Physicians Committee
June 2018
Across these North American countries, 227 pediatrics residency programs use only nonanimal, human-relevant methods, such as purpose-designed medical simulators.
With confirmation that Laval University of Québec City, Canada, has ended
the use of live piglets in its training of pediatrics residents, the
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine—the nonprofit representing
more than 12,000 physicians—announces that no surveyed pediatrics residency
programs in the United States or Canada use live animals for procedural
training. Across these North American countries, 227 pediatrics residency
programs use only nonanimal, human-relevant methods, such as
purpose-designed medical simulators.
On June 19, the director of Laval’s pediatrics department, Marc-Andre Dugas,
M.D., confirmed in an e-mail to John Pippin, M.D., F.A.C.C., director of
academic affairs with the Physicians Committee, that the use of piglets has
ended in the Laval PedALS+ protocol and that no animals are used for
training the residents, with medical simulation replacing live animal use.
Previously, the Physicians Committee took several actions to encourage the
switch to nonanimal training methods at Laval, including installing
billboards, petitioning Québec’s government, alerting the Canadian Council
on Animal Care (CCAC), and providing references and updates to Laval.
“Pediatric patients deserve doctors who have had the opportunity to hone
their skills by training with human-relevant methods” says Dr. Pippin. “The
Physicians Committee is proud of the part it has played in promoting the use
of nonanimal training methods for pediatrics residencies across the United
States and Canada.”
Historically, pediatrics residents at various institutions used live cats,
ferrets, piglets, or other animals to practice a variety of invasive
procedures, most commonly endotracheal intubation, which can cause tracheal
bruising, bleeding, scarring, severe pain, and even death. At Laval,
pediatrics residents were instructed to insert a needle into the sac
surrounding a piglet’s heart, surgically open a vein, and to make incisions
in the animal’s chest and throat to insert tubes. The piglets were killed
before the final procedure was performed.
The elimination of animals for pediatrics residency training has been
facilitated by the advent of interactive and programmable simulators that
replicate human anatomy. These lifelike simulators are considered superior
to animal-based methods because they are modeled after the human body and
allow for repeated practice. The U.S. Department of Defense ended the use of
live animals in pediatrics residency courses as of Jan. 1, 2015.
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