Pigs Mutilated in Oregon Health & Science University OB/GYN Training

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) has been maiming live pigs by using them as human stand-ins during obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) physician residency training. Unlike the humans they replace, all the pigs who live through the training sessions are killed afterward. Pigs’ anatomy and physiology are vastly different from those of humans, making such training irrelevant to learning how to treat human clinical patients. OHSU has currently suspended this practice for 2024, and PETA is now calling for a permanent end to this archaic use of live animals.

We need your help! Please join us by taking action below.

Once you’ve taken action on PETA’s alert, please take these important steps to politely urge OHSU to permanently ban the use of live animals for OB/GYN residency training:

• Call the dean of the OHSU School of Medicine, Dr. Nathan Selden, at 503-494-8220.

Here are some talking points:

• In OHSU’s OB/GYN residency program, doctors-in-training have been forced to practice cruel and invasive procedures on live pigs. These animals are cut into, their organs are mutilated, and they’re subjected to other surgical interventions, causing them immense pain and distress. The pigs who survive these procedures are ultimately killed.

• By using pigs instead of human-patient simulators, medical personnel  receive inferior training. Pigs’ anatomy and physiology are vastly different from those of humans.

• There are advanced, human-relevant simulation models available that are more effective for training OB/GYN residents. These simulators accurately replicate human anatomy and physiology, providing a more relevant learning experience.

• A growing number of OB/GYN residents at OHSU oppose mutilating pigs for training, which has resulted in the suspension of this cruel lab in 2024. It’s time to permanently prohibit the use of live animals for OB/GYN training.  

• The U.S. Department of Defense, including many civilian medical residency programs across the country, has fully transitioned away from using live animals in OB/GYN training to using more effective and human-relevant simulation methods instead.

• Post polite comments to OHSU on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn urging the university to permanently ban its use of live animals for OB/GYN residency training.

Terms for automated texts/calls from PETA: http://peta.vg/txt. Text STOP to end, HELP for more info. Msg/data rates may apply. U.S. only.