OHSU Trains Surgeons on Pigs

Have you seen the billboards in Portland that were recently installed by PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) that ask “Does OHSU Think You're a Pig?” and that tell OHSU “Stop Killing Animals to Train Doctors”?

PCRM, as well as 79% of the surgery training programs in the U.S., believe that using lifelike simulators offer an overall better and more humane teaching experience than using pigs to practice their multiple surgeries on. And the simulators are not killed after the surgeries like the pigs are. The highly realistic simulators include layers of lifelike skin, muscle, and blood vessels and can bleed and provide physiological responses and don’t have the different anatomy that the pig has.

However, Oregon Health & Science University does not believe the simulators are adequate and remains the only surgery residence program in both Oregon and Washington that is still training surgeons on pigs.