In just a few weeks, medical residents at the University of Washington will begin their fall rotations, studying new topics and performing new procedures. Unfortunately, they’ll be using cruel and outdated training methods to do so.

Students at UW still learn how to insert breathing tubes in human infants using live ferrets instead of simulators.

Here’s what happens: Students push breathing tubes down the throats of live ferrets to practice intubation. Each ferret is subjected to the process repeatedly, experiencing pain, bruising, bleeding, and even death.

More than 90 percent of U.S. pediatrics programs have moved from abusing animals to relying on simulators — an option that has been proven to be more effective for teaching.

Join the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in urging University of Washington President Michael Young and the UW School of Medicine to stop using ferrets in its pediatrics program. >>    http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-university-of-washingtons-cruel-ferret-lab-3?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=NNSacSzXig_zLjAKpCEDe

The use of ferrets in pediatric training is cruel and unnecessary. These ferrets suffer needlessly in the short-term — and medical students receive inferior training that affects their abilities as physicians in the long-term.

According to experts at PCRM, “Simulators approved by the American Academy of Pediatrics actually provide a better training experience – they’re humane, they can be used over and over again to aid learning, and they’re specifically designed to mimic the anatomy of newborns and infants.”

August is the perfect time to push for policy change before the new school year starts.

Several weeks ago, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine filed an animal cruelty complaint against the university with the county prosecutor, increasing pressure on UW officials.

Plus, University of Washington President Michael Young has only been at the university for a month. He is still likely to be receptive to reviewing and updating policies.

If Young commits to switching the pediatrics program to using simulators before the next classes of students and residents begin training, 2011-2012 could be a cruelty-free school year for UW’s pediatric residency program.

Sign here to ask UW to end the practice of animal cruelty in its pediatrics program and begin offering more modern methods of training to its medical students and residents:

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-university-of-washingtons-cruel-ferret-lab-3

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Patrick and the Change.org team