If OHSU’s David Jacoby Wants to Restore Trust Following Abuse Scandal, He Should Start in the OB/GYN Residency Program: PETA

For Immediate Release:
January 31, 2024

Contact:
Tasgola Bruner 202-483-7382

Please see the following statement from PETA Vice President Shalin Gala regarding a letter released by David Jacoby, dean of Oregon Health & Science University’s School of Medicine, in response to criticism of his long inaction after a student brought allegations that a university professor was taking unwanted photos of female students during class:

No one of any species should have to endure abuse at Oregon Health & Science University. If Dean David Jacoby is truly serious about restoring all trust in the institution, PETA urges him to end all forms of exploitation and reform the OB/GYN residency program, in which doctors in training are forced to practice cruel and invasive procedures on live female pigs.

These animals are cut into and their organs are mutilated, and they’re subjected to other surgical interventions, despite their significant anatomical differences from humans. The pigs who survive the procedures are ultimately killed. Dozens of accredited OB/GYN residency training programs have abandoned live-animal training and instead use advanced, human-relevant simulators, which are equal or even superior to training on live animals.

OHSU should redirect its resources toward modern, non-animal training methods, which would benefit pigs, physicians, and patients alike.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.