Columbia-based University of South Carolina School of Medicine will no longer use live pigs in its emergency medicine training process, according to The State.
In August, Washington, D.C.-based animal rights group, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, asked for a federal investigation into USC and Columbia, S.C.-based Palmetto Health's emergency medicine residency program, claiming it violated the Animal Welfare Act by using pigs when other options were available.
"We are not planning to seek renewal of the live animal training program at this time," USC and Columbia, S.C.-based Palmetto Health, who run the emergency medicine residency program together, said in a statement. "Continued advances in simulation technology make it possible for us to make this change at this time. In doing so, we affirm our belief that preparing healthcare providers for the preservation of human life is our greatest responsibility and we are confident that this change will not adversely affect the quality of our training programs.