Ethics in Medical Student Education

Replacing Animal Laboratories in Medical Education: What You Can Do

Medical Students:

• If you have not already done so, distribute the brochure What Is Responsible Medicine? to first- and second-year medical students and to faculty at your school.

• Arrange a meeting with the course director to discuss your views and present information on alternatives and medical schools that do not use animal labs. Be positive and be willing to work on an alternative activity.

• Help organize a supervised operating room experience as an alternative/replacement for the animal lab, e.g., a cardiac surgery, where the same principles that are demonstrated in the animal lab can be seen. The students benefit from a “hands-on” type of experience and can observe the principles being taught in a human being. Harvard University recently replaced live animal laboratories with this program, meeting with praise from students and faculty alike. Contact PCRM for step-by-step assistance.

• Arrange an informal meeting, perhaps a brown-bag luncheon, show our  video Advances in Medical Education to interested students and faculty and discuss the issue.

• Garner the support of sympathetic faculty members and ask if they will assist you in discussing the issue with the course director.

• You may wish to contact a few medical schools that do not have animal labs as part of their curriculum to learn what alternatives they use.

General Public:

• Write a letter and/or call the medical school(s) in your area to ask that animal labs in teaching be dropped.

• Write a letter to the editor of your local newspapers asking other concerned citizens to call or write the school to ask that the animal lab be dropped.

• If it has not already been done, distribute What Is Responsible Medicine? brochures to first- and second-year medical students at your local medical school(s).

• Call local media and encourage them to cover the issue.

• Write a letter to your alma mater, urging it to adopt humane teaching methods, if it has not already done so.

• Write a letter to your local university if it still has live animal laboratories in its medical school curricula.

• Contact PCRM for a list of medical schools that still have live animal laboratories in its curricula.

For any further assistance or advice, or to order the publications and videos mentioned, contact PCRM.

Media Center | Health | Research | About PCRM | Catalog | Join Us | Search | Site Index | Home

The site does not provide medical or legal advice. This Web site is for information purposes only.
Full Disclaimer | Privacy Policy