University Stops Using Pigs for Medical Courses

In 2007, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine launched a campaign to convince Tulane University to stop using pigs for its Advanced Trauma Life Support courses, during which pigs are repeatedly stuck with needles, cut open, and killed. The effort, which was led by Leslie Brown, MD, included a public demonstration in 2010, a letter-writing campaign, as well as issuing a state cruelty notification. Tulane recently announced that it will use a simulator known as TraumaMan for its ATLS classes instead of pigs. PCRM notes that the school may revert back to using animals, so efforts to change Tulane’s practice permanently should persist.