It has always been difficult for veterinary schools to balance the need to properly train students to care for animals with the need to adhere to the principle of doing no harm. Advances in robotics and the development of synthetic materials which closely mimic animal tissues are answering some of that need. And studies are finding that the students are less stressed when they have the chance to practice on models before dealing with live patients.
Using Canine Patient Simulators to Teach Emergency Techniques
At Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, a stuffed dog, fitted with speakers to simulate normal and abnormal heart and lung sounds and a sensor to detect chest compressions, is connected to a computer which runs various emergency scenarios. A variety of monitors can be hooked up and the canine patient simulator can be given intravenous medications.
Students practice responding to a cardiac or respiratory arrest case, or learn to cope when an animal under anesthesia is suddenly doing poorly. According to Dr. Dan Fletcher, Assistant Professor of Emergency and Critical Care at Cornell and developer of the robo-dog, this process gets the students past the ‘deer in the headlights’ fear they often experience in the face of their first real emergency. They are able to respond quickly and appropriately, and no live animals are put at risk during the learning process.
Realistic Surgery Simulators Help Students Overcome Anxiety
Dr. Rikki Langebaek of the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen developed a surgical skills laboratory where students can practice on toy animals with simulated organs and blood vessels. She also found that students were less anxious when they were able to first practice on her canine patient simulators. Her PhD. Thesis; “Emotions in the veterinary surgical learning environment-with a special focus on anxiety and the effect of training in a Surgical Skills Laboratory” will be published in December of 2011.
And at Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences Dr. Dean Hendrickson, Director of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, teamed up with Dr. Fausto Bellezzo, a veterinary researcher to develop a layered silicone artificial tissue model that simulates skin, muscle and connective tissue. Students are able to practice surgical procedures on the tissue model, which has been designed to bleed as the students cut into the tissue. The development of these tissue models has reduced the number of live animals needed for practicing these procedures.
Spay-Neuter Clinics and Client Donated Cadavers Provide Further Options
Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine has led the country in finding other ways to reduce unnecessary live animal use. The University encourages clients to donate the bodies of pets that have had to be euthanized, thus providing students with the chance to practice many procedures on the cadavers.
Instead of maintaining dogs for surgery practice the university trains students at their Luke and Lily Lerner Clinic, which provides feral cat rescue groups and animal shelters with spay-neuter services. Where possible, students are taught other medical procedures in the course of treating clients at the University.
Today, 21 of the 28 American Veterinary Medical Association US veterinary schools offer alternatives to the use of live animals in their teaching hospitals wherever possible. Continually improving robotic and synthetic material design will continue to increase the options available for this type of alternative training.The experience of Tufts, Cornell and Colorado State Universities clearly shows the value of these options.
Dawn M. Smith - A vet nurse, Dawn has worked in wildlife rehabilitation and conservation around the world in addition to her veterinary hospital ...
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