In rare instances where emergency medicine resident physicians need to be trained on measures that are not adequately learned through simulation, residents train on about six animals a year, according to Jennifer Coffman, a spokesperson with University of Missouri Health Care.Coffman says the protocols for animal use are humane and strict and are reviewed by MU’s Animal Care and Use Committee.
But Dr. Kerry Foley, a member of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, is urging MU to end the use of live animals in its emergency medicine program.
The group attracted a small gathering of demonstrators Thursday outside University Hospital.
Foley practiced emergency medicine for 26 years in Washington, D.C., area hospitals, attended medical school at Georgetown University and said she had never used live animals in her medical training.
“There’s really no need to use them at all,” Foley said.
Foley said that in Missouri there are five emergency medicine residency programs; MU is the last one to still use animals in training.
MU already has the Shelden Clinical Simulation Center that, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, could provide the resources to replace animal use in the emergency medicine residency program. Foley points to advanced medical technology allowing residents to train on mannequins, which the simulation center’s website says provide “real-time feedback in much the same way they would from a human patient.”
“It just makes much more sense to me,” Foley said.
Sasha Zemmel, 27, drove from St. Louis because Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine reached out to her saying they needed activists, so she showed up.
“Whenever there is animal exploitation or cruelty, I want to be there if I can,” she said.
Zemmel also thinks in this day and age, live animals should not be tested on.
“Animal exploitation is everywhere,” she said. “Once you know, you can’t un-know.”
The animal use protocol for the program was set to expire on Dec. 1, 2017. The renewal was submitted and renewed on Nov. 3, 2017. The new expiration date is now Nov. 3, 2020, according to MU’s Animal Care Quality Assurance office.
Supervising editor is Dylan Jackson: news@columbiamissourian.com, 882-7884.