Campaign Updates: OHSU Mutilates Pigs in OB/GYN Medical Training
During obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) residency training at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), live pigs are cut into and dissected and undergo other invasive surgical procedures—all as practice for performing surgeries on human patients. But pigs’ anatomy and physiology are vastly different from those of humans, making such training irrelevant to learning how to treat humans. PETA is calling for an immediate end to this archaic use of animals—and you can help.
PETA Urges OHSU to Give the Gift of Compassion This Holiday Season
December 20, 2024
PETA delivered a festive message to OHSU leadership: a mini tree adorned with pig-shaped ornaments and a heartfelt card that reads, “This holiday season, give the gift of compassion. Permanently end live animal use in OB/GYN training.” The items were delivered to Nathan Selden, dean of the School of Medicine, Interim President Steve Stadum, and Chad Paulson, board chair.
OHSU has taken a step in the right direction and paused the use of live pigs in its OB/GYN training. PETA urges the university to make this change permanent and embrace modern, human-relevant methods.
OHSU Pauses Pig Mutilation Drills; More Than 100 Physicians Push for Permanent Ban
November 12, 2024
PETA obtained records showing that OHSU stopped killing live pigs in its OB/GYN residency training program this year while more than 175 physicians called on the university’s new Board of Directors Chair Chad Paulson and interim President Steve Stadum to make the move permanent. In a separate letter, PETA offered to pause our campaign against the university’s cruel pig laboratory and instead support the school in obtaining superior, animal-free technology.
“For the sake of physicians, patients, and pigs, it’s time OHSU joined other institutions by ending the use of live animals in its OB/GYN physician residency training program.”
– Excerpt from letter to OHSU leadership signed by more than 175 physicians
PETA Doctor Urges Oregon Health Authority to Challenge Live Animal Policies at OHSU
November 5, 2024
PETA Science Policy Advisor Donya Mand, M.D., called on the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to urge OHSU to stop killing live animals in its OB/GYN physician residency training program, during the panel’s recent virtual meeting.
“Given OHSU’s recent filing with the Oregon Health Authority regarding their proposed merger with Legacy, we urge the OHA to press OHSU to transition away from using live animals in their OB/GYN residency program and instead invest in modern, animal-free, human-relevant training, which would better align with OHA’s own vision for an improved quality of healthcare in the state of Oregon. ”
– Donya Mand, M.D
PETA ‘Pig’ Confronts New Board Chair Over Live-Animal Mutilation
September 27, 2024
PETA supporters led by a “pig” greeted the new OHSU Board of Directors chair with signs reading, “You Get to Leave. I’ll Die Here” at the board’s first meeting of the school year. The pig protectors called on the school to end its invasive procedures on live animals in its OB/GYN residency training program.
OHSU Board of Directors Shakeup Prompts PETA Plea to Oregon Officials
September 13, 2024
PETA is urging Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek to appoint a new OHSU Board of Directors chair who will end the university’s cruel use of live pigs as stand-ins for patients in its OB/GYN physician residency training. The letter comes as the current controversial board chair approaches the end of his tenure.
PETA also sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler—who has touted the city’s animal-friendly reputation—calling on him to urge the school to adopt a public policy prohibiting the use of live animals in its physician training program.
Animal Ally Crashes OHSU Board Meeting Over Pig Mutilation Drills
June 28, 2024
The OHSU Board of Directors had an unexpected guest at its final meeting of the year: a PETA supporter who interrupted the gathering with a heartfelt plea for the school to end its invasive procedures on live animals in its obstetrics and gynecology physician residency training program.
E-Mails Reveal Student Concern, Staff Skepticism About Training on Live Animals
May 28, 2024
PETA has obtained internal e-mails from OHSU’s OB/GYN physician residency training program in which a student and doctors on staff express concerns about using live pigs in surgical training—yet the school continues to require that trainees mutilate pigs in invasive procedures. In a letter, PETA is calling on the school’s OB/GYN residency program director, Ian Fields, to switch to modern, human-relevant training methods.
In one e-mail, Dr. Aaron Caughey, the school’s OB/GYN department chair, expressed “mixed feelings toward the [live pig] labs.” An e-mail from the program’s leadership emphasized internal opposition, noting, “I met with chiefs last night and most of them do NOT find the pig lab to be useful.” A physician resident also said, “I do not want to participate in the live porcine [pig] portion.”
“Let’s set up a meeting to discuss utility of the pig labs. Frankly, I am tired of these e-mails. I think it would be useful to get resident feedback—I met with chiefs last night and most of them do NOT find the pig lab to be useful … it may be good to discuss alternatives.”
—An unnamed Oregon Health & Science University official [name redacted]
PETA Takes Message to OHSU Board: Stop Deadly OB/GYN Training on Live Animals
April 19, 2024
Bearing a banner that read, “OHSU: Stop Mutilating Live Animals in OB/GYN Drills,” PETA supporters rallied inside OHSU’s Board of Directors meeting, urging an end to the school’s invasive procedures on live animals in its OB/GYN physician residency training program. The message could also be seen clearly by viewers nationwide in the live YouTube video stream of the proceedings.
New PETA Ad Blitz Targets OHSU’s Deadly OB/GYN Medical Training
March 8, 2024
For International Women’s Day (March 8), PETA pressed the gas on a mobile message that circled the OHSU campus, screening a compelling new video narrated by a medical doctor that shows people who use OB/GYN services holding signs proclaiming, “I Require OB/GYN Care. Stop Mutilating Live Animals in OB/GYN Training.”
In an escalation of our multipronged campaign to compel the school to end its invasive procedures on live animals in its OB/GYN physician residency training program, PETA also ran a full-page ad in The Oregonian listing more than 110 other OB/GYN residency programs that use advanced human simulators or other animal-free training methods, highlighting OHSU as the archaic outlier it currently is. Additionally, PETA sent a letter to OHSU’s new school of medicine interim dean, Nathan Selden, calling for him to replace the OB/GYN physician residency training on live pigs with modern, non-animal methods.
PETA Presses for Ban on Live-Animal Mutilation at OHSU
February 29, 2024
PETA released a statement addressing Dr. Jeffrey Jensen’s call for public support for Dr. David Jacoby, the former dean of OHSU’s School of Medicine, who resigned amid allegations of mishandling a case involving a doctor secretly photographing women. PETA supporters disrupted Jensen’s demonstration, calling out Jacoby for allowing OB/GYN residents to perform invasive surgeries on live female pigs and urging his replacement to ensure a ban on such horrific training methods.
PETA Releases Statement Urging OHSU Dean of Medicine to Ban Pig Mutilation
January 31, 2024
PETA released a statement regarding a letter issued by David Jacoby, dean of OHSU’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.”
‘Pigs’ Urge OHSU Board of Directors to Ban Live-Animal Training
January 25, 2024
Wearing pig masks and holding signs that read, “Use Simulators, Not Pigs!,” PETA supporters rallied inside OHSU’s board of directors meeting, urging the school to end its invasive training procedures on live animals in its OB/GYN physician residency training program.
PETA Supporters Descend On OHSU Board Meeting in Defense of Pigs
October 27, 2023
Wearing pig masks and holding signs that read, “Swap Pigs for Simulators,” PETA supporters rallied inside OHSU’s board of directors meeting, urging the school to end its invasive training procedures on live animals in its OB/GYN physician residency training program.
PETA Supporters Rally to Urge OHSU to Ban Live-Animal Training
October 7, 2023
PETA supporters gathered near OHSU’s campus, protesting the university’s practice of using live animals in its OB/GYN physician residency training program. Their message? It’s time for OHSU to join the many OB/GYN programs that have already embraced humane, non-animal training methods. “Wanted” posters bearing the likeness of David Jacoby, dean of OHSU’s School of Medicine, were also spotted near campus.
PETA Launches Ad Blitz Urging OHSU to End Use of Live Animals in OB/GYN Training
September 25, 2023
Students arriving on the OHSU campus for the first day of classes were in for a sight beyond bustling hallways and piles of new coursework: PETA’s sky-high image of a “half-woman, half-pig” and message pointing out that OHSU trains OB/GYN physician residents to think of human women as “literally pigs” by using the latter for practice surgeries. PETA’s campus takeover—which also included a mobile billboard asking students to urge the school to end the invasive medical training procedures—highlights how dozens of OHSU OB/GYN residents have cut into female pigs, dissected their organs, and performed other invasive surgeries on them in misguided attempts to learn about human anatomy.
‘Pigs’ Interrupt OHSU Board Meeting to Demand Ban on Live-Animal Training
September 18, 2023
PETA supporters wearing pig masks descended on OHSU’s board of directors meeting, urging the school to end its use of live animals during cruel and invasive obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) physician residency training drills in favor of more effective, ethical, and economical human-simulation models.
UT Southwestern Ends Use of Live Animals in OB/GYN Training; OHSU Remains Outlier
August 30, 2023
Following the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center’s decision to stop mutilating live pigs for OB/GYN residency training, PETA sent a letter to Aaron Caughey, OHSU’s chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, urging his school to follow suit.
UT Southwestern—which dropped its use of animals in the drills after hearing from PETA—joins the many programs approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education that do not use live animals for OB/GYN training. OHSU is one of few institutions still using this archaic and cruel teaching method despite the availability of more effective, non-animal simulators
PETA Video Blasts OHSU for Cruel OB/GYN Training
August 18, 2023
PETA’s latest push for OHSU to end its invasive medical training procedures on live pigs in its OB/GYN physician residency training program is a heartbreaking video exposing how the terrified animals suffer during these gruesome procedures. The animated video, being blasted across social media, urges supporters to ask the school to abandon its cruel, deadly training on live pigs and adopt a public policy banning the use of live animals in such training.
@officialpeta Life is a waking nightmare for pigs used in OHSU trainings 😰
♬ original sound – PETA – PETA
‘Pigs’ Confront OHSU Board of Directors to Urge Ban on Live-Animal Training
June 23, 2023
PETA supporters wearing pig masks protested inside an OHSU Board of Directors meeting, holding signs that read “Stop Maiming Animals” and “OHSU Mutilates Live Pigs,” to urge the school to end its invasive medical drills on live animals in its OB/GYN residency training program.
Crying ‘Pig’ Demands That OHSU End Training on Live Animals
June 9, 2023
Outside Oregon Health & Science University’s convocation ceremony, a surprising sight awaited graduates, their families, and the school’s president, Danny Jacobs. A crying “pig” mascot stood prominently with PETA supporters, urging the university to end the use of live animals in its OB/GYN residency training program.
PETA Activists Urge OHSU Board of Directors to End Pig Mutilations
April 19, 2023
Armed with signs reading, “OHSU Mutilates Live Pigs in OB/GYN Drills,” PETA activists descended on an OHSU Board of Directors meeting to call on the school to end its invasive medical training procedures on live pigs in favor of more effective, ethical, and economical human simulation models. PETA also wrote a letter yesterday to the chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aaron Caughey, urging him to end the use of live animals for OHSU’s OB/GYN residency training.
