FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Progressive Non-Animal Research Society
July 7, 2021 pnarscommunication@gmail.com
UBC FACULTY OF MEDICINE TO STOP USING LIVE PIGS IN SURGICAL COURSE
Vancouver, BC — Progressive Non-Animal Research Society (PNARS) is pleased to learn that the University of British Columbia (UBC) has held its first animal-free Essential Surgical Skill course, which previously involved live pigs being subjected to a dozen invasive procedures. Work by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Vancouver-based Animal Defence and Anti-Vivisection Society of BC were instrumental in bringing about the change.
PNARS welcomes the adoption of more modern methods in this course at UBC. PNARS’ Scientific Advisor Dr. Olivier Berreville states: “There are key biological and physiological differences between pigs and humans that make pigs poor models for medical training. Advanced human-based non-animal training models provide a directly applicable and superior learning experience. ”
There are many more current approaches to training future doctors in surgical skills, including rotations in civilian trauma centers, high-fidelity task trainers and mannekins such as Simulab’s TraumaMan® Surgical Simulator, and Dr. Emad Aboud’s “living” cadaver model, as a few examples. Using up to date, scientifically valid approaches can only lead to better trained surgeons doing work on human patients.
About the Progressive Non-Animal Research Society: A community-based grassroots organization that has as its focus the development and validation of human-based research and the implementation of these leading-edge techniques over the use of animal models.
Dr. Oliver Berreville, Scientific Advisor to Progressive Non-Animal Research Society, Vice-President of the BC Foundation for Non-Animal Research, Canadian National Contact for the International Network for Humane Education.
For more information on the Progressive Non-Animal Research Society, visit: https://progressiveresearchsociety.com/why-a-progressive-non-animal-research-society/
###
progressiveresearchsociety.com 