Simulation Instead of Animals

USA's Surgery Department has received a Simulab TraumaMan simulator to train incoming surgical residents, according to Dr. Mike Jacobs, adult health nursing chair and health sciences director of human simulation. The $24,000 TraumaMan purchase was part of a decision to use non-animal models instead of live pigs in USA's Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course, according to College of Medicine Public Relations Assistant Director Paul Taylor. This decision is in response to a letter sent to USA surgery professor Dr. D. Lynn Dyess on March 13 from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's (PCRM) senior and medical research adviser Dr. John J. Pippin. In the letter, Pippin urged the Surgery Department to "replace the use of live pigs in … [the] Advanced Trauma Life Support program with validated and widely implemented simulators or human cadavers." USA was on the PCRM's list of the last 16 universities and hospitals in the U.S. that still use live animals for ATLS skills training. More than 90 percent of American universities now use TraumaMan as opposed to live animals in their ATLS programs -- a "progressive movement" Pippin called "ethically and educationally preferable for ATLS training, and that is consistent with the Animal Welfare Act." Eliminating the use of live animals to train students in ATLS is the Surgery Department's goal, Taylor said, but the department's priority is successful training of physicians and residents to provide life-saving procedures. "We're not disrespectful of people's feelings, but our mission … is to supply well-trained physicians that basically use procedure to care for very sick people," Taylor said. "Whether we use TraumaMan, or we use an animal model, our goal is going to remain the same." Adult Health Nursing Chair Mike Jacobs and other USA medical faculty are currently undergoing orientation to learn to use Trauma- Man for USA's Advanced Trauma Life Support course, Taylor said. "This simulator will allow new residents to practice and become proficient in a number of basic and advanced surgical skills and pro-cedures as they progress through the curriculum," Jacobs, who is also USA's Director of Human Simulation for Health Sciences, said. "TraumaMan was actually purchased for use with the new incoming surgical residents," he said. Jacobs called TraumaMan's use in the ATLS course an "added benefit." "We still have to determine the effects that TraumaMan will have on students in the ATLS course," Jacobs said. "It's our hope that TraumaMan proves to be an effective educational tool that will help provide a realistic and high quality ATLS experience.""

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