Letter to the Editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel from Richard M. Fisher, M.D.

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to thank the Journal Sentinel and writer Susanne Rust for the informative and thought-provoking March 11, 2006, article regarding the use of live dogs as teaching tools in the Physiology Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The practice of vivisection (and ultimately killing) dogs to demonstrate such well-known principles as cardiovascular response to various drugs, electricity etc. is unfortunately, quite familiar to me from my experience nearly twenty-five years ago as a pre-clinical medical student. In those days this practice was much more widespread if not universal in medical schools throughout the country. I am gratified to hear the number of schools still engaging in dog labs is now down to only three.

I would take issue with the notion that holding a beautiful dog's heart and feeling it pulse is "invaluable" or somehow an essential part of a well-rounded medical education. I did not personally do this and have certainly never felt less qualified as a result in my twenty plus years as a physician.

A more valuable lesson to teach aspiring physicians is to value all life as precious and never to be sacrificed needlessly, such as for the purpose of demonstrating already well-known concepts, which could be taught in far more humane ways.

Richard Fisher, M.D.
Milwaukee