dog lab that we
don�t cover in the operating room is kill the dog.�
The United Kingdom outlawed the use of live dogs to
practice medical techniques years ago. At Harvard Medical School,
students learn surgical skills in the human operating room instead of
dog labs. The realization that �lab animals� are too anatomically,
physiologically and pathologically different from humans to react
similarly has prompted over half of American medical schools to replace
dog labs with viable and humane alternatives. Among them are: Yale, Ohio
State, New York University, University of Michigan, Robert Wood Johnson
Medical School, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and
Technion University in Haifa, Israel. Most recently, North Shore-Long
Island Jewish Health System and Ohio University College of Osteopathic
Medicine dropped their animal labs.
Please eliminate archaic animal labs, especially in
light of increased student and community indignation. It is particularly
illogical to cut apart dogs�whose tissue and internal organs deviate in
texture and elasticity from those of humans�when surgical skills are
better learned through human surgery, the human cadaver lab alternative,
or computer simulators.
I commend any efforts that have been made toward
offering efficacious research alternatives such as: Clinical trials;
population studies; anatomically correct mannequins, simulators and 3-D
models; CAT, PET and MRI scans; autopsy/biopsy studies; human
cell/tissue cultures; lab-generated human corneas; three-dimensional
epidermal models that simulate human skin; Corrositex (artificial skin
to test a chemical�s corrosiveness); and interactive computer models and
videos.
It�s time to evolve. I respectfully request that
university administrators pursue the many humane alternatives that
adequately train medical students�without sacrificing empathy or the
life of another creature.
Sincerely,
ALSO SEND TO:
University of South Alabama, College of Medicine
Robert Kreisberg, M.D., Dean
307 University Blvd.
Mobile, AL 36688
University of California, Davis, School of Medicine
Joseph Silva, Jr., M.D., Dean
1 Shields Ave.
Davis, CA 95616
UCLA School of Medicine
Gerald Levey, M.D., Dean
12-138 Center for Health Sciences
Box 951722
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1722
University of California, San Diego
School of Medicine
David Bailey, M.D., Dean
Room 1313, Basic Science Bldg.
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0602
Loma Linda University, School of Medicine
Brian Bull, M.D., Dean
11175 Campus Street, Coleman Pavillion
A11-08
Loma Linda, CA 92350
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Richard Krugman, M.D., Dean
Health Sciences Center
4200 East 9th Ave.
Denver, CO 80262
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Carolyn Robinowitz, M.D., Dean
3900 Reservoir Rd., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20007
Howard University College of Medicine
Floyd Malveaux, M.D., Dean
520 W. Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20059
University of Miami School of Medicine
John Clarkson, M.D., Dean
1600 NW 10th Ave.
P.O. Box 016099 (R699)
Miami, FL 33101
Morehouse School of Medicine
Nigel Harris, M.D., Dean
720 Westview Drive, SW
Atlanta, GA 30310
Finch University of Health Sciences/Chicago Medical
School
Robert Susking, M.D., Dean
3333 Green Bay Road North
Chicago, IL 60064
University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine
Gerald Moss, M.D., Dean
1853 West Polk St. M/C 784
Chicago, IL 60612
University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria
Michael Bailie, M.D., Regional Dean
One Illinois Dr., P.O. Box 1649
Peoria, IL 61656
University of Illinois College of Medicine at
Urbana-Champaign
Bradford Schwartz, M.D., Regional Dean
190 Medical Sciences Bldg.
506 S. Mathews
Urbana, IL 61081
Loyola University of Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine
Daniel Winship, M.D., Dean
2160 S. First Ave.
Maywood, IL 60153
Indiana University School of Medicine
Robert Holden, M.D., Dean
1120 South Dr.
Indianapolis, IN 46202-5114
Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New
Orleans
Robert Walker, M.D., Dean
1542 Tulane Ave., Rm. 214
New Orleans, LA 70112-2822
Tulane University School of Medicine
James Corrigan, M.D., Dean
1430 Tulane Ave., SL 77
New Orleans, LA 70112
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Val Hemming, M.D., Dean
4301 Jones Bridge Rd.
Bethesda, MD 20814
Boston University School of Medicine
Aram Chobanian, M.D., Dean
715 Albany St. L103
Boston, MA 02118
University of Mississippi School of Medicine
Wallace Conerly, M.D., Dean
2500 North State St.
Jackson, MS 39216-4505
St. Louis University School of Medicine
Patricia Monteleone, M.D., Dean
1402 S. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63104
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Paul Roth, M.D., Dean
BMSB, Rm. 177
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Albany Medical School
James Mandell, M.D., Dean
47 New Scotland Ave.
Albany, NY 12208
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
Antonio Gotto, M.D., Dean
1300 York Ave., Rm. F-105
New York, NY 10021
Mt. Sinai School of Medicine
Arthur H. Rubenstein, Dean
One Gustave L. Levy Place
New York, NY 10029-6574
New York Medical College
Ralph A. O�Connell, M.D., Dean
Administration Bldg.
Valhalla, NY 10595
University of Rochester, School of Medicine
Lowell Goldsmith, M.D., Dean
601 Elmwood Ave., Box 706
Rochester, NY 14642
SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
Eugene B. Feigelson, M.D., Dean
SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine
450 Clarkson Ave., Box 97
Brooklyn, NY 11203-2098
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Health Sciences Center School of Medicine
Norman Edelman, M.D., Dean
169 Health Sciences Center
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8430
State University of New York at Syracuse, College of
Medicine
Gregory Eastwood, M.D., Dean
155 Elizabeth Blackwell St., Weiskotten Hall, Rm. 1154
Syracuse, NY 13210
Duke University School of Medicine
Ralph Snyderman, M.D., Dean
106A Davison Bldg., Box 3701 Med. Center
Durham, NC 27710
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Nathan A. Berger, M.D., Dean 10900 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44106-4915
Northeastern Ohio Universities, College of Medicine
Robert S. Blacklow, M.D., Dean
Dean�s Office, College of Medicine
4209 St. Rt. 44
P.O. Box 95
Rootstown, OH 44272-0095
Ponce School of Medicine
Jaime Rivera Dueno, M.D., Dean
P.O. Box 7004
Ponce, PR 07732
Brown University School of Medicine
Donald J. Marsh, M.D., Dean
Box G-A1
Providence, RI 02912
University of South Dakota, School of Medicine
Robert C. Talley, M.D., Dean
Health Science Center, 1400 West 22nd St.
Sioux Falls, SD 57105
University of South Carolina, School of Medicine
Larry R. Faulkner, M.D., Dean
Columbia, SC 29208
East Tennessee State University
James H. Quillen College of Medicine
Ron. D. Franks, M.D., Dean
P.O. Box 70694
Johnson City, TN 37614
Meharry Medical College
A. Cherrie Epps, Ph.D., Dean
Office of the Dean
1005 Dr. D.B. Todd, Jr. Blvd.
Nashville, TN 37208-3599
University of Tennessee, Memphis College of Medicine
Henry G. Herrod, M.D., Dean
790 Madison Ave.
Memphis, TN 38163-2166
University of Texas, Medical Branch School of Medicine
Stanley M. Lemon, M.D., Dean
301 University Blvd.
Galveston, TX 77555-1317
University of Texas Medical School at Houston
L. Maximilian Buja, M.D., Dean
6431 Fannin St.
Houston, TX 77030-1501
University of Wisconsin Medical School
Philip M. Farrell, M.D., Dean
1300 University Ave.
Madison, WI 53706
Medical College of Wisconsin
Michael J. Dunn, Dean
8701 Watertown Plank Road
Milwaukee, WI 53226
Go on to Life vs. Death
Return to 1 April 2001 Issue
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