As one of the physicians who co-signed the complaint against the University's use of kittens and adult cats in pediatrics training, I want to point out that, contrary to the University spokesperson's claims in the Nov. 28 article, "Group protests medical training on cats," it is never necessary to use an animal for this training. Non-animal methods are actually the standard of practice.
In a survey conducted by our organization, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, we found that 94 percent of pediatrics programs use only non-animal methods in training. A large majority of pediatrics residencies use purpose-designed simulators that mimic the airway of a low-birth-weight premature newborn.
Unlike a cat or other animal, these high-tech simulators replicate human anatomy. Studies have demonstrated that those who engage in simulator-based training display great proficiency in intubation, compared with those who practice on animals.
Pediatrics residencies at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Inova Fairfax Hospital and Hospital for Children and Virginia Commonwealth University Health System in Richmond exclusively use training methods based on human anatomy. It is time for the University to join them.
John J. Pippin\nDirector of Academic Affairs\nPhysicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Read More
GARVIE: Let clubs be about interests, not interviews
By Adeline Garvie | YesterdayThe Second-Year Council should not be alone in interrogating these systems, but rather, the University must earnestly recognize the stressors these processes mount on students.
TAYLOR: Charlottesville’s asylum seekers are trapped by a DHS legal loophole
By Nat Taylor | 2 days agoWith more immigrant constitutional rights being under fire from loopholes like automatic stay provisions, communities that take many asylum seekers like Charlottesville suffer.
BROWN AND FORD: U.Va.’s Board of Visitors cannot escape accountability with silence
By Ann Brown and Chris Ford | 2 days agoWhile the faculty, alumni, students and multiple university organizations call for accountability and demand the resignation of the Board’s leaders, the remaining members of the Board — 11 persons in all — remain silent, unmoved, perhaps inactive.
