All Pediatric Residency Programs End Live-Animal Training

As of this month, all pediatric residency programs in the United States and Canada have replaced the use of live animals with more human-relevant procedural training methods. Laval University in Québec, Canada was the last of the 227 surveyed by plant-based medical group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) to make the change. PCRM and its director of academic affairs John Pippin, MD have been paramount in eliminating animal-training in medical facilities across North America, including at Laval where it provided the university with tools to encourage non-animal training methods and petitioned the local government and national agency Canadian Council on Animal Care to intervene. “Pediatric patients deserve doctors who have had the opportunity to hone their skills by training with human-relevant methods,” Pippin said. “The Physicians Committee is proud of the part it has played in promoting the use of non-animal training methods for pediatrics residencies across the United States and Canada.” Previously, pediatric training programs involved the use of live animals such as cats, pigs, and ferrets, wherein would-be medical professionals performed cruel invasive procedures on the animals such as inserting needles and tubes into their chests. Last month, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine announced the end of its live pig emergency medical training thanks to the efforts of PCRM.