Stop Dogs Cut Open Alive to Train Med Students in Michigan

rkelch(at)med.umich.edu, woolli(at)umich.edu

Robert P. Kelch, M.D.
Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs
M7324 Medical Science Building, Box 0626
University of Michigan Health System
1500 E. Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

James Woolliscroft, M.D.
Dean
University of Michigan Medical School
M4101 Medical Science Building 1
1301 Catherine Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5624


Dear Misters Kelch and Woolliscroft,

Two decades ago, medical schools let students practice emergency procedures on dogs. Today, the University of Michigan is among a small number of institutions that still use old-fashioned animal labs. More than 90% of Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) classes taught in the U.S. and Canada benefit from human-focused simulators alone. Dogs, goats and pigs just aren't effective teachers any more.

I respectfully ask you to terminate live animal labs. Apparently UM has even ncorporated companion animals from Michigan shelters into its course materials. Since researchers are not required to learn a dog's origin, it's easy to wind up with someone's lost or surrendered pet. Koda, a silver-and-black malamute sold to UM, died along with other dogs who were cut open, practiced upon, and discarded.

I am shocked UM buys shelter animals from disreputable Class B dealers like R & R Research to kill them in crude training drills. Moreover, emergency medical training is better served by non-animal systems. As you know, the American College of Surgeons endorses TraumaMan System, Synman, human cadavers and other synthetic models for ATLS.

Overall, animal-free research cuts costs and improves proficiency. A timely New England Journal of Medicine article highlights the "very detailed feedback and...more subtle measurement of trainee performance" gained from virtual reality simulators. The article summarizes: Inanimate models are "safe, reproducible, portable, readily available, and...cost-effective."

Students who gain surgical knowledge from dogs deal with inconsistent variables. Incision pressure differs between dogs and humans. Shape, angle, and texture of internal organs are also vastly incongruous. Why teach skills that don't apply directly to human beings?

Please update the University of Michigan's trauma-management training with methods more relevant to human anatomy and surgery.

Sincerely,